Rivian R1S as a home power backup -- my experience

[Joe schmoe]

I’m typing this on my IPad which was charged in the Rivian, in a mostly dark house without electricity since Tuesday.

The Rivian is in the garage in camp mode, with two 50 foot heavy duty extension cords end to end reaching into the kitchen, running a large refrigerator, a freezer, and a Keurig coffeemaker. It’s used about 6% of the battery since last night, with temps in the 90s during the day, 80s at night.

I live in a charging desert, with the closest CCS charger a ChargePoint 3.1 miles from my house at a Mercedes dealer. 31kw at $20/hr which is about 8x my normal household rate. Next closest is a ChargePoint 23 miles away, which is free and 62kw. There is an EA station in town, but it has been completely offline for two months. There are a handful of 6kw level 2 chargers, but fewer than there were maybe 5 years ago.

There is a Tesla supercharger, fully functional, with 8 stalls a mile from my house, and two other sites in town, also functional. I can’t wait for NACS adapter.

A couple of lessons/observations:

I should have had extension cords ready to go ahead of time.

when the power went out, I only had 51% charge. I generally only plug in when I get down to 30% or so which for me is once or twice a week. If weather is expected, I should plug in/top off every time I pull in to the garage. This meant I had to go out after a couple of days and find a charger. (It’s my understanding that Tesla power walls will automatically charge to 100% if severe weather is forecast)

I can’t wait for V2H capability, so I can plug into a transfer switch.

an oversight on the R1S (IMHO) is the lack of 120v outlets accessible with the doors closed. The R1T has one in the bed, it would be nice to have one on the exterior of the S somewhere. A bigger inverter would be nice as well

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[COdogman]

If I were in your situation I would definitely plug in every time I park in the garage. With so few options near your home you should just charge to 70 or 80% each night. Your battery should be fine and that will only be necessary until the NACS adapter thing is worked out.

 

[Riviot]

an oversight on the R1S (IMHO) is the lack of 120v outlets accessible with the doors closed.

What about cracking a window?

 

[Joe schmoe]

What about cracking a window?

That’s fine in the garage, but if actually camping, you’ll let bugs into the Rivian.

 

[the_mace]

I got a Honda 6.5kW generator 20 years ago for about $3k. We dont lose power a lot but that has been a much more effective and low price long term solution than powerwalls, EVs etc. I'm on a well and have a farm so we must have water. The Rivian would be a nice backup but for home situations with higher power needs it may make sense to have a gas powered generator.

 

[Count Orlok]

Thanks for the data,

This is where my F-150 powerboost has advantages versus my R1S.

 

[Dark-Fx]

an oversight on the R1S (IMHO) is the lack of 120v outlets accessible with the doors closed.

On my S it's possible to feed a cable out the back and still close the tailgate/hatch. With the gate closed, tuck the cable between the upper plastic on the gate and the sill. Tape the cable down to the paint with some gaffer tape and run it out wherever you have the biggest panel gap between the liftgate and the satin trim. We did this when camping to run our hanging lights off the awning.

 

[Joe schmoe]

absolutely correct.

I do have a small portable generator, but it died, and probably isn’t worth fixing as it’s 20 years old

I’m taking the Rivian to the Oshkosh/Airventure air show next week—one of the reasons I’m driving instead of flying is to pick up a Honda generator, as they always have “show specials” and Honda is a perennial sponsor of the event.

im also breaking down and having a “whole house” NG generator installed as soon as they can get to it— the transfer switch I’m hoping can be used also for the Rivian (or future EV) V2H.

I’ve lived in Memphis most of my life. The reliability of the electrical grid has deteriorated sharply in recent years. It used to be that we’d go literally years between blackouts, and when the power did go out it was usually fixed within hours.

Now we have momentary losses on at least a monthly basis, and this is the second time this month already when we’ve been out more than 24 hours.

My house is terrible for solar, I have a heavily wooded lot and negligible south facing roof space.

 

[Hillbilly]

absolutely correct.

I do have a small portable generator, but it died, and probably isn’t worth fixing as it’s 20 years old

I’m taking the Rivian to the Oshkosh/Airventure air show next week—one of the reasons I’m driving instead of flying is to pick up a Honda generator, as they always have “show specials” and Honda is a perennial sponsor of the event.

im also breaking down and having a “whole house” NG generator installed as soon as they can get to it— the transfer switch I’m hoping can be used also for the Rivian (or future EV) V2H.

I’ve lived in Memphis most of my life. The reliability of the electrical grid has deteriorated sharply in recent years. It used to be that we’d go literally years between blackouts, and when the power did go out it was usually fixed within hours.

Now we have momentary losses on at least a monthly basis, and this is the second time this month already when we’ve been out more than 24 hours.

My house is terrible for solar, I have a heavily wooded lot and negligible south facing roof space.

Depending on the generator, I'd opt to repair the old one well before I would consider buying a new one. Frankly, it's a good diy thing if you have the time.

 

[Joe schmoe]

Depending on the generator, I'd opt to repair the old one well before I would consider buying a new one. Frankly, it's a good diy thing if you have the time.

Normally I would, but this one was cheap to begin with, and I’ve repaired and modified it (mostly the fuel system) enough that it’s worn out, and wasn’t that good to begin with.

My budget is more generous these days, and I can get more reliable, quieter, and more capacity.

 

[Dzsink]

absolutely correct.

I do have a small portable generator, but it died, and probably isn’t worth fixing as it’s 20 years old

I’m taking the Rivian to the Oshkosh/Airventure air show next week—one of the reasons I’m driving instead of flying is to pick up a Honda generator, as they always have “show specials” and Honda is a perennial sponsor of the event.

im also breaking down and having a “whole house” NG generator installed as soon as they can get to it— the transfer switch I’m hoping can be used also for the Rivian (or future EV) V2H.

I’ve lived in Memphis most of my life. The reliability of the electrical grid has deteriorated sharply in recent years. It used to be that we’d go literally years between blackouts, and when the power did go out it was usually fixed within hours.

Now we have momentary losses on at least a monthly basis, and this is the second time this month already when we’ve been out more than 24 hours.

My house is terrible for solar, I have a heavily wooded lot and negligible south facing roof space.

Sorry about you grid issue. On solar we have a terrible location and loads of shading. But still producing 12000KWH annually. System ROI is about 13 years.

 

[emoore]

absolutely correct.

I do have a small portable generator, but it died, and probably isn’t worth fixing as it’s 20 years old

I’m taking the Rivian to the Oshkosh/Airventure air show next week—one of the reasons I’m driving instead of flying is to pick up a Honda generator, as they always have “show specials” and Honda is a perennial sponsor of the event.

im also breaking down and having a “whole house” NG generator installed as soon as they can get to it— the transfer switch I’m hoping can be used also for the Rivian (or future EV) V2H.

I’ve lived in Memphis most of my life. The reliability of the electrical grid has deteriorated sharply in recent years. It used to be that we’d go literally years between blackouts, and when the power did go out it was usually fixed within hours.

Now we have momentary losses on at least a monthly basis, and this is the second time this month already when we’ve been out more than 24 hours.

My house is terrible for solar, I have a heavily wooded lot and negligible south facing roof space.

Can you put a ground mounted solar system instead of roof mounted? If I had that many grid issues I'd be looking for anyway to put a solar/battery system in. I don't like the idea of natural gas generators.

 

[Lanky Kale]

Where in Tennessee are you, if you don't mind my asking? I'm planning a road trip in a couple weeks that will go through TN for a little bit, and this is suddenly making me nervous ?

 

[Joe schmoe]

Sorry about you grid issue. On solar we have a terrible location and loads of shading. But still producing 12000KWH annually. System ROI is about 13 years.

I’m somewhat envious that your ROI is that good
One of our “problems” here is that electricity is currently so cheap (less than $0.10/kWh and no TOU or other gimmicks) that solar just doesn’t pencil out, even with federal incentives.

I’ve looked at solar at least 3 times for my office, which has an excellent flat roof with room for about 20kw worth of panels.

The best payback we saw was almost 40 years, well beyond the expected life of the panels. It would be -much- longer in the current interest rate environment.

we looked at everything, revamping the 35 year old HVAC systems wasn’t remotely cost effective, and the building’s envelope/insulation was good enough they didn’t recommend changing or adding g anything.

the only thing that did pencil out was LED lighting—they guaranteed a 5 year payback of the $80K in costs, and we actually made it in just over 3 years.

 

[Joe schmoe]

Where in Tennessee are you, if you don't mind my asking? I'm planning a road trip in a couple weeks that will go through TN for a little bit, and this is suddenly making me nervous ?

I’m in Memphis. Traveling through you’ll be fine, as you can charge at EA stations in Jackson, TN and Forest City AR. Both are limited to around 130 kw, but otherwise seem reliable. About 110 miles between them.
Franklin, TN seems to be chronically severely throttled (30-60kw) but there are a lot of other options around Nashville.

what part of TN and which direction?
it’s West Tennessee that has the dearth of chargers

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