Charging Situation Curiosity

[shimps1]

R1S quad delivery is coming up in Q1 24, and my wife and I are planning on keeping it, but we have a 4-5 trips a year that make me nervous.

From our house, to her parents house, is 117 miles. While we are there, we would only have access to a standard 110v plug to charge the R1. There are no charging stations along the route, and the closest charging station near their house is 20 miles away, and per the Rivian app, it's only a 60kW max charger.

We often drive to visit them in the winter (Iowa), where it's essentially 32 degrees or less, and often below zero. Where they live can get very cold, sub-zero regularly.

For a 3-4 day trip, if we drove the R1 there (leave our house with 100%), left it parked, plugged in, in an un-heated garage while there, would we have enough juice to make it back? Conserve mode would be used whenever possible on the highway, but not if it's snowy.

My simple math says yes, but given her right wing family, the last thing I want to do is drive it 20 miles out of the way just to charge up, or worse, have it die on the way home.

There is a route that does take us past chargers, but it adds about 30 minutes to the trip, plus charging time. This is essentially the deal worst case scenario for our R1 use, so I want to make sure it can handle it before taking delivery.

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[SANZC02]

No chance to add a 220 volt outlet at the destination? Even a small 30 amp circuit would let you charge at 24 amps, that is 10-12 miles an hour and would easily solve that issue.

 

[mlondre]

You won’t have any problem at all, guaranteed! I charged at a friends cabin last weekend for 36 hours and added about 50 kWh using a 120v receptacle. If you’re plugged in for 3-4 days you’ll easily have 100% battery by the Time you leave, including some minor driving around during your stay. Have no fear!

 

[Thedude]

You won’t have any problem at all, guaranteed! I charged at a friends cabin last weekend for 36 hours and added about 50 kWh using a 120v receptacle. If you’re plugged in for 3-4 days you’ll easily have 100% battery by the Time you leave, including some minor driving around during your stay. Have no fear!

In above freezing temps I’d agree with you. Cold weather 120v charging is much, much less efficient. At 0° I’ve seen negative charging - actually losing battery charge while plugged into 120v.

 

[SSteveEV]

In above freezing temps I’d agree with you. Cold weather 120v charging is much, much less efficient. At 0° I’ve seen negative charging - actually losing battery charge while plugged into 120v.

Agreed here on the temp being a big factor.
Other question is speed on your drive. Is it a 50mph drive or a 70+ drive?
If you cruise along county roads at 50 getting there in conserve I'd be pretty confident turning around and making it home on one charge with just the garage plug to limit vampire drain (I'm expecting it to eat 3%/day again this winter)

 

[moosetags]

Given your circumstances, I would strongly consider putting a 14-50 outlet at your wife's parents' place, at your expense, of course. That way if you or they ever get an RV, you're all set. You are also all set for the Rivian. We did this 20 years ago at SuEllyn's parents' house for our Airstream.

Brian

 

[Trandall]

I have no experience charging on 120V but I do with driving in cold temperates.
I'd say you would make it round trip with no charging unless temperatures are <15 degrees and/ or the roads are snow covered or stiff head winds (combinations of the three). After putting 35K miles on my R1T if my worst use case required a 30 minute longer route, + 10 minute charge once or twice a year that's a trade off that's well worth the benefit of the 99.9% of driving a Rivian where I'm not wasting time at a DCFC.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

Sub zero temps are very hard on range! In an unheated garage on 120v in sub zero temps I'm not sure you will gain enough charge. The truck will use a lot more energy while driving and range will be significantly reduced. In those temps the rated range can drop by 40%. The need for battery conditioning will use more energy than the 120v can supply so at the very least the battery will lose charge while conditioning and plugged in to 120v. If it conditions a lot then you may not gain much charge at all over those 3-4 days.

TLDR plan on using a public charger or try to get a 14-50 plug at their house. You may also be able to use a dryer plug if one is available (you will need an adapter and to limit charge to 24 amps).

 

[Dark-Fx]

Most likely would be okay with no charging unless you're the type of person to still do the trip with a blizzard both ways. Then all bets are off.

 

[COdogman]

I don’t think you will have any trouble at all. I only have access to a 120v outlet in my condo garage so I plug in using the Rivian portable charging cable every time I park at home. It reliably adds about 2-3 miles per hour that it’s plugged in. So if you are just leaving it parked while there you should be able to get it back to 100% or very close to it.

 

[csharp]

Yes, you should be fine. Best option would be to have a charger installed at their house but I doubt they will go for it. See if you can convince them to have a 240v outlet installed in the garage or outside.
The other option... do they already have a dryer installed somewhere close to the outside where you could get a splitter and then run a 240 extension cord to your mobile charger? If the dryer is less than 50 ft to a spot you could park, I would go that route.

 

[supernu8]

You should have no problem making that trip during non-freezing temps with 120v charging.
For the situations where you are in sub freezing weather, it seems you could make a last minute decision before your return trip home to take the long route with dcfc.

Either way it would be worth the effort to get some type of level 2 capability setup at their place if they are receptive to the idea. It would be less stress those 5x/year and give you more flexibility.

 

[Riviot]

Her dad is an electrician, so adding a 220 into their garage should be very easy, I just don't want to inconvenience them with our vehicle choice.

That sounds like a perfect father/son-in-law bonding moment! Just be honest, cover the parts costs (including EVSE), and ask to help and learn. "Right wing" isn't the enemy, they're literally your family now. And let him claim the tax write-off, credit Trump.

Also every time you visit and charge from now on, bring a $30-50 gift or buy dinner/drinks, if you don't already.

 

[Litup]

Sub zero temps are very hard on range! In an unheated garage on 120v in sub zero temps I'm not sure you will gain enough charge. The truck will use a lot more energy while driving and range will be significantly reduced. In those temps the rated range can drop by 40%. The need for battery conditioning will use more energy than the 120v can supply so at the very least the battery will lose charge while conditioning and plugged in to 120v. If it conditions a lot then you may not gain much charge at all over those 3-4 days.

TLDR plan on using a public charger or try to get a 14-50 plug at their house. You may also be able to use a dryer plug if one is available (you will need an adapter and to limit charge to 24 amps).

My dryer breaker is 30 amps. And the adapter supplied by Rivian doesn’t fit in …

would such an adapter work. And if so. Where do I get one? My wall charger won’t be installed for a month or so

thanks in advance and didn’t mean to hijacke the thread.

 

[supernu8]

R1S will come with a portable charger with two swappable plugs - (1) standard 120v and (1) L14-50 that is maxes out at 32A.
You could get ev capable adapters online but its not typically a user friendly experience.

I'd float the idea by of putting in a L14-50 outlet on a 40A or 50A circuit (at your cost). If he's a reasonable person he will see that its not much of an inconvenience, and that could be offset by the "free" rivian chauffer service provided everytime you're in town.

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