Tesla engineer urges Rivian to move charge port location on R2, R3, R3X for Supercharger access

Electric Rivilution · Mar 8, 2024

Wes Morrill, lead engineer for the Cybertruck, just tweeted this:

@RJScaringe @nkalayjian cool product. Great looking prototypes. I know how these things go, there is still time to move the charge port location. It will take some re-engineering but the tools are not kicked off yet. This location will forever doom all Rivian owners to be the jerk taking two spots at a Tesla charger, don't do that to your customers. I know the Rivian network has been installed to support the front left/rear right but there are <500 adventure network fast charge handles vs more than 50,000 supercharger handles. You've done the right thing for customers moving to NACS, take it the last mile and put it in a location that works seamlessly with existing infrastructure. Can be the front right if you are trying to optimize for street parking. Looking forward to charging harmoniously with a great looking EV.

Here's the current charger port location on the R2 and R3.

Rivian R1T R1S Tesla engineer urges Rivian to move charge port location on R2, R3, R3X for Supercharger access Rivian R3 charge port location

Rivian R1T R1S Tesla engineer urges Rivian to move charge port location on R2, R3, R3X for Supercharger access Rivian R2 charge port location

Dark-Fx · Mar 8, 2024

Tesla could actually put longer cords in like they've said they are going to.

aAlpine · Mar 8, 2024

RJ addressed this in an interview with Eletrek:
* They don't want to fuck over existing Rivian owners with their home charging setup
* It's cheaper for them for the single motor version since they don't have to run as much HV wiring
* The Tesla cable reaches fine as-is because the port is close enough to the back corner

My own opinion: Tesla put it in the wrong spot to begin with. If you want charging in the side of the roads to be reasonable (L2 chargers at every light pole!), for those that don't have garages, you want the port on the passenger side. Plus, there's already a ton of other cars with the same problem at current Superchargers and the cables already need to and will be changing for the V4 cabinets.

Dukecj · Mar 8, 2024

Tesla made Superchargers pubic chargers. Now its time to adjust to your customers because only jerks expect their customers to adjust to them. So, perhaps Tesla could have added longer cords before they opened to everyone, but they care more about the bottom line instead of Tesla owners.

manitou202 · Mar 8, 2024

The current R1 location is the best. Having it in the rear is a pain with a hitch mounted bike rack or a trailer.

Tesla can suck it.

RandomMcRandomFace · Mar 8, 2024

aAlpine said:
RJ addressed this in an interview with Eletrek:
* They don't want to fuck over existing Rivian owners with their home charging setup
* It's cheaper for them for the single motor version since they don't have to run as much HV wiring
* The Tesla cable reaches fine as-is because the port is close enough to the back corner

My own opinion: Tesla put it in the wrong spot to begin with. If you want charging in the side of the roads to be reasonable (L2 chargers at every light pole!), for those that don't have garages, you want the port on the passenger side. Plus, there's already a ton of other cars with the same problem at current Superchargers and the cables already need to and will be changing for the V4 cabinets.

What am I missing on the first point? The charge port is now located at the furthest corner from the current location. My charger is right next to the front/driver’s side. Now I need to have a cable long enough to reach the far back/passenger side. Isn’t it in the worst location (note: doesn’t matter to me, I am not getting one) but it seems to be the worst of all worlds.

HaveBlue · Mar 8, 2024

I don't think single or dual motor makes a difference for the charge port HV wiring. The motors are AC and the charge port thick wiring is DC. The inverters are in the back though so a rear port would be closer.

Front right would be fine as it allows charging without removing that fancy prototype bicycle rack or trailer every time. It allows street side parking and most home ac chargers will probably reach the other front side anyway. It would mess up the ran setup though and the ran 6 station design means a higher percentage of unusable stations. Pull through ones might have an issue as well coming from the other side.

You know what would work perfect? Front middle!

COdogman · Mar 8, 2024

Not surprised a Tesla employee thinks the entire world revolves around Tesla.

IMO charging stations should all have longer cables and all EVs should have 2 ports to make it easier for everyone everywhere.

tyknots · Mar 8, 2024

To me it isn't about compatibility with superchargers, most charging is at home and I don't want to have to walk around my vehicle to plug in. I think it should be on the driver side, front or back.

pricedm · Mar 8, 2024

Front side (for less issues with bikes on hitch rack; vehicles with trailer, etc.) and passenger side (to support shorter cords for curb-side urban parking/charging) is the "ideal" location. Most EVs did not think big picture about chargeport placement.

Chewy734 · Mar 8, 2024

Rivian could’ve/should’ve made it on the front passenger side to still meet all those points RJ made and be compatible with current Tesla superchargers. Plus it’s better if you’re pulling a trailer.

Hopefully it’s something they aren’t too stubborn about and can move it before production.

KeithPleas · Mar 8, 2024

COdogman said:
Not surprised a Tesla employee thinks the entire world revolves around Tesla.

Not just a Tesla employee, the freaking lead CyberTruck engineer - because he is SO focused on usability. <eyeroll>

Cascadian · Mar 8, 2024

That location has been bugging me since yesterday.

Personally my R1S and Volt have front left. Easy access for driver and my garage setup is optimized for that.

I understand that rear ones allow less wiring inside the vehicle (cheaper) but I hate backing into parking spots. Why do truck drivers appear to prefer that? It beats me.
What if you have something attached to your tow fitting?
Does rear location result in higher installation costs for home owners?

R2 and R3 location still doesn’t match with Tesla stations.

Why worry about the few R1 owners when location should be optimized for the 100,000s of future owners?

duessell · Mar 8, 2024

Longer cords means more copper to deal with increased resistance. It hurts efficiency and increases the cost of cord vandalism and theft. Moreover, it increases the value to thieves.

I know it would add cost but I'd love two charge ports, one on each front quarter panel.

Chrisy · Mar 8, 2024

RandomMcRandomFace said:
What am I missing on the first point? The charge port is now located at the furthest corner from the current location. My charger is right next to the front/driver’s side. Now I need to have a cable long enough to reach the far back/passenger side. Isn’t it in the worst location (note: doesn’t matter to me, I am not getting one) but it seems to be the worst of all worlds.

Basically if you change from backing-in to front-in (or vice versa) the R2 charging port will be at the same exact spot. I think that is what RJ means.

Super quick excel drawing:

Tesla engineer urges Rivian to move charge port location on R2, R3, R3X for Supercharger access

Electric Rivilution

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Dark-Fx

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aAlpine

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Dukecj

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manitou202

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RandomMcRandomFace

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HaveBlue

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COdogman

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tyknots

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pricedm

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Chewy734

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