Rivian preparing in-house V2H charger

[Rivian Owner]

The Rivian connection is pretty easy, the challenge is getting a "box" that will work with the myriad of configurations of everyone's house and their use case. The Rivian already "talks" to the chargers, so beyond the comms it is basically send the current in the other direction. If I were Rivian, I'd do a lot of testing to be sure I can integrate into a variety of use cases since we know they get skewered all the time for what they haven't delivered.

If Rivian is developing their own inverter, I'd sure like to know why. To me it would make a lot more sense to work with one of the companies that is already producing a whole house energy management solution.

I've been told there are people who have "hacked" their Rivians and are already using the battery bi-directionally which would indicate there is existing hardware in your vehicle that will support current outflow.

Sponsored

 

[docwhiz]

The Rivian connection is pretty easy, the challenge is getting a "box" that will work with the myriad of configurations of everyone's house and their use case. The Rivian already "talks" to the chargers, so beyond the comms it is basically send the current in the other direction. If I were Rivian, I'd do a lot of testing to be sure I can integrate into a variety of use cases since we know they get skewered all the time for what they haven't delivered.

If Rivian is developing their own inverter, I'd sure like to know why. To me it would make a lot more sense to work with one of the companies that is already producing a whole house energy management solution.

I've been told there are people who have "hacked" their Rivians and are already using the battery bi-directionally which would indicate there is existing hardware in your vehicle that will support current outflow.

There is an unauthorized device for Tesla called Vortipower which connects to the HV battery and outputs 120 V AC at 3.5 kW so it does seem to be possible to hack the protocol.
Of course, it would be better to have something authorized and something which would allow direct HV access which would easy to plug into common solar inverters.
We don't really need or want a closed proprietary system for access.

 

[docwhiz]

Here we go.
Just what we need.

https://electrek.co/2025/02/21/nema-bidirectional-ev-charging-standard/


NEMA has published its EVSE Power Export Permitting Standard, which defines the technical parameters to allow EV owners to enable bidirectional charging, which allows electricity to flow to EVs and EVs to transfer power back to the grid.

NEMA’s bidirectional EV charging standard defines characteristics in key domains, electrical, communications, and cybersecurity for permitting of power export between EV supply equipment and an electric power system. With vehicle to grid (V2G) and vehicle to building/home (V2B, V2H) technology, EVs act as mobile energy storage units to power homes, buildings, and the grid itself. The Standard could also put money back in EV owners’ pockets by enabling their cars to store energy overnight or when not in use, then sell power back to the grid at a profit during peak demand hours.

 

[Zorg]

I just got enphase be back up batteries. Would be great for the truck to back up the batteries.

 

[mrose]

I won't be getting my R2 until 2027/2028 but this will likely be reality by then:

Rivian Plans A Charger That Can Power Your House (insideevs.com)

I doubt Rivian will ever develop it. The whole concept for Rivian was a marketing ploy to trick people into buying Rivians. This is why total silence since June of 2024

 

[shap]

I doubt Rivian will ever develop it. The whole concept for Rivian was a marketing ploy to trick people into buying Rivians. This is why total silence since June of 2024

Same as the claim for ADAS capabilities on GEN1. I agree. It is a very nice car, but several promises were made when they knew they will never be able to fullfill them.

 

[Rivian Owner]

I doubt Rivian will ever develop it. The whole concept for Rivian was a marketing ploy to trick people into buying Rivians. This is why total silence since June of 2024

Yeah, I don't know that I agree with V2H being just a marketing ploy. If you live in an area prone to wildfires caused by powerline failure, you are now living in an area where the power company is going to shut off the power any time there are high winds. There are more and more natural disasters such as hurricanes that can also knock out power. Therefore, I think there is a growing market for backup for power because of these calamities.

Economically it makes sense to buy a BEV that has Bi-Directional (BiDi) capabilities, which may sway some buyers that are on the fence due to cost. With BiDi you get a large battery and a vehicle and a darn good warranty on the battery, versus mounting a bunch of batteries on the wall or having a generator that needs regular maintenance. Therefore, I believe there is a strong incentive for Rivian and other BEV manufacturers to provide a V2H solution. V2G may or may not provide additional benefits, it depends on your rate plan.

As I've posted before, Rivian will get skewered here and other places if they release a crappy solution that is not robust enough to integrate to the millions of possible use cases. If I were Rivian I'd take my time and get it right. I've looked at the other solutions out there and most of those solutions are only a partial solution and in some cases, function very poorly. What I've learned about being an early adopter is you become the company's test subject. I'm hopeful Rivian is watching the other solutions and is working to address the shortcomings of the other solutions in the market and this is why they are taking their time to release a product. I'm guessing the folks with a powered tonneau cover have an idea of what I'm talking about?

 

[wolfsbane]

I doubt Rivian will ever develop it. The whole concept for Rivian was a marketing ploy to trick people into buying Rivians. This is why total silence since June of 2024

sad, but probably true.

during hurricane berryl last year, when most of the Houston area was without power for 5-6 days, there were lightning owners who could just plug in and power most of the circuits in their whole home. I was jealous, but took solace with the idea that maybe I'd have that too someday. Seems unlikely now.

 

[DCFC]

I

I doubt Rivian will ever develop it. The whole concept for Rivian was a marketing ploy to trick people into buying Rivians. This is why total silence since June of 2024

I certainly hope they bring it to market because a couple of my friends are working on it. I don't want them to be out of a job.

 

[wolfsbane]

a couple of my friends are working on it.

would you mind asking them what seems to be the hold up?

 

[docwhiz]

would you mind asking them what seems to be the hold up?

They are probably trying to build a complete proprietary stack from the car to inverters and links to a home,batteries and grid like Ford has done with their very expensive (and flaky) V2x devices.
It would be much easier to just make an adapter which follows the standard NEMA protocol to connect the car battery to the charge port plug. From there, anyone could use the DC from the battery to power their own standalone inverter, connect to an inverter to power their home and charge home batteries and/or connect to the grid. These could all use off the shelf products which would be much more flexible (and less expensive).

 

[cevans]

They are probably trying to build a complete proprietary stack from the car to inverters and links to a home...

I was guessing the opposite - I was projecting that perhaps they've delayed pushing this forward until the NEMA standard came through. Would save a lot of double work and cost trying to create their own protocol which would just be immediately outdated.

 

[DCFC]

As an outside observer, I would say, look at what Rivian is communicating as its priorities to Wall Street. Consider that many engineering resources can be shuffled around within the company in order to hit targets on the priorities.

 

[Polar]

https://wallbox.com/en_us/quasar-2-bidirectional-v2g-v2h-ev-charger

Tomorrow there is supposed to be some additional information or pre-order opportunities coming up

 

[Forager]

https://wallbox.com/en_us/quasar-2-bidirectional-v2g-v2h-ev-charger

Tomorrow there is supposed to be some additional information or pre-order opportunities coming up

Only supported with KIA EV9 for now. $6500 price point is much better than the Ford or GM solution, though it still requires an official installer.

Sponsored