Charging R1T at 30amp RV site Question

[HokieBird7980]

I'm going to Colorado in a month and one of my stops is a campsite that has a 30amp RV plug in instead of a 50amp plug. Our portable chargers are either 50amp plug or 110 plug, so my question is, Can i charge at all from this 30amp plug, and if so, is there an adapter that is recommended to hook up the 50amp portable charger into the adapter so i can plug in at this site and get any charge? If so, I'd suspect the charge rate would be somewhat diminished vs if the site had 50amp service. I just want to be prepared and make sure i don't fry anything with the wrong adapter. Thanks for any info you can provide here.

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[ElGuano]

You're fine. I think you're misunderstanding how voltage versus amps work.

Your home charger (or portable charger) accepts either 120v or 240v. From 240v, you can charge from anything like 5A to 40A. 40A normally uses a 50A breaker, which is probably where you're getting your "50A" number.

The amperage doesn't matter wrt what your car will pull from the source. It could be a 1000A 240v circuit and the car would be happy to charge on it, it will limit itself to pulling 48A.

The main question is probably whether the RV receptacle fits the mobile charging plug (I'm not sure what kind of plugs RVs use and there are a number of different form factors for 240v appliances).

 

[beatle]

30A RV receptacles are often TT-30 which are 120v 30A. They do make adapters like this one that let you plug your 14-50P into it.

Even still, the EVSE might be "confused" if it sees 120v while using its 14-50 plug on a 120v circuit. It may see "low" voltage and think there's a problem with the circuit, then refuse to charge. My Tesla UMC was confused by this and my car wouldn't charge at a family member's home who has a TT-30 plug in their yard for their RV and an adapter for a 14-30. I couldn't start the charge. This was also on my Model S, so Rivian may see it differently.

If the adapter does work, just remember to turn the amps down to 24 in the truck. Since you're using the 14-50 plug, the truck will expect to be able to pull 32A through it.

 

[Vantripping]

The Rivian accessory wall charger charges at up to 32A @ 240v and comes with a 50 amp plug, the same as an RV campground 50amp plug. So if the campground site has 50 amp shore power service, just plug the Rivian accessory charger directly into it and then your charge port and it should self-regulate to charge at 32 amps or less per it's specs. The charger cord is pretty long, but if you need a longer cord, just buy an appropriate length 50 amp RV extension cord and it should have the same plug and receptacle on each end to extend the 50 amp service from the RV shore power tower to your vehicle charger.

Some campground sites only have 30A at 240v and 120v 20 amp circuits, in which case there are standard plug (male) adapters from any of these to a lower amperage receptacles (female). They are readily available on Amazon for reasonable cost. As @ElGuano said, you can plug into any of them, just regulate the amperage to within the receptacle amperage via your car charging setting. The charger should self-regulate, but just check to be sure. It also comes with a 120v 20amp plug which will add about 1.5 miles/hour, and 32 amp likely 3-4 miles/hour.

 

[VSG]

Can i charge at all from this 30amp plug, and if so, is there an adapter that is recommended to hook up the 50amp portable charger into the adapter so i can plug in at this site and get any charge? If so, I'd suspect the charge rate would be somewhat diminished vs if the site had 50amp service.

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Correct.

The 30A outlets at campgrounds are called TT-30. If you search for that on this site you will find hundreds of posts with lots of detailed information. For example https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/campground-20a-120v-charging.28874/#post-555058

In summary, though, get a TT-30 adapter meant for EVs (NOT one meant for travel trailers) then you can use your Rivian portable charger. Don't forget to turn down the amps in the car to 24A.

 

[HokieBird7980]

Thanks Everyone. I'll order the adapter and make note to lower the amps in car to 24A for that night I'm at this site. I appreciate the help.

 

[Redmond Chad]

To reiterate what Beatle said: a 30A RV circuit is 120V. And you should derate to 80% since charging is a continuous load. So you will be charging at 24A 120V, or 2.88kW.

That's twice the rate you'll get at 12A at 120V from a normal household socket. But a 50A (charging at 40A) RV socket at 240V will give you 9.6kW.

So while you can charge from a 30A RV outlet, it might not be nearly as quick as you are used to charging with an L2 EVSE.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Thanks Everyone. I'll order the adapter and make note to lower the amps in car to 24A for that night I'm at this site. I appreciate the help.

I've had issues doing this at campsites if they have power issues overnight. You'll wake up to the breaker being tripped since the car resets to whatever the EVSE is advertising (which is 32A if you're using a Rivian portable).

Only way I know to stop this from happening is to reset your home location for scheduling to where you plug in at the campground.

 

[VandalSibs]

That's twice the rate you'll get at 12A at 120V from a normal household socket. But a 50A (charging at 40A) RV socket at 240V will give you 9.6kW.

Keep in mind the portable charger maxes at 32 amps - so they would only get 7.2-7.6kW (depending on voltage losses)

 

[VandalSibs]

I'm going to Colorado in a month and one of my stops is a campsite that has a 30amp RV plug in instead of a 50amp plug. Our portable chargers are either 50amp plug or 110 plug, so my question is, Can i charge at all from this 30amp plug, and if so, is there an adapter that is recommended to hook up the 50amp portable charger into the adapter so i can plug in at this site and get any charge? If so, I'd suspect the charge rate would be somewhat diminished vs if the site had 50amp service. I just want to be prepared and make sure i don't fry anything with the wrong adapter. Thanks for any info you can provide here.

Just to check, are you using the Rivian portable charger? If you happen to be using a Tesla one, there's a TT-30 pigtail that you can swap out that negates the need for making any adjustments in your vehicle (it's what I use when camping and there's no 14-50 outlet).

 

[Redmond Chad]

Keep in mind the portable charger maxes at 32 amps - so they would only get 7.2-7.6kW (depending on voltage losses)

Good point for probably most portable chargers these days. There are 40A units out there, though; I have one (not Rivian's).

 

[VSG]

Good point for probably most portable chargers these days. There are 40A units out there, though; I have one (not Rivian's).

Code allows a NEMA 14-50 outlet to be on a 40A circuit. That is why most portable chargers with a NEMA 14-50 plug limit the current to 32A (80% of 40A).

Trying to draw 40A continuous from a NEMA 14-50 is dangerous unless you have verified that the circuit really does have a 50A breaker and really does have 50A wiring. In most places, like AirBnBs, campgrounds, etc, that is not something you can do. That's why it's always safest to assume a 32A maximum draw.

I wouldn't recommend that anyone use a portable charger that can pull 40A continuous from a NEMA 14-50 unless they really know what they're doing. However you can't go wrong with the 32A portable chargers.

 

[Redmond Chad]

Code allows a NEMA 14-50 outlet to be on a 40A circuit.

What?! Holy cow. I thought the code was supposed to help keep problems from happening, but this seems to be inviting them...

I have been discussing charging at campsites on EV forums for 16 years, and hadn't heard that before. Thanks for mentioning it!

 

[denverag03]

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Correct.

The 30A outlets at campgrounds are called TT-30. If you search for that on this site you will find hundreds of posts with lots of detailed information. For example https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/campground-20a-120v-charging.28874/#post-555058

In summary, though, get a TT-30 adapter meant for EVs (NOT one meant for travel trailers) then you can use your Rivian portable charger. Don't forget to turn down the amps in the car to 24A.

This is the first time I learned that Rivian doesn't sell TT-30 adapters like Tesla does w/ its mobile charger.

 

[MichaelT80550]

Another factor to keep in mind is that more and more campgrounds are not allowing EV charging from the campsite pedestal. You’ll want to check ahead of time.

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