Regretting not ordering the Rivian Wall Charger

[C.R. Rivian]

I currently have a Clipper Creek 32A charger that I purchased in 2013. Used it first with my Nissan Leaf and then a Model 3. It was always fast enough to charge my vehicle up during my overnight super off-peak 6 hour window. I knew the Rivian has a bigger battery but I never really did the math on how long it would take. Sadly I only get about 11 miles added in an hour to the R1T. So if I drive a lot in a day I can't quite get back to 70%.

So now, I'd like to get the Rivian charger. However, it's not in stock and costs a $700 vs $500 with the pricing update. Ok, fine I'll pay more I guess. I tried asking my guide if I could still get it and he directed me to the gear shop where you can enter you email when it comes back in stock (which I don't think it will for a long time since they are reserving them for deliveries). Doh! I'll be looking at other chargers - the Chargepoint Flex looks like the best option.

Anyways - this is my PSA. Think twice before not ordering the Rivian Wall Charger, especially if you have the $500 pre-price increase. You might regret it like me!

ClipperCreek has some upgrade options...talk to them, maybe even a trade-in. To my mind, the chargers with wifi and apps simply introduce additional points of failure for no real upside. What would you get from the app that you can't get from the app for the truck? Here's ClipperCreek's current for the R1T:

I do understand that 11mi/hr charge would be hard to live with. Call them and ask some questions...that's worked for me.

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[140 degrees]

Does bundling the charger with the R1T affect the federal tax benefit for charger installation? Has anyone asked to have the charger billed in a separate transaction from the truck while keeping their early reservation holder pricing?

 

[TXR1S]

Does bundling the charger with the R1T affect the federal tax benefit for charger installation? Has anyone asked to have the charger billed in a separate transaction from the truck while keeping their early reservation holder pricing?

I believe that is expired, but would love to be proven wrong.

https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/10513

 

[TheIglu]

My local utility (National Grid) offers a few cents per kwh debate for charging during certain times, with a supported charger or vehicle. Currently they don't support any Rivian vehicles, but you could use a Chargepoint charger and get the rebate.

I wonder if the Rivian charger will support that sort of functionality in the near future, or if I should but a Chargepoint charger instead of the Rivian wall charger.

 

[swhme]

No, it's hardwired on a 40A circuit. If I'm going to spend additional I probably want a meaningful upgrade.

You are right - I have gotten one quote to install a 60A breaker and the electrician says I will need a sub panel. Total cost for panel and EVSE install was quoted at $2700, which I don't really love but seems like a reasonable rate for my area.

It’s going to take a lot of years of getting the lower power rate to pay that off…

 

[3121]

Lots of companies make 48A hardwired EVSE (aka chargers). I bought a nice one from Emporia Energy for $380. Hardwired on a 60A circuit it will pump out the full 11.5kW (48A 240v) for the truck or any EV.

 

[Snazzy Labs]

Strong endorsement for the OpenEVSE. You can build/repair it yourself, the parts are EXTREMELY high quality (way better than my Tesla Wall Connector), the unit itself is TINY compared to other EVSEs and the screen is very nice—not to mention IP rating is very high. Super happy with it.

Here's my install video:

 

[Mcdubjr]

Lots of companies make 48A hardwired EVSE (aka chargers). I bought a nice one from Emporia Energy for $380. Hardwired on a 60A circuit it will pump out the full 11.5kW (48A 240v) for the truck or any EV.

Looks like it's $450 now but yeah, still looks like a very good option. Thanks for the info.

 

[Mcdubjr]

Strong endorsement for the OpenEVSE. You can build/repair it yourself, the parts are EXTREMELY high quality (way better than my Tesla Wall Connector), the unit itself is TINY compared to other EVSEs and the screen is very nice—not to mention IP rating is very high. Super happy with it.

Here's my install video:

Looks like the bundle I would want is $599, so a little more than Rivian charger. I do think I would like putting a kit together and it looks more feature rich than Rivian's.

 

[AllInev]

Strong endorsement for the OpenEVSE. You can build/repair it yourself, the parts are EXTREMELY high quality (way better than my Tesla Wall Connector), the unit itself is TINY compared to other EVSEs and the screen is very nice—not to mention IP rating is very high. Super happy with it.

Here's my install video:

OpenEVSE review by State of Charge:

 

[3121]

Looks like it's $450 now but yeah, still looks like a very good option. Thanks for the info.

I think the price went up with their official UL Listing. Keep an eye on the their web site they run deals from time to time, I got mine on sale.

 

[3121]

Strong endorsement for the OpenEVSE. You can build/repair it yourself, the parts are EXTREMELY high quality (way better than my Tesla Wall Connector), the unit itself is TINY compared to other EVSEs and the screen is very nice—not to mention IP rating is very high. Super happy with it.

Here's my install video:

Thanks for sharing, that's pretty slick, had not heard of OpenEVSE

 

[stynes]

Strong endorsement for the OpenEVSE. You can build/repair it yourself, the parts are EXTREMELY high quality (way better than my Tesla Wall Connector), the unit itself is TINY compared to other EVSEs and the screen is very nice—not to mention IP rating is very high. Super happy with it.

Here's my install video:

So OpenEVSE has been on my radar since you posted this. I reached out to them with a couple of product technical questions, no response. I followed up again a couple of days ago... no response. I called today and no one answered. The 48amp charger now shows backordered for 4 weeks. Are they still around? Anyone else used their products? Honestly, a little leery now given that it seems like they've gone dark.

 

[Mcdubjr]

So, I ended up going with Wallbox Pulsar Plus, the cost was $700 and I was able to find an electrician to install it and the sub-panel for $800.

The main reason I picked the Wallbox over some cheaper options is that it has the ability to load share - when I get a second EV I can get another Wallbox and wire them on the same circuit and they'll be able to share the load intelligently. I also liked that you can get statistics and set more advanced schedules - but more on that later.

So how do I like the Wallbox so far? Overall it's working great. However I have had some issues.

The first day I had problems with it connecting to my WiFi. It kept dropping the connection after like an hour or less and wouldn't reconnect automatically. I was getting super frustrated and found threads of others online having similar problems. Fortunately for me, it seems to have resolved itself after upgrading the charger's firmware as well as my router's. It's been rock solid connected for a few days now.

The other issue I have had was with using the charger's integrated scheduling. To try this I turned off the Rivian's scheduler and enabled the charger's. However, when using this method I received an error message when the schedule starts from the Rivian saying something along the lines of "charging failed, reinsert plug and try again". Perhaps the Rivian doesn't like a plugged in charger coming to life? Doesn't seem it should matter, and I haven't had a chance to try it again. Not a big deal but annoying, I'll just use the Rivian's scheduler for now.

I'm pretty happy - My mistake of not ordering the Rivian charger only cost me about $200 and I've ended up with a charger that has more features and is a little more future proof for my situation. If I didn't want load sharing and stats I could have gone with the Emporia and not paid any more.

 

[Eeyore]

Yes, I plan on getting a more quotes for sure. I know he didn't like the look of my current setup as well - I have a double 40 sharing the charger and solar. My panel is pretty full.

That panel is completely, totally full meaning that you could not install another breaker if you wanted to do so because all the slots are full.. And as a 125 amp service, it's probably at it max ampacity, if not over it.

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