It's a hybrid now... R1T charged at 5.2kw with portable generator and charging adapter

[Count Orlok]

my powerboost can charge my R1S.

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[NathanM]

Thanks for the heads up. I just purchased 2 plus the parallel kit.

I've been researching this for weeks and had been holding out for a dual/paralleled inverter setup that got me 10+ miles per hour of charging AND fit under the bed rails (21") or better yet the tonneau (17"). My main hold up was trying to find a 240V solution and I just couldn't find any combo of generators that could support 240V and met the maximum height requirements.

With these two units paralleled, I expect to get about 8mi per hour of charging (48A x 120V @ 80% = 4.8kW and 1.75 mi/kWh on the truck) at close to maximum load on the generator. I think that's reasonable for an overnight charge while camping in remote locations.

Thanks @Thedude for pointing out that the portable charger maxes out at 32A, I wasn't aware. So I guess I need to revise my expectations from above. Paralleling the two inverter generators should give me 6000 running watts and the parallel kit includes a 50A outlet. But if the portable charger maxes out at 32A I guess I don't have to worry about overloading the generator (my previous 80% adjustment). So I guess, at best, it would now be 6.72mi per hr of charge (32A x 120V = 3.84kW x 1.75mi/kWh = 6.72mi per hr of charging).

I wanted 10, but I guess 5-7 will have to do. the units fitting under tonneau is probably worth it. Not a total waste if this whole idea doesn't work out though...I will still use these to backfeed my house during a power outage and they're also still great for camping in general.

Welp - no go, so far. First attempt at both generators running with parallel set up….and R1T portable charger (using 50A plug and truck set to pull 20A) didn’t even recognize the power source.

I suspect the truck is going to require the generators to A) be connected to an actual grounding rod (seems like a PITA) or B) use one of those neutral ground bonding plugs (one of those “probably fine but not technically ok“ things).

I’ll buy both A and B above and try again tomorrow. Any insights from this group?

 

[Thedude]

I’d try the neutral bonding plug, takes a short trip to the hardware store and about 5 minutes to make.

What’s the light on the portable charger show? Mine would flash white like usual and then switch to red after it detected the floating ground. With the binding plug it sees a ground and stays white, allowing a charge.

 

[NathanM]

I’d try the neutral bonding plug, takes a short trip to the hardware store and about 5 minutes to make.

What’s the light on the portable charger show? Mine would flash white like usual and then switch to red after it detected the floating ground. With the binding plug it sees a ground and stays white, allowing a charge.

I have a bonding plug arriving in the morning, so I’ll try that tomorrow, it sounds promising. With only the generator and parallel, the charger didn’t react at all, no white or any other color. I was expecting something like you describe (red error flashing or something), but nothing.

Maybe I hooked up parallel wrong? The instructions are actually a little bit contradictory. The instruction book says to connect three wires to each generator (ground, red and black per generator), but the instructions on the parallel kit itself reference using only one red wire….so that’s confusing. It says “either red wire could be plugged into the left or right parallel operation” so that’s about as clear a mud.

 

[NathanM]

Welp - still a no go

I got the neutral-ground bonding plug and that seemed to work for the single generator it was plugged in to (i.e. charger came on when plugged in to standard 120V outlet). But the parallel kit did not work. So I created another neutral-ground bonding plug for the second generator, confirmed it worked (using same method as before) but the parallel kit STILL doesn't work. The parallel kit has a 30A RV outlet and a 50A (but 120V) NEMA 14-50 outlet. The Rivian portable charger seems to require 240V. I reached out to Rivian support and they confirmed....the 14-50 adapter DOES require 240V.

@rivianguy I'm wondering about your setup now. You have two Hondas in parallel and from the pics it seems to be 120V as well, but only differences between your setup and mine are 1) they're Hondas and it's a regular + "companion" combination vs just 2x the same generator model like mine and 2) you're using that twist-lock to 14-50 adapter. So I guess I could get an adapter and try again, but what you're showing us here in the forum contradicts what Rivian Support told me...that the 14-50 adapter requires 240V.

**update 45min later: still a no go. So either the Generac parallel kit itself is broken or the Rivian just won’t accept my setup. I can’t tell what the difference between my setup and the one @rivianguy has would be, but there must be some difference

 

[Thedude]

Might be that the internal wiring of the 30amp twist lock to the 14-50 can trick the EVSE into seeing it as 240v? We know that the Rivian 14-50 connector can charge via adapters from a 120v outlet.

 

[Blueassassin]

Welp - still a no go

I got the neutral-ground bonding plug and that seemed to work for the single generator it was plugged in to (i.e. charger came on when plugged in to standard 120V outlet). But the parallel kit did not work. So I created another neutral-ground bonding plug for the second generator, confirmed it worked (using same method as before) but the parallel kit STILL doesn't work. The parallel kit has a 30A RV outlet and a 50A (but 120V) NEMA 14-50 outlet. The Rivian portable charger seems to require 240V. I reached out to Rivian support and they confirmed....the 14-50 adapter DOES require 240V.

@rivianguy I'm wondering about your setup now. You have two Hondas in parallel and from the pics it seems to be 120V as well, but only differences between your setup and mine are 1) they're Hondas and it's a regular + "companion" combination vs just 2x the same generator model like mine and 2) you're using that twist-lock to 14-50 adapter. So I guess I could get an adapter and try again, but what you're showing us here in the forum contradicts what Rivian Support told me...that the 14-50 adapter requires 240V.

**update 45min later: still a no go. So either the Generac parallel kit itself is broken or the Rivian just won’t accept my setup. I can’t tell what the difference between my setup and the one @rivianguy has would be, but there must be some difference

Don't quote me I'm no genius but the set up you have i think is still giving you 120v. This charger needs to see 240v. The generators i have been looking at i have seen multiples that when you do parallel they still only do 120v which seem kind of pointless to me.

 

[rivianguy]

Welp - still a no go

I got the neutral-ground bonding plug and that seemed to work for the single generator it was plugged in to (i.e. charger came on when plugged in to standard 120V outlet). But the parallel kit did not work. So I created another neutral-ground bonding plug for the second generator, confirmed it worked (using same method as before) but the parallel kit STILL doesn't work. The parallel kit has a 30A RV outlet and a 50A (but 120V) NEMA 14-50 outlet. The Rivian portable charger seems to require 240V. I reached out to Rivian support and they confirmed....the 14-50 adapter DOES require 240V.

@rivianguy I'm wondering about your setup now. You have two Hondas in parallel and from the pics it seems to be 120V as well, but only differences between your setup and mine are 1) they're Hondas and it's a regular + "companion" combination vs just 2x the same generator model like mine and 2) you're using that twist-lock to 14-50 adapter. So I guess I could get an adapter and try again, but what you're showing us here in the forum contradicts what Rivian Support told me...that the 14-50 adapter requires 240V.

**update 45min later: still a no go. So either the Generac parallel kit itself is broken or the Rivian just won’t accept my setup. I can’t tell what the difference between my setup and the one @rivianguy has would be, but there must be some difference

It might be that plug that you are using (blue one). I had several failed attempts with different plugs before finally finding success with the one in my post. Just make sure to choose the one with the proper plug for your setup. One of my failures looked a lot like the blue one in your picture. This is the one that worked. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y1Q2TM2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[NathanM]

It might be that plug that you are using (blue one). I had several failed attempts with different plugs before finally finding success with the one in my post. Just make sure to choose the one with the proper plug for your setup. One of my failures looked a lot like the blue one in your picture. This is the one that worked. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y1Q2TM2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

thanks - I didn’t catch that you went through multiple adapters, so that’s promising. I have it ordered and should be here today. Hopefully that specific adapter/plug has something special going on past just connecting the right wires. The blue one I got at Lowes was half the price so hopefully that means the AC Works brand from Amazon is more sophisticated.

 

[Thedude]

My 3500io showed up today and works to charge the truck. Homemade neutral bonding plug, adapter from twist lock L5-30R to TT-30R, then TT-30R to 14-50R, to Rivian portable charger. I’ll run a charge test with a full tank of gas later but a quick test showed it had no problems charging at 24amps for about 5-10 minutes while I messed around with stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/3-Prong-Generator-Adapter-Converter-L5-30P/dp/B07RBTPH2F

https://www.amazon.com/Parkworld-885378C-Adapter-TT-30P-14-50R/dp/B07MD41D45

 

[Dark-Fx]

Welp - no go, so far. First attempt at both generators running with parallel set up….and R1T portable charger (using 50A plug and truck set to pull 20A) didn’t even recognize the power source.

I suspect the truck is going to require the generators to A) be connected to an actual grounding rod (seems like a PITA) or B) use one of those neutral ground bonding plugs (one of those “probably fine but not technically ok“ things).

I’ll buy both A and B above and try again tomorrow. Any insights from this group?

That 120V 50 amp on the combiner is likely wired with the single 120V hot going to both hot legs on the 14-50 outlet. That's typically how the are wired for RVs since it'll allow 120V devices to work no matter which side of the split phase they are wired on.

The Rivian portable needs to have the hot wired to one of the hots, and the neutral wired to the other hot. Neutral on the 14-50 to the truck can be left unconnected, but the ground should still go to ground. You'll get 32A then. Good luck.

 

[NathanM]

My 3500io showed up today and works to charge the truck. Homemade neutral bonding plug, adapter from twist lock L5-30R to TT-30R, then TT-30R to 14-50R, to Rivian portable charger. I’ll run a charge test with a full tank of gas later but a quick test showed it had no problems charging at 24amps for about 5-10 minutes while I messed around with stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/3-Prong-Generator-Adapter-Converter-L5-30P/dp/B07RBTPH2F

https://www.amazon.com/Parkworld-885378C-Adapter-TT-30P-14-50R/dp/B07MD41D45

Awesome - simple and it works, good to see. If my pipe dream of getting more kW out of the parallel set up fails, it’s good to know I’m a couple adapters away from this.

I talked to an electrician today who specializes in the RV and EV worlds, very helpful and sent him as much info as I had. He echoed what @Dark-Fx said with how the single 120V hot from the 3-prong goes to to both legs in a 14-50 and how that may be affecting how the charger recognizes “ok”. So the trick to getting the charger to work off the 50A (still capped at 32A by the charger…bummer) 14-50 may lay with some kind of homemade adapter. Who knows….

I will keep this thread informed

 

[Thedude]

You should be able to use the TT-30 to 14-50 adapter I posted to at least get a solid 30amp charge rate.

I wonder if you could use a standard RV 14-50 to TT-30 adapter and then the EV TT-30 to 14-50 to get up to 32amps. I have a 14-50 to TT-30 adapter I use for my 30 amp trailer which allows me to use a 240v plug-in for my 120v trailer.

 

[Thedude]

If you’re confident in wiring skills you could build an adapter. A 14-50P wired to match the parallel kit output to a 14-50R wired to match what the EVSE expects to see.

https://carcharging.us/adapt/home-made-adapters.php

 

[NathanM]

Great news, the AC WORKS brand adapter that @rivianguy suggested works! Much thanks to you and @Thedude for helping to get this figured out.

So my next bottleneck the natural limit of both the charger itself (32A) and the fact that I’ll never get more than 3600kW out of a 30A outlet pushing 120V.

So I guess we have to figure out either
A) are there any 3rd party J1772 chargers that work on the Rivian and can handle up to 50A?
or
B) can we step up to 240V?

or, I guess, C) take my ~3kW and live with it which isn’t that bad either

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