Using Rivian as power supply during hurricane?

[FishinNole]

Live in southeast FL so of course prone to massive hurricanes. Got the 24 Rivian R1S Large Pack Quad Motor. Currently have a pretty large/bulky gas generator in my garage that takes up a great deal of space. Had a thought of how I could run extension cord to Rivian and power a window AC unit, fridge, etc. bascially smaller items if we lost power.

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this or others who have powered items off it for an extended period of time. Was wondering peoples thoughts on how long you've seen a Rivian last when camping or something and enabling that type of mode? Figured I could move the generator to a different location but not seen as a must if drew from the Rivian. Thanks.

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[TTedP]

I'd be curious on the community comments as well. Getting rid of my generator would be my last gas item.

 

[jjswan33]

Currently the truck can only output 1500W so you'd be limited one what you can power.

That said what you could power with those outlets, assuming you had a 100% charge, would likely run for 4-8 days depending on the load.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/testing-the-rivian-as-a-‘backup’-power-source.4782/

It took some testing but with a transfer switch and an intermediate battery I can power the essentials.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Quite a few threads on this. Until Rivian (and hardware manufacturers) release the "official solution" for drawing power from the CCS port (which will probably be somewhere in the 7-9kW range), you're limited to the capacity output of the 110v outlets (1500-1700 watts, if I recall correctly). Which may be plenty, just depends on your particular needs.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Inverter in my truck is worth quite a bit but it's also easy to expect too much out of it. Window AC is a definite maybe depending on the model. Fridge is a yes.

Low wattage draws will take more power by the truck simply being on versus what they consume. If I were intentionally using my Rivian as a backup source for my house, I would have a battery bank in the house I could recharge and a higher powered inverter that can handle starting the significant loads. My 5500W generator drops out before my whole house AC can fully start up even when it's the only active load.

Rivian rates the inverter for 1500W but I have had no issues running up close to ~2kW if your load has a very high power factor (charging a battery bank or running a resistive heater is this)

Of course the calculations there are going to change once commercial standards compliant V2H systems become available.

 

[BigSkies]

This is something good to think about in advance. You can power a lot of things with 1,500W, but not all at once. It’s typically one major 120V device at a time.

Things to do before going this route:

1. Get a home energy monitor or a kill-a-watt meter to know what you can power. For example, I know my fridge draws a max of about 350W and my chest freezer is 55W. I know I can power them together. The coffee maker is 1,100 W, so that can’t be combined.

2. Get a long enough extension cord that is rated for a continuous 12A/1,500W load. Many extension cords are not rated for this. You don’t want to run a space heater off the truck with an insufficient extension cord. Things could get very burny. Properly rated extension cords are more expensive, but you want it.

 

[stewart]

Live in southeast FL so of course prone to massive hurricanes. Got the 24 Rivian R1S Large Pack Quad Motor. Currently have a pretty large/bulky gas generator in my garage that takes up a great deal of space. Had a thought of how I could run extension cord to Rivian and power a window AC unit, fridge, etc. bascially smaller items if we lost power.

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this or others who have powered items off it for an extended period of time. Was wondering peoples thoughts on how long you've seen a Rivian last when camping or something and enabling that type of mode? Figured I could move the generator to a different location but not seen as a must if drew from the Rivian. Thanks.

You would be limited to about 1.5 kW in total I think in terms of what you can run at the same time. My battery is 150kWh so for me this would mean about 100 hours of full load running. AC and Fridges don't run all the time, though if the weather is bad, they could. I'm keeping the generator since last hurricane we wanted to do laundry and cable was back before power so we had internet and were running more. Family and friends came to our place. The other thing to consider is that using the Rivian for backup reduces range if you have to bug out.

 

[Deacon]

Live in southeast FL so of course prone to massive hurricanes. Got the 24 Rivian R1S Large Pack Quad Motor. Currently have a pretty large/bulky gas generator in my garage that takes up a great deal of space. Had a thought of how I could run extension cord to Rivian and power a window AC unit, fridge, etc. bascially smaller items if we lost power.

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this or others who have powered items off it for an extended period of time. Was wondering peoples thoughts on how long you've seen a Rivian last when camping or something and enabling that type of mode? Figured I could move the generator to a different location but not seen as a must if drew from the Rivian. Thanks.

I also live in a hurricane prone area. Here is my plan - I plug 2 extension cords in the truck and run them into the house. I plug one into the refrigerator. The other cord I will use on whatever I need first - usually that is to make coffee for my wife. I have some batteries that I can plug lamps into (all my lights are LED so not big power draw) - same batteries I use for my lawn mower etc. I have a solar electric hot water heater so hot water is never a problem. I have a 3200 watt portable generator that I will operate during the day. Will plug freezer, router, modem, TV, charging cables for phones and computers, anything else I might need to power up in daytime, into the generator. I also have several solar lanterns that I can string up in the house. At night I will turn off the generator and plug the freezer into the truck - could leave freezer off for 12 hours and it would be ok. I could also plug some lamps into the truck if needed. If my internet is down, I may be able to utilize the hot spot in the truck - don't know about that yet. I am waiting for Rivian to open up the truck to V2H so I can plug the truck into my breaker box via a transfer switch. I figure I could operate the fridge, freezer, lights, ceiling fans, and modem/router for multiple days from the truck. Air conditioner and heater are probably not an option in this scenario. If power outage extends for a longer period of time I will drive truck inland about 30 miles, charge, then return home. It's all about utilizing truck, generator, batteries, solar lanterns, etc. in most effective way. Make sure you have enough quality extension cord that are long enough, lanterns, batteries, etc. - and know where they are. I keep all my "Hurricane" stuff easily accessible so I can be set up in a matter of minutes. Good luck!

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