kizamybute'
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Waited to post this as I wanted to test this setup out for a bit first.
When I was having to choose between the Rivian and F-150 Lightning, one of the appealing factors of the Ford was the fact that it could power your home and the 110 outlets put out 7200w, a HUGE difference compared to the Rivian only putting out 1500w.
As I ultimately decided to keep the Rivian, had to come up with an option to have more power available.
Finally settled on an EcoFlow Delta Max 2016wh battery backup. It has a constant power output of 2400w with a surge capacity of 5000w, which is enough startup power for most things. Some things demand over 2,400w to get started up, but then run at less. Thus the 5000w surge provides the power to get most things started. At least anything I've tried thus far.
I wanted the EcoFlow Delta Pro 3600wh, but, it was just barely too big to fit in the gear tunnel. Also too tall to fit under the tonneau cover in the bed. It was appealing as it could be charged at a high speed EV charging station in just a few minutes and, could fast charge the Rivian with 3 kwh in an emergency. I could have put it in the frunk, with the floor lid up, but the frunk doesn’t have a 110 outlet. Don’t understand why Rivian didn’t put one in there. Great place for refrigerators and other things.
Ultimately, the gear tunnel was my best option for it. And I didn’t want to use up the majority of the frunk. Also, there’s both, 110v (120v per the truck) and 12v outlets in the gear tunnel.
The EcoFlow Delta can be quickly charged with the 110v (120v) outlet or trickle charged with the 12V outlet. I use the truck outlets for most things, but when I know I have something that has a startup demand over 1500w, I simply plug it into the EcoFlow. Charging it from the truck still allows me to use the stored battery capacity of the truck. Maybe not as efficiently, but, get to use most of it none the less.
On top of that, the truck is ultra-sensitive with what you can plug into it. Many things I try, including something as simple as a lighted extension cord, will “blow the fuse” or “trip the breaker” and shut off power to the 120v outlets. No such problems with the EcoFlow.
I found a "refurbished" one, which was basically new from EcoFlow for around $1,500. At least $1,000 less than an actual new one. Get the same warranty with it. The one I received looked brand new and charges to 100%, so it has no degradation. Assuming it was a customer return that didn’t get used.
The Max 2016w only weighs around 48 lbs, thus is easy to move to the bed if that’s where you want. It’s only 12 inches tall, so this one will fit in the bed under the tonneau cover. The Pro 3600 weighs in around 100 lbs. Many would need help getting it over the height of the frunk and down into the hole under the floor lid, gently. At 18.7 inches tall, it’s about an inch and half too tall to fit through the gear tunnel door. While the interior dimensions of the gear tunnel are larger, no angling or finagling will get it through the door itself. The bed is only 17 inches high with the tonneau cover closed, so it won’t fit there either.
So far, haven’t found anything that demands over 5000w at startup (surge). My RV air conditioner starts up with less than 5000. The generator in my RV is only a 4,000w generator, so the battery actually has higher surge power, thus is a good option to assist in powering an RV. So, while I gave up the luxury of fast charging and to be able to add 3 kwh charge to the truck (both things I’ll likely never do anyway), by not getting the Pro 3600, I saved over $2,000 on the purchase price and, the gear tunnel is a much better place for such an item. Fits well on the left side leaving plenty of open space. It’s only 19 inches in depth, thus still have 45+ inches (3’ 9”) of gear tunnel space open for other things. Plus, it's only 9 1/2 inches wide. Thus still some full width space available for a surfboard, skis or other long narrow items.
Here’s a link to my prior post with the gear tunnel door dimensions.
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/gear-tunnel-dimensions.6016/
EDIT TO ADD 09/07/2022: One other benefit I forgot to mention, the EcoFlow screen shows exactly how much power you are drawing from the plug, both in and out. Very useful for me in identifying which items we use that push the limits of the 1,500w truck capability. I was quite surprised that the majority of what I do use, demands far less than 1,500w. The only time an issue potentially comes up is if we're using three different things at the same time. That's where the surge power up to 5,000 comes in handy.
FYI, this battery also has the ability to connect up to 5 "extra batteries", which double the capacity. They are different units specifically for that purpose, but usually cost about 30% less than a full unit. They're intended to just provide extra battery capacity. It won't increase the surge power, but, with one extra, you could have 4kwh of battery capacity. A second one could fit in sideways behind the battery shown in the photo below, thus would only take up 12 more inches of space. Would allow you to power a campsite for twice as long if you needed it. For me though, being able to charge it from the Rivian, allows me to use the Rivian's battery capacity of 135 kwh. So didn't see a need for it. I got it strictly for the surge output capability of up to 5,000w for when the Rivian's output of just 1500w is not enough.
When I was having to choose between the Rivian and F-150 Lightning, one of the appealing factors of the Ford was the fact that it could power your home and the 110 outlets put out 7200w, a HUGE difference compared to the Rivian only putting out 1500w.
As I ultimately decided to keep the Rivian, had to come up with an option to have more power available.
Finally settled on an EcoFlow Delta Max 2016wh battery backup. It has a constant power output of 2400w with a surge capacity of 5000w, which is enough startup power for most things. Some things demand over 2,400w to get started up, but then run at less. Thus the 5000w surge provides the power to get most things started. At least anything I've tried thus far.
I wanted the EcoFlow Delta Pro 3600wh, but, it was just barely too big to fit in the gear tunnel. Also too tall to fit under the tonneau cover in the bed. It was appealing as it could be charged at a high speed EV charging station in just a few minutes and, could fast charge the Rivian with 3 kwh in an emergency. I could have put it in the frunk, with the floor lid up, but the frunk doesn’t have a 110 outlet. Don’t understand why Rivian didn’t put one in there. Great place for refrigerators and other things.
Ultimately, the gear tunnel was my best option for it. And I didn’t want to use up the majority of the frunk. Also, there’s both, 110v (120v per the truck) and 12v outlets in the gear tunnel.
The EcoFlow Delta can be quickly charged with the 110v (120v) outlet or trickle charged with the 12V outlet. I use the truck outlets for most things, but when I know I have something that has a startup demand over 1500w, I simply plug it into the EcoFlow. Charging it from the truck still allows me to use the stored battery capacity of the truck. Maybe not as efficiently, but, get to use most of it none the less.
On top of that, the truck is ultra-sensitive with what you can plug into it. Many things I try, including something as simple as a lighted extension cord, will “blow the fuse” or “trip the breaker” and shut off power to the 120v outlets. No such problems with the EcoFlow.
I found a "refurbished" one, which was basically new from EcoFlow for around $1,500. At least $1,000 less than an actual new one. Get the same warranty with it. The one I received looked brand new and charges to 100%, so it has no degradation. Assuming it was a customer return that didn’t get used.
The Max 2016w only weighs around 48 lbs, thus is easy to move to the bed if that’s where you want. It’s only 12 inches tall, so this one will fit in the bed under the tonneau cover. The Pro 3600 weighs in around 100 lbs. Many would need help getting it over the height of the frunk and down into the hole under the floor lid, gently. At 18.7 inches tall, it’s about an inch and half too tall to fit through the gear tunnel door. While the interior dimensions of the gear tunnel are larger, no angling or finagling will get it through the door itself. The bed is only 17 inches high with the tonneau cover closed, so it won’t fit there either.
So far, haven’t found anything that demands over 5000w at startup (surge). My RV air conditioner starts up with less than 5000. The generator in my RV is only a 4,000w generator, so the battery actually has higher surge power, thus is a good option to assist in powering an RV. So, while I gave up the luxury of fast charging and to be able to add 3 kwh charge to the truck (both things I’ll likely never do anyway), by not getting the Pro 3600, I saved over $2,000 on the purchase price and, the gear tunnel is a much better place for such an item. Fits well on the left side leaving plenty of open space. It’s only 19 inches in depth, thus still have 45+ inches (3’ 9”) of gear tunnel space open for other things. Plus, it's only 9 1/2 inches wide. Thus still some full width space available for a surfboard, skis or other long narrow items.
Here’s a link to my prior post with the gear tunnel door dimensions.
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/gear-tunnel-dimensions.6016/
EDIT TO ADD 09/07/2022: One other benefit I forgot to mention, the EcoFlow screen shows exactly how much power you are drawing from the plug, both in and out. Very useful for me in identifying which items we use that push the limits of the 1,500w truck capability. I was quite surprised that the majority of what I do use, demands far less than 1,500w. The only time an issue potentially comes up is if we're using three different things at the same time. That's where the surge power up to 5,000 comes in handy.
FYI, this battery also has the ability to connect up to 5 "extra batteries", which double the capacity. They are different units specifically for that purpose, but usually cost about 30% less than a full unit. They're intended to just provide extra battery capacity. It won't increase the surge power, but, with one extra, you could have 4kwh of battery capacity. A second one could fit in sideways behind the battery shown in the photo below, thus would only take up 12 more inches of space. Would allow you to power a campsite for twice as long if you needed it. For me though, being able to charge it from the Rivian, allows me to use the Rivian's battery capacity of 135 kwh. So didn't see a need for it. I got it strictly for the surge output capability of up to 5,000w for when the Rivian's output of just 1500w is not enough.
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