Rivian or another vendor wall charger?

[LindaC]

From a non-technical, soon to be, owner of R1S I need to decide whether or not to buy the Rivian wall charger? For that matter to get a wall charger at all? I tried to read through past posts. It sounds to me like the consensus is that a wall charger is better than plugging/unplugging into an outlet. If I have that right, is the $500 wall charger from Rivian the way to go? Thank you for any insight!!!

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[jjswan33]

Honestly there is nothing special about the Rivian charger. Plenty of other L2 charging options and the truck includes the portable charger (up to 32A), if you have a NEMA 14-50 outlet that may be enough but depends on how much you drive.

I know folks are high on the new Tesla L2 chargers, I personally have a Chargepoint Home flex.

Definitely don't plan on relying on 110V charging though, you will be disappointed.

 

[AllInev]

From a non-technical, soon to be, owner of R1S I need to decide whether or not to buy the Rivian wall charger? For that matter to get a wall charger at all? I tried to read through past posts. It sounds to me like the consensus is that a wall charger is better than plugging/unplugging into an outlet. If I have that right, is the $500 wall charger from Rivian the way to go? Thank you for any insight!!!

Here are several reviews of some "chargers" (EVSEs):

Unfortunately, he only reviews chargers that vendors send him for free --Rivian has not sent him a free one yet.

 

[DTown3011]

I also have the ChargePoint Home Flex. Got a credit and rebate from my utility provider and it was cheaper than the Rivian charger. I personally would look at alternatives beyond the Rivian charger.

You aren't going to want to plug into the wall, unless you have a dryer outlet - Level 1 110v is going to be too slow on the Rivian.

 

[R.I.P.]

Bang for the buck, you can't go wrong with a Tesla unit.

The Rivian units are not a great value, and have been somewhat problematic.

 

[nukem384]

Made a video on this exact topic.


TLDR: Rivian wall charger is kinda pricey and nothing special. Best bang for buck is Emporia's solution, but I don't like the way it looks and it's too big for our space. Tesla makes great products for competitive pricing.

If you have some sort of utility rebate, maybe you go with that EVSE if it can give you 48a charging.

 

[Redmond Chad]

I recently had a couple of Tesla chargers installed. The electrician was very pleased; he says they are the best-designed for installation (and they've worked very well for me long-term at previous houses). My Rivian was not in the garage so this was by chance, but he volunteered that Rivian chargers are the worst-designed for installation.

Of course, if the electrician is doing the work, once installation is over you may not care about that difference...

 

[VSG]

At $500 the Rivian charger is a reasonable buy and you will get a five-year (!) warranty if you buy it with the vehicle. But any J1772 charger will work out of the box - they're pretty much a commodity item. And since installation costs as much as the charger (or more, depending on your site), the charger cost is only one factor. I would avoid the cheapest no-brand chargers, because this is a high-current electrical device installed in your home so you want to know it's safe, but other than that compare them by price and warranty.

Other factors to consider are any rebates provided by your local utility - sometimes those are brand-specific. Also consider charger features like the ability to power share with a second charger (if you have two EVs) or the capability of the charger's app (if that's something you think you need or want).

 

[SANZC02]

I did neither and went with the Emporium, at $399 on Amazon and capable of 48 amps it is a good deal. If I want to charge the Tesla I just use the J1772 to Tesla adapter.

 

[rryan]

I went with Tesla J1772 unit to match wife’s Tesla NACS charger. Better price than Rivian unit.

 

[Flypony53]

Cannot go wrong with the J1722 from Tesla. Great price, solid reliability. My rivian and my Ford Pro Station both stop working at random and require me to flip the breaker to restore them to working order. My Tesla plug has never had an issue.

 

[LindaC]

Thank you all for your comments, VERY much appreciated!!!

 

[dleepnw]

id highly recommend you get a charger installed. plugging into the wall (110v) will be way too slow to be usable. 240v is better but still takes forever to charge that large battery in the R1. i tried that for a month and found myself going to charging stations because even overnight i wouldnt get enough charge. and i was spending a lot for those charging stations.
i got the Emporia home charger and installed a 60a breaker to get the full 48a. its not only a good deal ($399) but works flawlessly, zero issues and has never not worked with my R1T and the app gives a lot of useful data.

 

[Hillbilly]

We have a wall charger in addition to having installed two 50 amp receptacles (one at the home garage and the other at the workshop). This has been great for us. Whichever rivian has the least juice in it gets the wall charger overnight for best rates (11-7) and we can use the portable charger at whichever receptacle we choose. It also lets us keep our rv running off 50 amps at either location since we're staying in it during a renovation. I'm not an electrician, but did all the wiring myself. Pretty easy/straight forward.

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