Portable Charger & Amps/Breakers

[ajdelange]

So the portable charger says it will do 32 amps. What happens if the breaker providing the power is only 30 amps? Will the charger adjust or just trip the breaker?

As has been pointed out the 14-50R won't plug into the dryer outlet as is. You will have to obtain an adapter or modify the plug. If you do this and plug in drawing 32A the breaker will eventually pop but it may take some time for it tp do that (15-min to an hour?) depending on temperature and the breaker. You will be in violation of code in any case. You MUST set the charging rate to 24A on the truck's charging screen if you do this.

One place I frequent has a stacked washer/dryer unit that has the standard 220 dryer plug that I plan on plugging the portable Rivian charger into for overnight charges.

The "standard" dryer outlet now seems to be the NEMA 14-30R. In older houses it will probably be a NEMA 10-30R. This is wired to Hot - Hot -GROUND (not Hot-Hot-Neutral). EVSE requires the two hots and the ground so this is fine for EVSE but you must make up or buy an adapter, With a 14-30R receptacle you can make up or buy an adapter or you can just use the plug that came with the EVSE but it must be modified a bit to fit into the 14-30R receptacle. Whichever of these options you use you MUST reduce charging to 24A and even doing that will not make you legal.

Suppose it’s best to bump that breaker up to a 50A? It’s a 200A panel with hardly anything leveraging it..

Yes, that is best but new wire that supports 50A in an EVSE application (i.e. not NM-B) would have to be pulled.for code compliance.

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[DuckTruck]

Hope you have a lot of time in that situation. Our trip two weekends ago, we put 51kWh into the battery over the course of 35 hours of being plugged into a TT-30 (charging at 24A)

Luckily, I'm not shy. I might run off my solitude-seeking neighbors, if I'm forced to stick around for too long. Such a slow charge is certainly not ideal, but compared to going dead, it's at least doable.

Thanks for sharing your numbers here! It's those real-world data points that help to answer a lot of questions and concerns in advance of problems.

 

[AmerikanMatt]

Sorry for being the slow guy in the room, (first EV coming this week!) but I did a forum search for "Rivian Portable Wall Charger" and this thread seemed to be the most dynamic.

So, I'm expected to take delivery of my truck this week, and have my Rivian Wall Charger installed, lit, and ready to go.

My question is, do most folks on here buy the Rivian Portable Wall Charger and keep it in their Frunk? That, and having the Amazon adapter discussed above just seems like the smart thing to do.....? But I don't see a ton of discussion on the forums about it being a necessity.

Can those of you who've owned EVs in the past and now have a Rivian chime in as to what you have as "alternate" or "emergency" charging options and some pros/cons? Do I need to buy this portable charger too?

I'm trying to figure out if I need to pony up another $400 and stow one of these badboys in my frunk, or if there are better ways to insure yourself against being dead somewhere?

Thanks in advance!

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

The R1 comes with the portable EVSE. You don’t need to buy it separately.

Install the Wall unit for regular use and leave the portable unit in the frunk.

 

[NooterIA]

@AmerikanMatt , I do keep the portable in the frunk along with the Amazon adapter. Since I originally posted this, I’ve charged probably 20 times at the farm house using the dryer outlet on a 30A circuit. Works just fine. I might run a 50A someday and just buy another wall charger so I don’t have to string out the monster 50A cable I bought.

 

[golden_frog]

This thread has been very informative. Anyone have a short list of adapters for the portable charger that would work in most real world settings?

 

[NooterIA]

Hers the adapter I got off Amazon, plugs into any standard dryer outlet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07P6THKWB?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I also bought a 50A camper/RV extension cord from menards. Those two right there will pretty much cover ya in any charging situation outside of a ChargePoint or whatever public charging station.

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