What's in your charging kit?

[TahoeTexan]

I'm not new to the EV world, but new to EVs with enough range for a serious road trip.

So, what are some best practices for for equipment and practices when traveling?

From research, I have these items:
- NEMA 10-30P to 14-50R EV adapter
- 50ft 10/3 15 amp extension cord
- portable charger included with R1T
- Rivian NACS adapter

For my first road trip I have planned 360 miles for day 1 and a stop at 200 miles with multiple chargers available. I plan to sign up for the monthly Tesla service.

Any other recommendations?

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[Fencer]

I think you are all set. If you ever end up in my world you can top off here for free.

 

[ndmiller]

I got one of these as well, although for real unique situation i knew I was going to see on the outside of a hotel I was staying at in MS. Got 16 miles per hour and charged well overnight.

CircleCord NEMA 6-50P to 14-50R EV Charger Adapter Cord for Level 2 EV Charging, 180 Degree Bent Design with Grip Handle, Heavy Duty 6 Gauge, ETL Listed

 

[CharonPDX]

#1 thing you're missing - Tesla "Destination Charging" adapter like a Lectron or TeslaTap - to let you charge on Tesla Destination at hotels/restaurants or Wall Connectors at peoples homes.

I would go for a 20A extension cord if you can over the 15A, just for that extra safety. Make sure you get one rated for outdoor use with high heat resistance and wet condition use. But if you're willing to de-rate charging speed a bit, a high-quality 15A should be fine.

You mention a NEMA 10-30P - that's a really uncommon plug. 14-50 (Rivian includes it,) 6-50 (ndmiller mentions,) and 14-30 (more commonly used for electric dryers than 10-30) are far more common than 10-30. Perhaps you're thinking of TT-30, (120V, 30A used by RVs that looks similar to 10-30)?

While you'd need a different EVSE to make full use it (it is standard in campgrounds, even when 240V 50A isn't available,) having a TT-30 adapter (simple plug adapter) can help, as I've seen campgrounds where the standard 5-15 outlets don't work right. (Sadly, the Rivian mobile cord doesn't support more than 15 Amps at 120 Volts at all. It only supports higher amperage on 240V.)

But I also visit campgrounds a lot. If you're planning on almost entirely "public charging infrastructure plus homes of people you know" then the NACS for DC and Lectron/TeslaTap for AC should be sufficient, plus the 6-50 and 14-30 simple adapters and an extension cord.

As for "monthly membership" - I don't bother signing up until I'm actually at the charger (I've never done Tesla membership, as I don't charge there when I have to pay for it, but I have done EVgo and EA.) And remember that to take advantage of the membership for Tesla, you have to authorize and start the charging session in the Tesla app *BEFORE* you plug in the vehicle. If you just plug in, it will use Plug-and-Charge to authorize and pay the "full price" too quickly.

 

[TahoeTexan]

I think you are all set. If you ever end up in my world you can top off here for free.

Much appreciated! Same from me if you end up in Reno.

 

[LukeNowland]

Which 10-30 adapter did you get? I learned the hard way that you can NOT buy a typical adapter that is meant for RVs, you need an EV specific adapter as they are wired differently. I bought this one from Amazon. Just be aware that you have to manually limit the charging amperage inside the Rivian to 24 Amps (80% load of 30amp breaker) before plugging in, as the adapter can not communicate this information like a native plug would be able to and you will flip a breaker at best, or fry something at worst. If you don't want to mess with this, some people choose to buy Tesla's portable EV charger as they offer a much larger variety of native plug ends for direct smart communication.

You mentioned you have a NACS adapter, I'm guessing you have the NACS to CCS adapter (heavy adapter for supercharging). You will definitely want a NACS to J1772 adapter like this one from A2Z, which looks similar but without the bottom half of the CCS port. It's counter intuitive, but your large adapter will not work at any tesla/nacs charging stations that only support Level 1 and 2 charging, as those are AC power rather than DC power. CCS wasn't built to handle ac and dc with the same port layout like NACS was, another reason why the industry is moving toward NACS.

 

[TahoeTexan]

@CharonPDX and @LukeNowland

Thanks for the great detail!

For the NACS to CCS, I have the Rivian one on the way. I understand this is what I need to charge at Tesla SC, but will not work at Destination chargers.

I think I purchased the wrong 10-30. Luckily I can return it.

I want to be able to charge at RV parks, so I believe I need a good TT-30 for EVs.
And I'll want to have the option to plug into a house dryer plug at times. I think I need 6-50P for that?

 

[VandalSibs]

@LukeNowland Just a quick note on your post - the traditional RV plug/outlet is NOT 10-30, but TT-30. Different pin arrangement and voltage (TT-30 is 120v, 10-30 is 220/240v).

My personal charging kit is a Tesla Gen2 mobile charger, with 5-15, 14-50, 10-30 & TT-30 pigtails (the last from EVSEAdapters.com) and a Tesla/NACS-to-J1772 adapter. Have mostly used the 14-50 and TT-30, but there was one case where having the 10-30 was handy.

 

[VandalSibs]

I want to be able to charge at RV parks, so I believe I need a good TT-30 for EVs.
And I'll want to have the option to plug into a house dryer plug at times. I think I need 6-50P for that?

It's possible that there are dryer outlets that are 6-50, but more likely is either 14-30 or 10-30.

 

[CharonPDX]

@CharonPDX and @LukeNowland

Thanks for the great detail!

For the NACS to CCS, I have the Rivian one on the way. I understand this is what I need to charge at Tesla SC, but will not work at Destination chargers.

I think I purchased the wrong 10-30. Luckily I can return it.

I want to be able to charge at RV parks, so I believe I need a good TT-30 for EVs.
And I'll want to have the option to plug into a house dryer plug at times. I think I need 6-50P for that?

House dryers use one of three plugs nowadays: 6-50 or 14-50 if newer install, 14-30 if older than 20ish years. If particularly old (I had forgotten about these!) the 10-30 you have might be there - *BUT* the Rivian EVSE requires ground to work.

10-30 is the 240V-only, no ground. So it is considered obsolete, but houses older than ~1996 (the older the more likely,) and "retrofit installs" older than the ~70s may still have it. The switch to 14-30 started in the 1960s! Because 10-30 has no ground, the Rivian adapter may not work. (I say only "may" not, because some older (pre 1950s) houses have neutral bonded to ground, so the neutral line on 10-30 will work as ground. But it's not a guarantee. My last house didn't have neutral bonded to ground anywhere, and multiple circuits had no functional ground, or different grounds from other circuits!)

If you are willing to swap your Rivian-provided mobile charge cord, the J+ Booster 2 is highly rated, durable, and has first-party "different cable ends" for all major plug types (except 10-30, since no ground.) And it supports full 40 Amps of a 50-amp circuit, the Rivian mobile cord is only 32A.

 

[ahoover]

Would one of you familiar with road traveling/using Tesla Superchargers be willing to. chat via zoom to answer tech questions? I have a new R1S Gen 2 and I'm awaiting delivery on Saturday of my NACS DC Adaptor. I have the Tesla app on my iPhone but want to be sure I have this set up right. I have a Rivian Wall Charger installed at home. tia Al

 

[VandalSibs]

House dryers use one of three plugs nowadays: 6-50 or 14-50 if newer install, 14-30 if older than 20ish years. If particularly old (I had forgotten about these!) the 10-30 you have might be there - *BUT* the Rivian EVSE requires ground to work.

I didn't know that 6-50 & 14-50 was being used for dryers - that seems like a lot of power for a dryer....

 

[VandalSibs]

Would one of you familiar with road traveling/using Tesla Superchargers be willing to. chat via zoom to answer tech questions? I have a new R1S Gen 2 and I'm awaiting delivery on Saturday of my NACS DC Adaptor. I have the Tesla app on my iPhone but want to be sure I have this set up right. I have a Rivian Wall Charger installed at home. tia Al

Really no need for a Zoom session - the Rivian and Tesla apps can walk you thru how to do things!

A few notes for you....

If you don't have the Tesla Membership (provides a discount on the cost of charging for a monthly fee), you don't need to use the Tesla app. Just plug your Rivian in with the adapter & the card you have set up with Rivian will get charged automatically!

Also, in the Rivian navigation, be sure to toggle OFF the "Adapter Needed" filter, as that hides sites that require adapters from navigation by default. After that, route planning will take Tesla Superchargers that need the adapter into account.

 

[CharonPDX]

I didn't know that 6-50 & 14-50 was being used for dryers - that seems like a lot of power for a dryer....

I think it's more that those plugs are just becoming standard. Not because dryers specifically need the power, but just to lower the number of different plug types in a house. My house was built in 2002, and has 14-50 on a 50-amp circuit for the dryer. When I bought a new dryer, it only had 14-30, so I have to use an adapter. (I installed it myself, if it had been pro installed, they would have swapped the plug on the dryer.)

 

[VandalSibs]

Interesting!

I always thought that three-prong only plugs and receptacles was on the way out for things with that amount of power, so that they had a neutral and a ground plug. Guess not!

The electrical code is a crazy, complex thing....

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