Are There Alternatives to Rivian Level2 Charger?

[carsly]

I'll also throw down for the Tesla Universal Wall Connector, I have three of them.

But would suggest purchasing from Amazon as shipping is often faster: https://amzn.to/4mZMagd

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[Jeremy3292]

Very much agree. Most people should go hardwired due to the unevenness in the quality of installs and improper selection of the outlets. You might not find the issue until 5 or 10 or 20 years down the road.

In a recent video, Tom at State of Charge is noticing these poor install problems starting to show up with increasing frequency.

If you have a top notch electrician who really knows his stuff and has a lot of experience, then sure go ahead and put in a regular nema outlet if you need one. But hardwired should still be the default recommendation until there is some positive shift in this trend.

Here's some examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ci7HSET7rA

Agreed. The other problem also can be you have a top notch electrician but they don’t use an industrial receptacle as they don’t keep those around usually. The best they’ll have is a Legrand Seymour which is ok but not as good as a Hubbell HBL9450 or Bryant 9450FR. They’re a special order usually. If you supply the quality receptacle then you’re good to go with a quality electrician.

 

[Gravy Donkey]

IS there some advantage to using the Rivian charger that is app-related?

I'm curious about this as well...

 

[VSG]

Well as I said, the advantage is if you have a problem there's only one company to call - Rivian will work with you to diagnose and fix the problem. That might prove more difficult if you're using a Tesla charger with your Rivian.

 

[mkennedy009]

One thing to consider, when a charge is initiated, the max amp is drawn by the EV and it sustained for the x-hours. This can cause heat at the breaker (they have to be GFI per the NEC), if you can place that breaker away from all the other breakers. Secondly, if you use a 14-50, make sure it is EV rated and not RV/washer rated. Also has to deal with the heat.

I have yet to decide on a 50amp, NEMA 14-50 with the 'mobile cable' or a 60amp direct wire. The price difference at the panel is insignificant, the EV hardware is not. Also I want to use the R2 as a battery backup for the house. We rarely loose power. I have been without power for 8 days and it sucked. Fortunately my neighbor across the street still had power. We could take showers and I just cooked on the BBQ and had a real fire in the fireplace. My new house is electric with NG to the BBQ and the fireplace. I saw the patent for Rivian to send power from the truck to the house. When will that materialize? Telsa already has a system, that maybe the option.

Currently we use a NEMA 6-20 to charge the Volvo and it just stays plugged in. I let car do its thing.

 

[EV-overland]

We have the tesla wall connector Becuase of esthetics and integration with our tesla solar and power wall. They have very tight integration and smarts. Becuase of our setup, we have to have ours outside in plain view and the white design looks super clean on our home. The other chargers all look very utilitarian. Like power bricks.

 

[Time2Roll]

I like the Tesla Wall Connector. Does have a minor quirk the way it interacts with my R1S. I use one daily at work and it is great. Self networked load sharing is a huge plus if needed to charge multiple vehicles with limited power.

The Rivian wall charge connector I have at home is perfectly seamless.

 

[superfly_snook]

Had my Grizzl-e for three years now and it’s been flawless. I see they also offer a NACS plug on their Classic Connect unit now so that would be my recommendation.

 

[Hillbilly]

I had to throw my Rivian charger away. It was trash and I got no real warranty support or help. I have two different Tesla universal chargers and they work well EXCEPT that I have one that trips the GFCI breaker for the hot tub at one of my places. The panel is pretty maxed out.

 

[tivoboy]

One thing to consider, when a charge is initiated, the max amp is drawn by the EV and it sustained for the x-hours. This can cause heat at the breaker (they have to be GFI per the NEC), if you can place that breaker away from all the other breakers. Secondly, if you use a 14-50, make sure it is EV rated and not RV/washer rated. Also has to deal with the heat.

I have yet to decide on a 50amp, NEMA 14-50 with the 'mobile cable' or a 60amp direct wire. The price difference at the panel is insignificant, the EV hardware is not. Also I want to use the R2 as a battery backup for the house. We rarely loose power. I have been without power for 8 days and it sucked. Fortunately my neighbor across the street still had power. We could take showers and I just cooked on the BBQ and had a real fire in the fireplace. My new house is electric with NG to the BBQ and the fireplace. I saw the patent for Rivian to send power from the truck to the house. When will that materialize? Telsa already has a system, that maybe the option.

Currently we use a NEMA 6-20 to charge the Volvo and it just stays plugged in. I let car do its thing.

If it’s negligible in price difference i’d go with 60a. With 50a, you’ll only ever get 40a throughput, either sustained or by code or what a mobile or wall charger is willing to provide.. with 60 you can push up to 48a, so 20% more overall. Assuming your mobile or dedicated charger can handle it. I have the feeling that more cars in the near future will be able to provide this 48a sustained charging, or split charging will become a bit more common.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

One thing to consider, when a charge is initiated, the max amp is drawn by the EV and it sustained for the x-hours. This can cause heat at the breaker (they have to be GFI per the NEC), if you can place that breaker away from all the other breakers. Secondly, if you use a 14-50, make sure it is EV rated and not RV/washer rated. Also has to deal with the heat.

Just grab a Hubbell (or Bryant) 9450, they go on sale all the time, here it is ~$53:

https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-9450A-50a-120-volt-Receptacle/dp/B00EN9VO7W/ref=sr_1_2

(Matching brand faceplate, another $11-12)

 

[rdevillers]

I have had two of the original Tesla wall “chargers” since 2015. They have been completely trouble free. After literally 1,000’s of charges each they have never failed to juice up our Tesla’s.

They are each installed on a 50a circuit and deliver up to 40a to the car.

 

[R1Thor]

I had to throw my Rivian charger away. It was trash and I got no real warranty support or help. I have two different Tesla universal chargers and they work well EXCEPT that I have one that trips the GFCI breaker for the hot tub at one of my places. The panel is pretty maxed out.

Interesting. I'm curious about this.
When I bought my truck from the Shop, it came with (was packaged with) the Rivian EVSE; so I was forced to buy it. Even though I do agree that it's trash (I had 2 of them derate themselves needlessly), the support has been great. They just send a new one when I complain and demonstrate to them it's the EVSE's fault. Received in less than a week of approval. Swapped out and back to normal.

Not suggesting anyone spend the pennies. Just noting that my experience with warranty is the only reason I still have my Rivian EVSE. If they ever denied a warranty claim or when I'm out of warranty, I'll most definitely be getting something else. Hopefully not for the foreseeable future...

 

[Jeremy3292]

Interesting. I'm curious about this.
When I bought my truck from the Shop, it came with (was packaged with) the Rivian EVSE; so I was forced to buy it. Even though I do agree that it's trash (I had 2 of them derate themselves needlessly), the support has been great. They just send a new one when I complain and demonstrate to them it's the EVSE's fault. Received in less than a week of approval. Swapped out and back to normal.

Not suggesting anyone spend the pennies. Just noting that my experience with warranty is the only reason I still have my Rivian EVSE. If they ever denied a warranty claim or when I'm out of warranty, I'll most definitely be getting something else. Hopefully not for the foreseeable future...

I've had no issues with my Tesla Wall Connector for ~5 years now. It also comes with a 4 year warranty. It's only $450 so it's the best deal there is on price and quality, two things that usually don't go together lol.

 

[Hayseed_MS]

Coming from Tesla's, I already had the wall charger installed in my garage. R1S works fine with it. The charger button does not open the charging door on the R1S and it does not lock in place - it did both of these on the Tesla's. Gives an error for about 3 seconds during the handshake and then charges just fine. I did not need to change any settings on the Tesla charger.

I did try my mobile (plug-in) Tesla charger and it would never get past the handshake. Did not work.

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