Rivian Wall Charger - *Really* Weatherproof?

[Stearmandriver]

Hello! We had our wall charger installed today. It's outside on a post next to the driveway. The property is kind of unique and the garage is across a creek up the old farmhouse driveway, so we park on an uncovered paved area near the house. This means that the charger is FULLY exposed to the weather, which Rivian (and Internet research) assured me is fine.

In the course of setting it up, I had problems connecting via Bluetooth so opened up the front cover to see if the electrician had plugged in the comms cable (he had not, so that problem was solved), and in the process had a look around the inside. I was pretty surprised to see no gasketing at all.

In your real world experience, are these things genuinely designed to live outside / do they hold up? I'm in the Puget sound area of the PNW so very wet winters, lots of sun in the summer (though rarely real heat), and no extreme cold but the occasional few night stretch in the teens.

Any guesses on life expectancy for this thing? And more importantly, has anyone seen any safety issues related to this?

(FWIW, of course no one is perfect but I do trust this electrician; he's done work for us before and strikes me as thorough and professional. Charger is bottom-wired, on its own 60a circuit. Wiring is inside sealed PVC conduit.)

Thanks for any thoughts.

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[Zoidz]

By electrical standards, it's fine. It is rated NEMA 3R. NEMA 3R is ungasketed. This means the design protects it from FALLING rain, snow, sleet, etc. and ice formation on the outside is OK. This is a common rating for residential electrical equipment. If you have an outdoor HVAC unit, it should have an electrical disconnect and it is most likely also NEMA 3R.

The next rating higher is NEMA 4R which is gasketed and considered sealed to BLOWN/SPLASHING precipitation and dust. This increases the cost. For this size enclosure it could add $50 - $100 to the cost. An additional issue is that since it is sealed, the designer has to consider whether trapped heat could affect the interior components.

For reference IP (Ingress Protection) has two rating systems that you will run into - IEC (International) and NEMA (United States). NEMA 3R = IP14 and NEMA 4R = IP65.

 

[SwampNut]

Millions of EVSEs with this same design and rating are in use. Mine is both in full hot summer sun and exposed to blowing rain (we just had a 50+ MPH rain storm).

 

[R1TCntrlMaIzzy]

I bet you will not, or maybe did not, find many if any complaints about the Riv evse being damaged due to outdoor exposure.

In any case, mine has been outside for 2.5 years, used almost daily and still working. I live in MA.

 

[postcromag]

Mine is installed outside my home, and has been exposed to the elements for 3.5 years. Daily use. No problems, and still "looks" good, too.

 

[Fencer]

Mine was mounted outside since late 2021. It took a beating looks terrible but still works like a champ. Every day.

 

[Stearmandriver]

Thanks for the feedback all. Sounds like they're holding up better than I was guessing; good news. I'm not too concerned about cosmetic issues, just safety and functionality. Sounds like they do ok.

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