NEMA 6-50R available in garage, any need for Rivian Charger?

[OhioMike]

The garage and barn where our hopefully soon to be delivered R1S (Oct - Dec 2022 window at last communication from Rivian) will rest are both wired with welding outlets (NEMA 6-50R I believe - the big 3 pin ones) on 50A breakers. Can these be used as is to charge the R1S? Does wiring in a Rivian Charger offer any advantages? Thanks for any insights, thoughts, warnings, etc.

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[tgo10000]

Short answer is Rivian Mobile charger uses 14-50 outlet so you would need an adapter 6-50 to 14-50 or rewire if you don’t have the the wiring. And depending on your needs would work fine.

If you are grandfathered into the Rivian charger at $500 it’s probably a fair price but doesn’t really have any additional needed functionality at the moment.

Edit: I rewired 6-50 to 14-50 but my panel is super close to the outlet.

 

[OhioMike]

Short answer is Rivian Mobile charger uses 14-50 outlet so you would need an adapter 6-50 to 14-50 or rewire if you don’t have the the wiring. And depending on your needs would work fine.

If you are grandfathered into the Rivian charger at $500 it’s probably a fair price but doesn’t really have any additional needed functionality at the moment.

Edit: I rewired 6-50 to 14-50 but my panel is super close to the outlet.

Yeah, I'm grandfathered in at the original price so I may go ahead and get it. If a 6-50 to 14-50 adapter works with the Rivian Mobile charger though that may be the way to go at least initially. The Rivian Mobile charger would have to not miss the neutral wire from the 14-50 if it does work since there's no neutral in the 6-50.

 

[mikehmb]

Check out the Munroe video on NEMA 14-50 outlets please. Running a questionable adapter through a 6-50 without a neutral scares the bejesus out of me.

Just have it re-wired to an industrial 14-50. More current capacity, but most importantly - safer.

 

[OhioMike]

Check out the Munroe video on NEMA 14-50 outlets please. Running a questionable adapter through a 6-50 without a neutral scares the bejesus out of me.

Just have it re-wired to an industrial 14-50. More current capacity, but most importantly - safer.

For the Rivian Mobile charger especially, a very good point. Really depends on what's inside it.

I should have researched this before posting, but better late .... The Rivian Wall Charging unit wiring diagram uses only hot1, hot2, and the ground. See pdf linked at https://rivian.com/support/article/wall-charger-installation-guide

Which means it could be wired into the current 6-50 outlet provided the DIP switches were set to 40A internally as called for in the installation guide for a 50A breaker. Going to a 14-50 isn't a bad idea though. But it would mean pulling new wire or at least running a neutral from the panel to the outlet if reusing the current wire. Plus switching the plugs on my welders or using a 14-50 male to 6-50 female adapter with them.

Maybe the answer is to just do it "right" from the beginning. Pulling new wire of sufficient size (#6 I would imagine) would let me use a 60A circuit breaker and charge a little faster with the direct wired Rivian wall charger. Might as well do this as a new circuit for the garage. In the barn, rather than getting a second wall charger, adding a 14-50 outlet on a 50A breaker for use with the Rivian Mobile charger would be pretty easy. That would leave both welder outlets alone.

Bit of a pain in the garage from an access standpoint, but there is room in either of the breaker boxes. We have two boxes in the main house - one backed up by a Tesla Wall and the other not backed up. The barn has it's own daughter box with plenty of space in it.

 

[Cosmacelf]

If you pull new wire, be aware that a 60A circuit will require #4 wire if you use Romex, and #6 if you use wire pulled inside a conduit, or #6 if you use MC 6-2 cable (https://wesbellwireandcable.com/blog/romex-vs-mc-cable/). You can't use either Romex or MC in wet conditions (like underground burial), of course.

 

[windblowlc]

I'd rather not do any plug-in and direct-wired both with 60 amp breakers and #6 thhn wiring, using the Rivian wall chargers. Cost more, but when you do it right from the start, you won't need to worry about issues later. Faster charging, ability to start/stop/set charging sessions from the Rivian app remotely - these are benefits you can realized in addition to the safety direct wiring wall chargers provide.

 

[OhioMike]

Appreciate the ideas and cautions! Leaning towards running #6 either in conduit or MC for the Rivian Charger which I'll install in the garage. As for the barn, will wait and see if the R1S spends enough time there to justify a dedicated charging set up. Unfortunately will have a little longer to wait on our R1S though. Had a "October to December 2022" delivery timeframe from way back that just became a January or February 2023 delivery timeframe in my Rivian account. :-(

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