Rivian wall charger - disappointing

[gj_washington]

I have been overall very happy with my Rivian R1T and the way it is supported. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the Rivian Wall Charger. I am sharing my experience so far in the hope that (a) Rivian is listening and (b) others considering the Rivian wall charger are suitably informed.
I installed the wall charger at around the same time as I took delivery of the Rivian in July 2022 using the direct-wired approach with a newly laid copper 60A capacity line and a matching breaker.
The installation and first six months of use of the Rivian Wall charger was flawless. I got consistent 11kw charging as specified. In March/April, I started seeing intermittent halts in the charging progress. This became extremely annoying when I had a long trip planned in the morning for which I would plug in the previous evening only to discover just before leaving that the charging had stopped at a level much below my target. It wasn't clear to me (and still isn't) if this was the result of a software update to the charger, to the truck or degradation of the charger cable.
My support calls to Rivian went unanswered for a while with promises to report the case to the wall charger team. I was asked to submit photographs of my wall charger installation.
I got an email after much delay saying that "
After reviewing the media you sent over, it appears that aluminum conductors were used in place of the copper that is required per the installation guide. We kindly ask that you work with your electrician to get the wall charger rewired with copper as soon as possible."
Except, this assertion is false as the electrician had used Copper, not Aluminum.

Finally in the July software update, Rivian truck software introduced a feature to lower the charging rate if the plug got too hot. This was a helpful mitigation as it reduced the severity of the problem to one where the overall charging time was just expanded as opposed to being unbounded. Indeed, the charging sessions after this update always ramp up to 11kw and then ramp down settling at something closer to 7kw with a warning on the display "Charging - slower due to warm plug".

This solves part of the mystery and I appreciate the 'fix' in the July update. However, it seems pretty clear to me that the Wall charger I have is not behaving to specification (48A, 11KW) and Rivian is dancing around to avoid admitting this.
In a recent support communication from the "Home Charging Team" the message is that what I am seeing is "normal behavior" and should no longer be an issue when the outside temperatures start to cool down.
As another datapoint, I have charged multiple times at a Chargepoint Wall charger and always got a consistent 9Kw (not 11kw because the Chargepoint is plugged into a NEMA 14-50 and not direct wired).
In summary, my perspective so far is that:
(a) Rivian Wall Charger is not a reliable option for those looking for the fastest home charging rate.
(b) Rivian Wall Charger support is not the same level as Rivian R1 support.

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[VSG]

I think you should check your connections inside the charger. Six months of use means those wires have been energized/heated and de-energized/cooled repeatedly, with corresponding expansion/contraction at the connections. 48A continuous current puts a lot more stress on a connection than the few amps of temporary use that a 5-15 outlet typically supplies. If the screws weren't torqued down well it's entirely possible that the wires have loosened and you now have excess heating due to increased resistance at the connection. There have been a number of reports from people who have had similar problems that were due to loose connections.

Because your charger has been working "flawlessly" for six months, I think this is much more likely than there being a design problem in the charger.

 

[Jodys18]

Mine does this as well; only when it's extremely hot outside. I've also been told this is normal due to the heat in my garage during the summer. The best charger is the universal wall charger from Tesla. Combo CCS/NACS all in one, and it's cheaper!

 

[michaelcasto]

I have been overall very happy with my Rivian R1T and the way it is supported. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the Rivian Wall Charger. I am sharing my experience so far in the hope that (a) Rivian is listening and (b) others considering the Rivian wall charger are suitably informed.
I installed the wall charger at around the same time as I took delivery of the Rivian in July 2022 using the direct-wired approach with a newly laid copper 60A capacity line and a matching breaker.
The installation and first six months of use of the Rivian Wall charger was flawless. I got consistent 11kw charging as specified. In March/April, I started seeing intermittent halts in the charging progress. This became extremely annoying when I had a long trip planned in the morning for which I would plug in the previous evening only to discover just before leaving that the charging had stopped at a level much below my target. It wasn't clear to me (and still isn't) if this was the result of a software update to the charger, to the truck or degradation of the charger cable.
My support calls to Rivian went unanswered for a while with promises to report the case to the wall charger team. I was asked to submit photographs of my wall charger installation.
I got an email after much delay saying that "
After reviewing the media you sent over, it appears that aluminum conductors were used in place of the copper that is required per the installation guide. We kindly ask that you work with your electrician to get the wall charger rewired with copper as soon as possible."
Except, this assertion is false as the electrician had used Copper, not Aluminum.

Finally in the July software update, Rivian truck software introduced a feature to lower the charging rate if the plug got too hot. This was a helpful mitigation as it reduced the severity of the problem to one where the overall charging time was just expanded as opposed to being unbounded. Indeed, the charging sessions after this update always ramp up to 11kw and then ramp down settling at something closer to 7kw with a warning on the display "Charging - slower due to warm plug".

This solves part of the mystery and I appreciate the 'fix' in the July update. However, it seems pretty clear to me that the Wall charger I have is not behaving to specification (48A, 11KW) and Rivian is dancing around to avoid admitting this.
In a recent support communication from the "Home Charging Team" the message is that what I am seeing is "normal behavior" and should no longer be an issue when the outside temperatures start to cool down.
As another datapoint, I have charged multiple times at a Chargepoint Wall charger and always got a consistent 9Kw (not 11kw because the Chargepoint is plugged into a NEMA 14-50 and not direct wired).
In summary, my perspective so far is that:
(a) Rivian Wall Charger is not a reliable option for those looking for the fastest home charging rate.
(b) Rivian Wall Charger support is not the same level as Rivian R1 support.

Same thing happened to me and with the aluminum wires used by my electrician Rivian would not warranty the charger. Luckily my electrician refunded me my 1200$ and I was able to get a new Rivian charger on EBay for 500$ new in box, and have new copper wires installed for 800$. I think Rivian needs to do better with letting customers know because I didn’t know the difference in wires but maybe I should have read the instructions and made sure he used copper. ? glad my house didn’t burn down.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

Mine does this as well; only when it's extremely hot outside. I've also been told this is normal due to the heat in my garage during the summer. The best charger is the universal wall charger from Tesla. Combo CCS/NACS all in one, and it's cheaper!

The update to the wall charger software is absolutely a poor work around to a problem with the Rivian charging system/vehicle interfeace itself. I live in AZ (hot) and prior to the software update to step down power delivery to the battery, it would just Redlight and shut down. If I keep a fan on it, it will run at full power.

The 2023 Model Y, using the exact same Rivian Wallcharger will run at a full 11kW in the same garage under the identical temperatures, so the issue is not the Wall Charger....

 

[AYAYRON]

I have been overall very happy with my Rivian R1T and the way it is supported. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the Rivian Wall Charger. I am sharing my experience so far in the hope that (a) Rivian is listening and (b) others considering the Rivian wall charger are suitably informed.
I installed the wall charger at around the same time as I took delivery of the Rivian in July 2022 using the direct-wired approach with a newly laid copper 60A capacity line and a matching breaker.
The installation and first six months of use of the Rivian Wall charger was flawless. I got consistent 11kw charging as specified. In March/April, I started seeing intermittent halts in the charging progress. This became extremely annoying when I had a long trip planned in the morning for which I would plug in the previous evening only to discover just before leaving that the charging had stopped at a level much below my target. It wasn't clear to me (and still isn't) if this was the result of a software update to the charger, to the truck or degradation of the charger cable.
My support calls to Rivian went unanswered for a while with promises to report the case to the wall charger team. I was asked to submit photographs of my wall charger installation.
I got an email after much delay saying that "
After reviewing the media you sent over, it appears that aluminum conductors were used in place of the copper that is required per the installation guide. We kindly ask that you work with your electrician to get the wall charger rewired with copper as soon as possible."
Except, this assertion is false as the electrician had used Copper, not Aluminum.

Finally in the July software update, Rivian truck software introduced a feature to lower the charging rate if the plug got too hot. This was a helpful mitigation as it reduced the severity of the problem to one where the overall charging time was just expanded as opposed to being unbounded. Indeed, the charging sessions after this update always ramp up to 11kw and then ramp down settling at something closer to 7kw with a warning on the display "Charging - slower due to warm plug".

This solves part of the mystery and I appreciate the 'fix' in the July update. However, it seems pretty clear to me that the Wall charger I have is not behaving to specification (48A, 11KW) and Rivian is dancing around to avoid admitting this.
In a recent support communication from the "Home Charging Team" the message is that what I am seeing is "normal behavior" and should no longer be an issue when the outside temperatures start to cool down.
As another datapoint, I have charged multiple times at a Chargepoint Wall charger and always got a consistent 9Kw (not 11kw because the Chargepoint is plugged into a NEMA 14-50 and not direct wired).
In summary, my perspective so far is that:
(a) Rivian Wall Charger is not a reliable option for those looking for the fastest home charging rate.
(b) Rivian Wall Charger support is not the same level as Rivian R1 support.

I called them a few months ago (May I think) as the truck would stop charging, they replaced the charger immediately, what I don't know is, what about my case lead them to replace it OR was I an early failure so that is the reason they replaced it only to find that they did not spec them properly to run in hot weather garages?


Either way since they replaced the charger there have been no problems, I received the truck September 2022, so this was the first Texas Summer the charger experienced and it really didn't even make it to summer temps, it made it only to May, Since that time I have not looked at it to see if it gives this warning.

I'm really wondering if they discovered a problem with the early failures like mine or earlier than mine, then they updated the build components in the charger, and right after that realized they could just lower the amperage with an update which eliminates them replacing all the chargers.

 

[AYAYRON]

Same thing happened to me and with the aluminum wires used by my electrician Rivian would not warranty the charger. Luckily my electrician refunded me my 1200$ and I was able to get a new Rivian charger on EBay for 500$ new in box, and have new copper wires installed for 800$. I think Rivian needs to do better with letting customers know because I didn’t know the difference in wires but maybe I should have read the instructions and made sure he used copper. ? glad my house didn’t burn down.

For what it's worth that electrician should have known, not you, that Alum wasn't ok. I haven't seen alum used in home wiring in forever, I can't imagine the electrician that did the work is actually licensed, the standard has been copper for 50 years.

 

[gj_washington]

Same thing happened to me and with the aluminum wires used by my electrician Rivian would not warranty the charger. Luckily my electrician refunded me my 1200$ and I was able to get a new Rivian charger on EBay for 500$ new in box, and have new copper wires installed for 800$. I think Rivian needs to do better with letting customers know because I didn’t know the difference in wires but maybe I should have read the instructions and made sure he used copper. ? glad my house didn’t burn down.

This looks pretty scary. Glad the damage was contained to the charger. In my case, the wire was copper according to spec. Rivian incorrectly claimed it was aluminum from the photos (not sure how one can tell from the photos because if its done properly there's no metal visible)

 

[gj_washington]

For what it's worth that electrician should have known, not you, that Alum wasn't ok. I haven't seen alum used in home wiring in forever, I can't imagine the electrician that did the work is actually licensed, the standard has been copper for 50 years.

Actually the main connection to the house panel is often aluminum wire but you are correct that copper is used internally.

 

[gj_washington]

I called them a few months ago (May I think) as the truck would stop charging, they replaced the charger immediately, what I don't know is, what about my case lead them to replace it OR was I an early failure so that is the reason they replaced it only to find that they did not spec them properly to run in hot weather garages?


Either way since they replaced the charger there have been no problems, I received the truck September 2022, so this was the first Texas Summer the charger experienced and it really didn't even make it to summer temps, it made it only to May, Since that time I have not looked at it to see if it gives this warning.

I'm really wondering if they discovered a problem with the early failures like mine or earlier than mine, then they updated the build components in the charger, and right after that realized they could just lower the amperage with an update which eliminates them replacing all the chargers.

That's what I think too. Very plausible. It would be expensive to replace a bunch of chargers - the installer cost would be higher than the product. Thinking in terms of Rivian's business, it seems a questionable idea to get into selling chargers in the first place, when there are so many alternative suppliers.

 

[AYAYRON]

That's what I think too. Very plausible. It would be expensive to replace a bunch of chargers - the installer cost would be higher than the product. Thinking in terms of Rivian's business, it seems a questionable idea to get into selling chargers in the first place, when there are so many alternative suppliers.

I'm nearly 100% confident someone else made this charger and the only thing Rivian participated with is the design of the plastic housing (just my gut feeling)

Also it took them 15 minutes to replace my wall charger (as the original electrician did a good job installing it so they only needed to turn off circuit breakers, undo the few electrical connections and remount the new box / reconnect/ turn on breakers)

 

[ironpig]

I don't think it matters what charger you use. The throttling is on the truck side.

I use a Tesla charger and recently noticed that my charge rate was dropping to 7KW often . It's frustrating, but when I checked the plug ( a lectron adapter on an OG Tesla charger) it was pretty warm. I took it off and put it in the freezer for a minute to get it back to room temp, plugged it back in and I was charging at 11KW again.

Until it throttled to 7KW about 20 minutes later.....

Unfortunately, I think the bigger issue is the software throttling and Rivian maybe being overly cautious about heat. OR realizing that their charge port can't handle heat as well as those on other EVs?

Either way it's annoying.

 

[BrianNakata]

It says right in the charger manual for the table of required wire gauges, "Cu only".

I had an electrician come out to quote installation and came to find out in our conversation that he intended to use Al wire. I called him back and requested a quote using Cu wire as that was only what I'd accept. He must have been offended because he ghosted me after that so I had another electrician do the installation and they used Cu.

 

[Greg Chick]

I think you should check your connections inside the charger. Six months of use means those wires have been energized/heated and de-energized/cooled repeatedly, with corresponding expansion/contraction at the connections. 48A continuous current puts a lot more stress on a connection than the few amps of temporary use that a 5-15 outlet typically supplies. If the screws weren't torqued down well it's entirely possible that the wires have loosened and you now have excess heating due to increased resistance at the connection. There have been a number of reports from people who have had similar problems that were due to loose connections.

Because your charger has been working "flawlessly" for six months, I think this is much more likely than there being a design problem in the charger.

The professional electrician uses a process when torquing the lugs down. You Tube has video. I have my Rivian charger that has charges with 100+ degrees ambient temperature and charged 42 amps for 5 hours without tripping.

 

[eRacer]

Could the software update be a result of this incicent? https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/electrify-america-burns-a-rivian-down.15820/

There hasn't been any updates regarding the incident.

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