Long Term Non Use. Appropriate Extension chords

[jmgiardina]

As a new Rivian owner I have three questions regarding charging and another about spare tires:

1. Next month I will be spending a week at a vacation rental. Because there isn’t a commercial charging facility near where I will be staying I would like to keep my R1S plugged in to maintain charge while I’m there but I will need an extension chord to do that. What should I look for in extension chords to insure they are appropriate?

2. In the autumn I will be out of the country for over two months. I know I need to have my Rivian plugged in while I’m gone but I’m not sure at what setting or which charger to use. (I have both the one that came with the vehicle and a fast charger I bought from Rivian and had installed by an electrician).

3. Which ever charger I use, when I am away in the autumn and my car is charging I plan to leave it locked in my garage. (My car lives outside) Are there any problems with charging it completely indoors?



4. Do most of you out there have a spare tire? If so, why, and which size?

Thanks,
Jim Giardina

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[shamoo]

I won't speak to #1 because I personally don't have experience there. But I know there are plenty of extensions which are suited for EV use. Someone else can chime in here.

#2 - You can use either option. The 110v plug adapter that came with your Rivian can be plugged into a normal wall outlet/receptacle. It will charge slow (maybe ~2-3 miles an hour?) but it doesn't matter since you are on vacation and the car will sit.

Alternatively you can use the "fast charger" (although I wouldn't call it that) that came with the Rivian as well. This is a Level 2 charger that can plug into the 14-50 receptacle your electrician installed. Just plug it in, set your car somewhere at 50-70% charge limit and go on your vacation.

In both situations, your vehicle will be charged up in a day or so and will maintain its charge the entire time you're on vacation. You don't need to worry.

#3 - There is no problem charging indoors. I would say many of us (including myself) charge indoors. If your neighborhood is safe, you can also leaving it charging outdoors. Either is okay. The one comment I will make it to ensure your electrician installed a quality 14-50 outlet/receptacle. Some of the cheaper ones may not do as well and can overheat, and has risk of fire or other damage.

#4 - I don't know if most have or not, but you have the option of the mini/expandable spare tire from Rivian. It inflates to a size which fits the vehicle. When deflated, it fits in the under-trunk compartment in the rear. Some others put a full sized spare either in the back or even on a hitch carrier (usually those folks will need it for off roading excursions where there's a higher risk of a flat).

 

[carsly]

It's not recommended to charge via an extension cable.

That said, I have one of these https://amzn.to/3H7NGfq available as needed. Capable of 15 amps for sustained durations (I previously used with a plug-in electric snowblower) but maybe set it to 10-12 amps for safety.

For extended sitting, I'd charge to 70%, plug in but set charge level to 50% and leave it at that. At some point it will trickle charge it's way from 48-49% back to 50%. Maybe set it to lower than normal amperage for charging since (1) charging time doesn't matter and (2) less of a risk of heat buildup/fire. Bigger issue, to me, is not flat spotting the tires. I like to charge 2-4psi over recommended for extended sitting.

Garage parking is fine, I do it most every night and charge in the garage. Reduced some of the extremes - hot and cold - for the battery pack and generally faster and more efficient to get to your target temp in the morning or whenever you want to drive.

I have the Rivian compact spare, a Rivian air compressor/tire slime kit, a Tesla air compressor/tire slime kit (the Rivian one isn't impressive, don't want to have to trust it) and a plug kit. Add negligible weight and prefer to be overprepared. YMMV. For off-roading, I'd strap in a full-sized spare as well, wouldn't want to rely on the donut.

 

[GJPoss]

I go to Italy every three months for three months at a time. I don’t worry about charging. It uses about 1.4 percent per day. I have a max pack. If it gets too low I have someone plug it in or take it to get charged.

 

[Greg Chick]

My thoughts are do what the cord is rated for considering the length and charge setting on the dash. May as well just use the 120 volt household cable the truck came with and set the dash selection set at the suggested setting in the manual. I would not use a 16 Guage cord.
If the buildings wires and breaker are good, you are set. Smallest household breaker is 15 amps. drawing 10 amps seems smart. Using the lowest charge setting on the dash or 10 amps. will minimize trouble, if that circut is not also powering something else! Set charge times for 3 am?

 

[Riviot]

I recommend a tenor...

... I'll see myself out.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

My Rivian lives indoors. The garage I park it in is in my walkout basement, completely indoors. My wife parks in the upstairs garage and my tractor lives there. There is no issue with charging your vehicle indoors, that's one reason why an EV is better suited to indoors than an ICE vehicle.

I leave mine set at 70%, which is Rivian's recommended charge setting. Some people take the charge level down to 50% which is ideal level for these batteries for long term storage. Either way, plug it in at the set level and forget about it, your truck will take care of the rest.

 

[Greg Chick]

I recommend a tenor...

... I'll see myself out.

Elvis has left the building.

 

[bigsky]

I go to Italy every three months for three months at a time. I don’t worry about charging. It uses about 1.4 percent per day. I have a max pack. If it gets too low I have someone plug it in or take it to get charged.

If you go to Italy every three months and stay for three months, then you are always in Italy .

 

[beatle]

It's fine to use an extension cord to charge. I use this one, though note it is only rated for 30A and uses 14-30 ends. If you get this one and still use your Rivian mobile connector, you'll also want a 14-50R >> 14-30P adapter and you'll need to lower the charge rate in the truck to 24A. You can get 50A rated cords as well, but they're more expensive and heavier.

More info on extension chords here:

 

[Greg Chick]

If you go to Italy every three months and stay for three months, then you are always in Italy .

Same with the plains in Spain

 

[bigsky]

Can you connect your Rivian directly to the charger? If you did that, just leave it plugged in, set the desired percentage charge you wish to maintain, and fugget about it; charging will take care of itself as needed.

State of charge to maintain, what to use may be largely a personal choice. The only common thread among most everybody might be to follow Rivian-recommended maximum charge of 70% for daily driving.

My EVs, like all my previous ICE cars, always have been and always will be garaged, period. Indoor parking good. Outdoor not so good. Again, the personal choice.

I myself never would use an extension cord even if rated for the task at hand. It's a safety thing.
My Rivian has been in storage, undriven, sitting in my garage since mid-November last year. I charge to 50%, let it drain down to 20%, charge again to 50%. Rinse and repeat. It is never permanently plugged into my charger (use it to charge other EVs, anyway). At that charging rate, Shipping mode enabled, 50% charge dropped to 20% in 23 days on average. Now I have a battery tender plugged into the Rivian OBD port to keep 12 V battery fully charged. 50% to 20% drop is almost 50 days with it. Again, nothing magical about 50%, it is just a personal choice. 20% as the bottom limit might be as well-to never let it drop below 20%.

Try things out and see what works better for you.

Have had EVs for 5 years now. I never, ever have had a flat (knock on my head!), and I never have carried a spare. I did purchase those plug kits from that big Blue store for $10 and keep it in the car. But I also have AAA with 150-mile tow service. I just hope I did not jinx myself now by having said no flats yet!!

 

[JohnB R1T]

Extension cords are a bad idea, particularly if you don't know what's going on between the receptacle and your panel. Try to find a way to plug in without one. There is a point of additional resistance created in what you propose...the plug on the charger not going directly into the the wall receptacle, but instead going into the extension cord (which is plugged into the wall receptacle) creates this. The amount of heat created by each of those two points of resistance is directly related to the current draw and the condition (cleanliness) of the connections themselves.

Beyond that, if you're on a 15 amp circuit, it's most likely that you have 14 gauge wires from the panel to the plug (with an indeterminate number of "connections"to potentially introduce resistance),depending on where in the circuit that receptacle falls and the diligence of the electrical guy who trimmed out the house and "made up" the connections. A 20 amp breaker and receptacle will use 12 gauge wires, but... you can't just look at the breaker in the panel. Unless you're sure, there's always the potential that someone, at some point, popped in a 20 amp breaker on a circuit that was wired originally for 15 amps (with 14 gauge wire).

On a 15 amp circuit, your 12 gauge extension cord basically insures that the extension cord won't be what burns up first, but breakers don't always trip when they should and...if it doesn't...it's the house wiring that will overheat first... Nobody's home to check on it or smell a "hot plasticky" smell.

Even without an extension cord, the "80% rule" (for continuous loads like a charger) prescribes an amp draw of no more than 12 amps on a 15 amp circuit.

If you must, then the idea to charge it up to 20-25% more than what you set the charge limit to when leaving is a good one. It won't charge at all while the phantom drain is eating up that differential, and it won't charge for long when "topping up" around the 50% SOC range. Resist the urge to "check up" on it with your Rivian app..."waking it up" results in more drain every time you do so. Put it in "shipping mode" before you go. Turn off gear guard when indoors, but no need to turn off the HVAC because "shipping mode" does this for you.

 

[bigsky]

All good points. Did not want to get too technical, but as JohnB mentioned, inserting an extension cord into the loop means additional impedance mismatches at the interfaces, which in the very low frequency 60 Hz world translates into heat generation. Not good.
Another thing to keep in mind about using an outlet. EV portable chargers like the one that comes with your Rivian will charge at full capacity (12 A, 15 A?) from the start and sustain that charging rate for a long time. These mobile chargers will hog all the current capacity that outlet or more specifically the breaker is rated for. What this means is that, should there be anything else running elsewhere that is on the same circuit, that breaker will/should trip, which will shut off charging and everything else in that circuit until reset.

 

[HaveBlue]

#12 gauge as a minimum wire size for a 110v outlet for extension. Do not leave it coiled while in use. Expect days of charging on 110v. For 240v it gets complex due to all the options

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