Level II Charging

[Michael Kelly]

Hello Rivian friends, 2023 R1T guy here. Awhile back I installed a 40A circuit w/outlet to use for charging, this prior to owning the Rivian. The outlet recently overheated & partially melted. Electrician was there today & installing a beefier outlet but stated that he didn't think those outlets were rated for that much continuous load, over hours & hours. He asked if there's a way to program the Rivian to not exceed 40 amps & I have no idea, but reading your guys post I'm quite impressed w/level of knowledge. And while I'm at it, I was told to program the car to not exceed 80% charge & have no idea how to do that either. Any insight into these topics appreciated.

Sponsored

 

[Swezey]

 

[VSG]

I'm going to assume:

1. You have a 40A circuit (i.e. a 40A breaker with the appropriate gauge wiring).
2. You have a NEMA 14-50 outlet.
3. You are using the Rivian portable charger that came with your Rivian.

In this case, you should NEVER have to adjust the charging current. The Rivian portable charger automatically limits the maximum current to 32A, which is 80% of 40A. It does this because a NEMA 14-50 outlet is allowed to be attached to a 40A circuit, by code. And because you are only allowed to draw 80% of the circuit rating for continuous use applications, like EV charging, by code.

 

[VSG]

To be clear, if you are using the Rivian portable charger with one of the included pigtails and with no third-party adapter cables, you do not have to worry about messing with the current settings in your vehicle.

The setting to reduce the current is there for when:

1. You are using one of those third-party adapter cables to plug into an outlet other than a NEMA 14-50 or NEMA 5-15 (in which case your portable charger can't detect the maximum current the circuit is rated for), or
2. You are plugged into an iffy outlet that is not up to code (in which case you want to use less power than it should be able to give you), or
3. You want to trickle charge, slower than normal, for some reason like long-term storage.

If none of these apply in your situation, then you can ignore that setting inside your vehicle.

 

[Cascadian]

To limit charging to a percentage of battery capacity swipe up from lower task bar to see charging settings icon (lightning bolt).
You can drag the right end of the green section or single click on a preset level.

 

[Michael Kelly]

I am on a 40 amp circuit with 15-40 out....but I am not using a Rivian portable charge cable (I though the one that came with the vehicle was strictly for Level 1 charging. I use one I got from Amzn, I'll plead ignorance on the Rivian portable. That would seem to solve all problems so I'm guessing I can pick that up from the gearshop?

 

[Mellowyellow]

Did yours not come with one?

 

[Redline]

I am on a 40 amp circuit with 15-40 out....but I am not using a Rivian portable charge cable (I though the one that came with the vehicle was strictly for Level 1 charging. I use one I got from Amzn, I'll plead ignorance on the Rivian portable. That would seem to solve all problems so I'm guessing I can pick that up from the gearshop?

That’s your first issue. Toss the cheap Amazon product and use the one that came with your car.

 

[Michael Kelly]

Oh hell guys (& gals), I do have the portable charger by Rivian, I'm on that starting tomorrow & dumping the other one. Thx all ! Done deal !

 

[naninanipoopoo]

Hello Rivian friends, 2023 R1T guy here. Awhile back I installed a 40A circuit w/outlet to use for charging, this prior to owning the Rivian. The outlet recently overheated & partially melted. Electrician was there today & installing a beefier outlet but stated that he didn't think those outlets were rated for that much continuous load, over hours & hours. He asked if there's a way to program the Rivian to not exceed 40 amps & I have no idea, but reading your guys post I'm quite impressed w/level of knowledge. And while I'm at it, I was told to program the car to not exceed 80% charge & have no idea how to do that either. Any insight into these topics appreciated.

Inside the Rivian charger are a small panel of dip switches that are easy to set a lower amperage (24A was the choice my electrician recommended... turn off the breaker to the charger prior to doing this!). The Rivian wall charger booklet has a list of these settings. I'm assuming the recommendations for charging are made by engineers with more knowledge of battery functions than I have, so the 80% upper limit will probably help the batteries last longer. The Rivian app has instructions on how to set timing of charging and upper charge level limits.

 

[Proxy]

@naninanipoopoo I assume this is in reference to the portable one since an outlet was mentioned. I think the switches are only in the wall mounted one.
Usually plugging in an EVSE will automatically set the safe current for a circuit. This is the rare exception (since it is allowed by code) allowing a 40 amp circuit on a 50 amp outlet. EVSE that can draw 40A thru a 50A plug will assume it is a 50 amp circuit and will draw the max current. The Rivian portable EVSE is limited to 32A and will be the proper setting for a 40 amp circuit but can’t draw any more than that. Kinda like a foolproof system but it limits what a true 50 amp circuit is capable of

 

[Captain JB]

I have a 200 amp system in my house/duplex but it was built in 1969. If I leave the 48 amp setting in the R1S, the CB trips and the panel is in my tenants unit so it is a pain to reset. If I set the amp selector to 30 amps in the vehicle, I have no issues and the car charges all night (cheapest time). Anotherwards, , I guess the age of the system just cannot handle trying to charge at 48 amps or whatever the max ends up being with 48 selected but it can handle 30 amps selected and charge all night. I hope that helps. JB

 

[HaveBlue]

I have a 200 amp system in my house/duplex but it was built in 1969. If I leave the 48 amp setting in the R1S, the CB trips and the panel is in my tenants unit so it is a pain to reset. If I set the amp selector to 30 amps in the vehicle, I have no issues and the car charges all night (cheapest time). Anotherwards, , I guess the age of the system just cannot handle trying to charge at 48 amps or whatever the max ends up being with 48 selected but it can handle 30 amps selected and charge all night. I hope that helps. JB

You might consider reviewing your charging circuit for it's actual capacity. However, if you are tripping the 200a breaker then a load calc is in order for the whole panel. Then see if the wall charger has a setting to adjust down to the safe level. This way you won't need to remember to adjust the car every time.

 

[Captain JB]

You might consider reviewing your charging circuit for it's actual capacity. However, if you are tripping the 200a breaker then a load calc is in order for the whole panel. Then see if the wall charger has a setting to adjust down to the safe level. This way you won't need to remember to adjust the car every time.

Thanks much. It is the Rivian Wall Charger and it is set per the instructions but I will look at that to see if there is a better setting. Thanks again

 

[Captain JB]

Thanks much. It is the Rivian Wall Charger and it is set per the instructions but I will look at that to see if there is a better setting. Thanks again

Sponsored