R2 Charge Port Location is Moving to Driver's Side Rear (on Production Model)! - Confirms Rivian VP

[Nine_One_Six_R1S]

meh. long term is doesnt really matter because v4 SC will have longer cables to be better compatible with non-Teslas. and i thought the reason it was on the passenger side rear was to accommodate future curb side chargers and to be compatible with existing RAN chargers.

so you want to be more compatible with a 3rd party charger and less with your own?

So do you know Tesla's plan? are they planning on upgrading all their cabinets to v4? or is that only for new deployments?

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[PVguy]

Better than where it is now but still not ideal. They had to compromise with existing R1 owners. The ideal place is passenger front. Tesla, towing, and streets side compatibility.

I agree. Front right would be right at the wall charger in my small garage. If I get an R2, I reckon that I will need to back it in. And I think that curbside charging is a relevant factor.

 

[VSG]

Haven't we all learned by now not to put too much faith in some unofficial statement by a Rivian employee?

The R2 is still almost 2 years out. Anything can happen in that time.

Two years before the R1 was released, they were still showing a manual charge port door on the passenger side front.

 

[Bromidic Blathering]

I have an R2 order and live in SoCal. Is it worth the 60 mile drive to Pasadena to see the R2?

R2 is scheduled to be in Laguna Beach - from Nov. 13-17 & Los Angeles Autoshow from Nov. 21-Dec 1. Not sure if this is better or worse for you, but there it is...

 

[lefkonj]

For me it really doesn't matter at all. My home charger is installed in a location with a 25' cable that will reach anywhere on either car that needs it. For public charging it doesn't really matter because no one has said there is a standard location, with everyone doing whatever they want. until then its a big 'will see it when it hits production'

 

[savethemanual]

Apparently it's official...until it changes again

"We can confirm the charge port will be located on rear driver’s side of R2," wrote a Rivian spokesperson in an email to InsideEVs.

https://insideevs.com/news/729686/rivian-r2-charge-port-location/

 

[NY_Rob]

Here is a list of cities that will be showing the R2.

• Pasadena from August 8 – 11, 2024
• San Francisco from August 24 – 25, 2024
• Vancouver, B.C. from September 2 – 7, 2024
• Portland from September 12 – 24, 2024
• Nashville from October 3 – 7, 2024
• New York City from October 11 – 13, 2024
• Boston from October 17 – 21, 2024
• Austin from November 7 – 11, 2024
• Laguna from November 13 – 17, 2024
• Los Angeles from November 21 – December 1, 2024
• Detroit from January 10 – 20, 2025
• Chicago from February 8 – 12, 2025
• Toronto from February 14 – 23, 2025

Thank you!

I promised a relative that I'd visit them in Manhattan to go to an all-you-can-eat steak place in the fall. So now I know that visit will happen on Oct 12th/3th weekend

 

[VSG]

Apparently it's official

No, that's just reinforcing a rumor. They read this post on this forum then wrote to CS and got an answer back. They don't say who the Rivian person they contacted was, and since it was a private email which they didn't share with us this is certainly NOT "official".

Again, this is just the same pattern we see all the time - some Rivian employee says something in a private conversation (so it's already subject to (mis-)interpretation), then it gets posted, repeated and amplified, picked up by the EV sites until much later (maybe years) we find out it's not really correct - then everyone starts in on the Rivian blaming.

This "article" is just the beginning ... expect to see more people like those in this thread repeating this as if it were a done deal. And you know in they end they MIGHT end up moving it, but at this point it would be ridiculous to assume that they've made a final decision about it.

 

[AllInev]

Driver rear is an excellent location for Tesla supercharger compatibility however its not a good location for folks that tow.

The long term solution lies with the location and orientation of the charging equipment. There are many vehicles out there with different charging port locations.

It would be nice to see an optional 2nd charging port for those who like to tow. The front charging ports are ideal for towing since you don't have to unhook the trailer to get a charge. Pull through sites solve this issue but those are far and few between. Very few operators actually have pull through. Most are pull up which means you need a front charge port if your towing.

I never hear this suggested so I'm obviously stupid, ignorant (or both ?), but front-right (front-passenger) would be excellent for Tesla Supercharging, towing, AND curbside street charging. ??‍.

 

[SANZC02]

I never hear this suggested so I'm obviously stupid, ignorant (or both ?), but front-right (front-passenger) would be excellent for Tesla Supercharging, towing, AND curbside street charging. ??‍.

They moved it to the rear to save on wiring since they will have single motor variants running in the rear. It was a cost savings as the rear is an efficient location regardless of the number of motors.

 

[EVtowing]

I am shocked that anyone who tows would think that any rear charging port is "the right move?" Anything other than front location complicates towing.

I’ve been towing my RV trailer for over 6 years and many thousands of miles in the western US and British Columbia using the Supercharger network, which is by far the largest and most reliable charging network in North America, and for me I want a charge port location that is most compatible with that network.

Only a small fraction of charging locations that I have used (which is a several hundred by now) allow for charging without unhitching and not blocking other vehicles. I do not expect that to change significantly in the near future because only a very tiny fraction of all EV owners ever tow anything. So I routinely unhitch to charge; it takes me about 2 minutes to unhitch and 3 minutes to hitch up, which is trivial.

 

[KWeimer711]

Too long of a thread to read everything, but went to Pasadena yesterday to check out the R2...also took quick looks at the R3, Gen 2 R1S, and Sprinter Van.

It's been quite a while since I have been on these forums so apologies if any of this is well known.

Key takeaways from my side:

• Charge door will be moved
• Front seats dont fold flat but with back seats down and front seats moved all the way up there is about 7' space
• Air pump removed (discussions of two options...(1) standalone that could be stored in frunk and (2) built into back on a higher end trim
• Frunk has auto open but manual close
• Sits much lower overall than I thought it would (similar to a Ford Flex imo)...no airbags to raise/lower...they kept saying "best in class ground clearance for it's size"
• Similar size as Model Y but much more room inside because of the overall shape
• Not a fan of the new door opener "button" vs. handle (also on Gen 2 R1)
• Do like the touch button lock/unlock on the door
• Frunk seemed a bit smaller on R2
• Hated the new implementation of the divider in the Gen 2 R1S frunk...no magnet to hold it up...did like moving the mesh puches to the back though...losing the space underneath for the heat pump is a bummer
• Like the option for the drawer/storage instead of the speaker (they did say a retrofit kit is likely to be sold for Gen 1 R1 owners)

 

[Durian]

I've had zero issues with the current port local and zero experience with the Tesla chargers.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

I was chuckling about the quandary a Cyberteuck owner would be in

Honestly a rear port would put me off - too much hassle if you have anything on the hitch or towing.

Agree and add Silverado EV to the mix as well. The Silverado has a huge battery too and GM designed it to be able to tow a reasonable distance before needing to stop. Problem is the charge port location isn't towing friendly. ??‍

 

[Grabs10]

Glad Rivian listen to the majority of future buyers. This puts the R2 back on my list when my model 3 is used up.. home charging for most shouldn’t matter where the charge port is cause I believe most level 2 chargers have 25 ft cables or they should anyways to hit most all locations of charge ports for at home location. Rear drivers side makes the most sense for the existing charging infrastructure without having to take up 2 spaces.

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