Public chargers

[2020]

I'm coming from a couple of Teslas and a plug in hybrid of which I usually charge at home. Rarely do I go low on a battery. The Rivian seems to take more juice probably due to its weight and I see myself going to a public charger to top up. My only experience has been the Tesla superchargers. When I look on the Rivian app with the available chargers almost all of them are level 2 chargers. I had assumed most public chargers would be close to Level 1 charging by now. Other than overnight charging these level 2 chargers are pretty useless. Also there are numerous companies out there now, just curious if you guys have accounts with all of them.

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[ATL_R1S]

I'm coming from a couple of Teslas and a plug in hybrid of which I usually charge at home. Rarely do I go low on a battery. The Rivian seems to take more juice probably due to its weight and I see myself going to a public charger to top up. My only experience has been the Tesla superchargers.

I think you'll find the home charging experience with a Rivian (with the full 11.5kw L2 at 48A charging on a 60A breaker) to be similar to your Teslas in that regard, where you'll rarely go low on battery assuming you plan & charge accordingly at night to the appropriate level. Level 3 DC fast charging with a non-Tesla is typically done on highly road trips via the Electrify America and EVGO networks, commonly found at large retail centers close to the highway. Look for 200+kw stations with CCS connectors via the PlugShare app.

I had assumed most public chargers would be close to Level 1 charging by now.

I think you meant to say Level 3? Level 1 would be the slowest, via a 120v AC standard household plug.

Other than overnight charging these level 2 chargers are pretty useless. Also there are numerous companies out there now, just curious if you guys have accounts with all of them.

It depends. Some common Level 2 stations, like those that ChargePoint have installed around urban areas deliver around 6.6kw, which is slow, but still enough to top you off if you stay and charge for a couple hours at least. Other L2s can go as high as 11.5kw which is more than decent, but if you really need that "supercharging" experience, go to a 200+kw Level 3 DCFC. The intention with L2- at least around here is to get you out of the car and patronizing the businesses around them using the charging experience as an incentive or perk to hanging out there. I would rarely visit an L2 just to charge my EV unless it's in desperation as a result of my own poor planning. Again, familiarize yourself with PlugShare and all of its trip planning features and I think you'll get over any concerns very quickly. With regards to the myriad of charging accounts, I'd say look in your area on Plugshare and create accounts with maybe the 3 most common offerings and you'll probably never need more. In my area, that would be Chargepoint, EA, and EVGO.

 

[ATL_R1S]

Since we're both in Atlanta... here's the 200+kw DCFC in the metro area. They're all either EA or EVGO. Go to these when you actually need to charge fast for driving long distances.

For a decent, but not ideal fast charge, you can slide the minimum power down to 120kw and you'll find more stations that include 150kw options, but they won't all offer the fastest 200+kw charging experience for a Rivian. Still useful in a pinch.

For anything else, use public L2s for "opportunity charging" and move that minimum power slider down to see hundreds of options.

If you're "necessity charging" a Rivian on a public L2, you're doing it wrong, IMO. Better planning and overnight home charging should be exercised. Don't go out of your way to charge unless its a L3 DCFC that's 200+KW and you NEED to charge to get to your destination. ~290 miles of highway range in conserve mode is plenty to access all of the L3 DCFC in the Atlanta area, as well as all of the East/Southbound trips my family will take to NC and FL.

 

[2020]

I just signed up for EV America since they have a charger close to my house and work. I don't expect to use it much but I got worried since the Rivian charges about 20-30% slower than our Tesla. It took about 7 hrs to charge 60 miles yesterday.

 

[electruck]

It took about 7 hrs to charge 60 miles yesterday.

What were you charging with?

 

[jjswan33]

It took about 7 hrs to charge 60 miles yesterday.

Was this at your home charger? I don't even have the fastest (48A, 25 miles/hour in a Rivian)) charger and I do much better at home. With the charger (50A circuit with Chargepoint Home Flex) I have at home I can charge 18 miles/hour.

 

[2020]

What were you charging with?

Tesla charger- it rates at 40Amps. I also have a Bosch charger at 30Amps.

 

[kylealden]

I just signed up for EV America since they have a charger close to my house and work. I don't expect to use it much but I got worried since the Rivian charges about 20-30% slower than our Tesla. It took about 7 hrs to charge 60 miles yesterday.

It's less that it charges slowly (it doesn't, at least on L2) and more that it is a much bigger battery and less efficient. So it takes you more power to get you as far.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend installing PlugShare and using it to get familiar with the L3 (CCS, 120kW+) chargers in your area. Those are what you'll want for fast charging away from home.

Apps like ABetterRoutePlanner can help you plan L3 charging on extended road trips away from home as well.

 

[electruck]

Was this at your home charger? I don't even have the fastest (48A, 25 miles/hour in a Rivian)) charger and I do much better at home. With the charger (50A circuit with Chargepoint Home Flex) I have at home I can charge 18 miles/hour.

He responded to my question stating use of Tesla charger rated at 40A so he should have been seeing the same charge rate as you but was only get half that. Something is off.

 

[jjswan33]

He responded to my question stating use of Tesla charger rated at 40A so he should have been seeing the same charge rate as you but was only get half that. Something is off.

Yeah I agree something seems off. I'd want to know:

- What was the beginning and ending SOC?
- What charge rate is the R1T receiving?
if it's less than 9.6 kW then something is wrong with the 40A charger

If it is getting 9.6kW then in the worst case (20" AT tires) the charger should do:

125kWh (Usable Battery) / 9.6kW = 13 hours from 0-100%
270 miles / 13 hours = ~21 miles/hour

 

[2020]

I get about 7-8kW on the 30 amp charger and was getting from 10-15kW on the Tesla charger. It may be that the charge rate is faster with a depleted battery and slows down significantly when it starts getting full. In terms of charge rate: 15-20miles/hr for the Rivian and up to 33miles/hr for the Tesla Y with the same charger.

 

[jjswan33]

I get about 7-8kW on the 30 amp charger and was getting from 10-15kW on the Tesla charger. It may be that the charge rate is faster with a depleted battery and slows down significantly when it starts getting full. In terms of charge rate: 15-20miles/hr for the Rivian and up to 33miles/hr for the Tesla Y with the same charger.

And the model Y probably has a 70-80 kWh battery compared to the 125kWh battery in the Rivian? I mean I don't know the range/size of your Tesla. Those numbers presented in that fashion make more sense to me. You can't think in terms of miles when comparing to the Tesla, obviously a truck is going to be less efficient.

 

[Trekkie]

I get about 7-8kW on the 30 amp charger and was getting from 10-15kW on the Tesla charger. It may be that the charge rate is faster with a depleted battery and slows down significantly when it starts getting full. In terms of charge rate: 15-20miles/hr for the Rivian and up to 33miles/hr for the Tesla Y with the same charger.

30A should be 7,200kW. There's not 'about' really, it's that. Tesla charger would be 9,600 if it's drawing 40A. Tesla's onboard chargers peak out at 48A max (11,520), unless you have an older X they had a 72A onboard charger, not sure about the S. Anything recent though the switched to 48A max.

If it's fluctuating I'd be calling an electrician and investing in fire extinguishers as something is really broken.

Unless you have odd power (208A Commercial) that is. Not usually the case unless you're charging at a business or a large apartment complex that might have wired differently.

 

[electruck]

I get about 7-8kW on the 30 amp charger and was getting from 10-15kW on the Tesla charger. It may be that the charge rate is faster with a depleted battery and slows down significantly when it starts getting full. In terms of charge rate: 15-20miles/hr for the Rivian and up to 33miles/hr for the Tesla Y with the same charger.

15-20 for the Rivian would be expected with your chargers. Earlier you stated 60 miles in 7 hrs which is less than 9 miles/hr. It would surprise me if Rivian tapered an L2 charge enough to explain that. And keep in mind the Tesla is more efficient so obviously more miles out of the same kWh.

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