Qmerit - Rivian Home Charger Installation Experience

[DucRider]

What kind of wiring would you suggest? I just bought 75 feet of this 6/3 romex stuff, ran it and installed charger for my RAV4 EV - which will be fine. But I didn't run the other line for the Rivian yet. My line is about 30 feet (hince why I bought 75 feet for 2 lines). I've got a big enough box for both - brand new build and made sure of that.

6/3 romex can handle up to 55A or a 44A EVSE, but I don't know that you can find a 55A breaker or an EVSE that can be set to 44A. Practically speaking, you will have a 50A circuit that will support a 40A EVSE.
If you want to run the Rivian EVSE at 48A it will require a 60A circuit.

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[SANZC02]

What kind of wiring would you suggest? I just bought 75 feet of this 6/3 romex stuff, ran it and installed charger for my RAV4 EV - which will be fine. But I didn't run the other line for the Rivian yet. My line is about 30 feet (hince why I bought 75 feet for 2 lines). I've got a big enough box for both - brand new build and made sure of that.

6/3 Romex on a 50 AMP breaker is good for 40 amp charging, on a 60 amp Breaker it is good for 44 amps (there are no 55amp breakers so you can go up to the 60 but the line is only limited to the wire rating) 6AWG Romex is only rated at 55 amps so you can only go to 80% of that for a continuous load.

If you want to get the full 48 amps you need to go with 6AWG THHN in conduit on a 60 amp breaker.

EDIT: this is the section for the breaker

 

[johnnylawson]

6/3 Romex on a 50 AMP breaker is good for 40 amp charging, on a 60 amp Breaker it is good for 44 amps (there are no 55amp breakers so you can go up to the 60 but the line is only limited to the wire rating) 6AWG Romex is only rated at 55 amps so you can only go to 80% of that for a continuous load.

If you want to get the full 48 amps you need to go with 6AWG THHN in conduit on a 60 amp breaker.

EDIT: this is the section for the breaker

Thanks - makes since. I have the 60 amp breaker so I just need to swap out my wire. Already was doing conduit. Thanks

 

[lefkonj]

I needed 2 circuits moved to my sub panel, the 50AMP circuit pulled about 150 feet, and a module for my generator installed, cost me $2000

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Thanks - makes since. I have the 60 amp breaker so I just need to swap out my wire. Already was doing conduit. Thanks

AFAIK, you shouldn’t put NM (Romex) in conduit, anyway.

 

[johnnylawson]

AFAIK, you shouldn’t put NM (Romex) in conduit, anyway.

I read about that and it was like 50/50 on the net if it was alright or not. I got 1 inch conduit to give it plenty of breathing room for the heat to escape out the top.

 

[dfx]

I read about that and it was like 50/50 on the net if it was alright or not. I got 1 inch conduit to give it plenty of breathing room for the heat to escape out the top.

Wait--if you're running EMT why bother with Romex , just go with THHN

 

[TessP100D]

don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t do it myself. I will also add that I don’t have enough power to use the Rivian charger to its fullest abilities. I’m going to have to down rate it to 40 amps. If I wanted to get a full 100 amps to my garage it would cost a lot more money as I would have to rewire everything from the main to the subpanel. Not ready to do that yet

Part of owning an EV is upgrading your main service panel. Sub panel and all the stuff that is required to get the right voltage to your needed location. You will won’t care about the cost when you plug in every night and you won’t miss passing all the gas stations as you drive your bad ass RT1.

 

[TessP100D]

I just did two at my house in Seattle. Quotes varied quite a bit, but outside of Seattle proper (technically unincorporated KC):
$100 to pull the permit.
$695 to install the EVSE for a 60 amp hardwire. Length of run that you need makes a different. I had to run my interior one to the opposite wall on the garage.
+$395 if you need to reconfigure the panel.

Edit: also, plan ahead. As with everything else, it seems like electricians are busy.

And you need to know exactly where you will park the truck and where the outlet will be. The cord is pretty short. Measure twice and cut once.

 

[SeaGeo]

And you need to know exactly where you will park the truck and where the outlet will be. The cord is pretty short. Measure twice and cut once.

I mean, most are 25 ft, but yeah plan it out.

 

[TessP100D]

I mean, most are 25 ft, but yeah plan it out.

My original gen 1 Tesla wall charger has a 25’ cord. But all the. We ones are shorter. 20’ I think.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

My original gen 1 Tesla wall charger has a 25’ cord. But all the. We ones are shorter. 20’ I think.

Tesla Wall Connector Gen 3 (current) has a 24' cable.

 

[johnnylawson]

Wait--if you're running EMT why bother with Romex , just go with THHN

Right - but I already bought romex (and cut to length so no return), ran it for one charger. For the Rivian I'll get the THHN. Should of done the THHN the whole time but you learn as you go

 

[Eeyore]

I ran 6/3 THHN wire which is rated for 75 amps at 90C.

Actually, you can't use 90C as your rating factor unless all the parts of the circuit also have a 90C rating. That includes the breaker, the outlet, and/or any wire terminating parts. If any 1 of those things is rated for only 70C, then the whole circuit can have the max ampacity that 70C can have.

 

[flabyboy]

Is it known how long the Rivian Wall chargers cable is?

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