Gen 1 with Qi2 Wireless Charger Installed

I got on a deep dive and decided to try to make the Qi2 charger work In a gen 1. I had hoped the only barricade would be the plug being wrong and it was. I have designed many wiring harnesses as part of my business so I thought I may as well try to do it for this. It is very simple. Rivian has atrocious wiring diagrams compared to most OEMs but I was able to decipher what they said. Long story short a simple adapter harness Is all that is needed to make this work in a Gen 1.

I paid $184.58 shipped with sales tax for it. To order this you have to create a parts account with Rivian. Details on that here: https://rivian.com/support/article/...tor-how-do-i-request-access-to-rivian-service

Once you have the account setup you can order from their incredible parts portal. I wish all OEMs had the ability to view parts diagrams like their portal gives you access to. It also gives you access to purchase a subscription of the workshop manual, rivian’s RiDE diagnostic software, and special tools including their diagnostic tool. The part number for the charging pad is: C101536602-B. In theory a service center can order it if you provide any G2 vin and the part number. It shouldn’t have any kind of markup either.

Video of charger working on my G1 2023 R1S:



I attached some pics of the old charger. I think others have shared this design before.. It’s a unit! I’m not sure who ever thought this would work well, but it’s a crazy contraption. It had to be incredibly expensive. For some reason I didn’t think to take pictures of the inside of the new one even though I took it apart. It is much smaller and simpler.

I may sell the wiring adapter and the charger through my company if theres enough interest. I was told by my buddy that works at Rivian that they got a message about these going on backorder. So we’ll see if we can even get them.

Edit: Will sell it here. Since Rivian doesn’t do any kind of discounts I am obviously marking up the charging pad but I am also selling the wiring adapter separately if you want to get your own: https://oemplusupgrades.com/collections/rivian

Thanks for posting and showing this can be done. Interesting to see the inside of the OG charging pad.

I'm amused by all this effort to make it possible to charge a phone in the worst, most inconvenient location possible instead of just using a common generic dash mount.

Wow all those coils on that charging pad and my phone struggles to find one and hold a charge, incredibly overengineered and still fails to do its core functionality.

My god, how are these pads NOT a fire hazard.. ?

Looks great! I’m sure there would be interest in a kit. I’d buy one!

tivoboy said:

My god, how are these pads NOT a fire hazard.. ?

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Because it isn’t high powered? If any criticism, it’s inefficient; the amount of resistance and copper used in a device that is ineffective in charging phones. A design that works in theory, if theory doesn’t include real world variables.

As for the new factory pad, since it includes a key card reader, does a gen 1 car know what to do with it or that it is nonfunctional (but consumes power, however slight).

JM. said:

I'm amused by all this effort to make it possible to charge a phone in the worst, most inconvenient location possible instead of just using a common generic dash mount.

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Personally I don't like my phone mounted on the dash and don't do it in any of my vehicles. It either stays in my pocket or goes on the charger. This is a convenience thing for me over using a cable which is what I have done until I installed this. Really not a requirement, just nice to have and wanted to make it work so here we are.

Pretty cool! I have a "StowNCharge" in my Gen 1 and stand by that as being the best alternative for Gen 1 owners (even though it was tricky to find pucks that fit). But this is a really cool mod and agree it should be something you package & sell. Good effort should be rewarded.

I’d be interested in the kit. Thanks for your hard work getting this to work!

breeves002 said:

I got on a deep dive and decided to try to make the Qi2 charger work In a gen 1. I had hoped the only barricade would be the plug being wrong and it was. I have designed many wiring harnesses as part of my business so I thought I may as well try to do it for this. It is very simple. Rivian has atrocious wiring diagrams compared to most OEMs but I was able to decipher what they said. Long story short a simple adapter harness Is all that is needed to make this work in a Gen 1.

I paid $184.58 shipped with sales tax for it. To order this you have to create a parts account with Rivian. Details on that here: https://rivian.com/support/article/...tor-how-do-i-request-access-to-rivian-service

Once you have the account setup you can order from their incredible parts portal. I wish all OEMs had the ability to view parts diagrams like their portal gives you access to. It also gives you access to purchase a subscription of the workshop manual, rivian’s RiDE diagnostic software, and special tools including their diagnostic tool. The part number for the charging pad is: C101536602-B. In theory a service center can order it if you provide any G2 vin and the part number. It shouldn’t have any kind of markup either.

Video of charger working on my G1 2023 R1S:



I attached some pics of the old charger. I think others have shared this design before.. It’s a unit! I’m not sure who ever thought this would work well, but it’s a crazy contraption. It had to be incredibly expensive. For some reason I didn’t think to take pictures of the new one even though I took it apart. It is much smaller and simpler.

I may sell the wiring adapter and the charger through my company if theres enough interest. I was told by my buddy that works at Rivian that they got a message about these going on backorder. So we’ll see if we can even get them.

Click to expand...

Did you sign up for the repair access as a business or and individual?

That is a common design for inductive surfaces, not sure how rivian ever thought that would work in a vehicle, especially one that launches like a missile. Cool that you got it working, but the unit from @twraps solve the problem much easier and less expense

Super cool project! Any idea on how this compares to the TWRAPS MagSage charger for iPhone?

SolartoEV said:

Did you sign up for the repair access as a business or and individual?

Click to expand...

I signed up as a business.

SenatorSteak said:

Super cool project! Any idea on how this compares to the TWRAPS MagSage charger for iPhone?

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Well this isn’t two MagSafe pucks and doesn’t take up any USB ports. It’s a factory Rivian part.

UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan said:

As for the new factory pad, since it includes a key card reader, does a gen 1 car know what to do with it or that it is nonfunctional (but consumes power, however slight).

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I missed this question. I did not hook up the CAN lines to it so there's no communication with the vehicle to that function. I don't even think it'll necessarily consume any additional power. The charger works great with only power and ground hooked up. I have a lot of experience with Ford electronics architectures and they CAN connect their wireless charger so that it can lower the power when AM radio is active. This helps reduce interference. In an electric vehicle it's kind of silly because you'll still get AM interference from the inverters anyways.