? Rivian Adopts Tesla NACS Standard! (Adapters in 2024, Standard Charging Port in 2025)

[R1Tom]

But it makes sense for Tesla? If done right, there will be positive cash flow over the years. And I would hope that Rivian will concentrate their future efforts to install chargers in "adventure" sites.

Timing matters. Tesla did it to sell vehicles. With time....convince stations will jump in to entice customers to sit and charge while buying hot dogs, etc... they will force margin to negligible to sell those hot dogs.

Rivian has better things to spend money on.

Do you see Ford, GM, etc... going in on energy distribution? No.

Tesla had to do it for adoption. Rivian is doing it for image.

I like destination chargers. But not L3 along interstates and urban areas.

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[izgoy]

And how much will the Adapter be for those of us Rivian Early Adapters? I know there are after market converters out there, and will these be ones that Rivian recommends or will they require a Rivian to Tesla adapter?

There aren’t any aftermarket adapters for superchargers.

 

[jjswan33]

In your scenario they are priced the same, so one isn’t worth more.

Even if someone buys the NACS Rivian first, the CCS will be sold to the next guy.

LOL... you don't understand how thought experiments work do you?

Just because the dealer prices them the same doesn't mean the consumer will pay the same price.

How about another thought experiment for you. So Rivian will provide an adapter but lets say the adapter is capped at 150kW and the NACS Rivian can charge up to 300kW. Are the two trucks still equivalent from a consumer prospective?

 

[jotunheim]

ooooh this is a good point. the only reason I EVER considered a Max Pack, was because of how many miles I drive, but if there's a supercharger every 100 miles or something similar (it's just a random metric don't jump me) then there's literally zero need.

I still plan on keeping the max pack, simply for the reason of towing. 390 miles quickly turns into 190 miles when you have a boat or other heavy trailer in back, and would only require only one stop on the way to the cabin in northern Wisconsin.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Who knows, but adding built in cooling to the DC ports on a CCS plug is going to impact all the native NACS cars too. It would have to be on the adapter side.

Eventually we're going to run into issues with battery cooling, there's only so much heat that can be evacuated with a system that's onboard a vehicle. Having to up-size so significantly adds cost, complexity, and weight. External ports for liquid sharing could be very advantageous down the line.

Of course am I going to trust any random DC charging station to handle my coolants? I'd be extremely leery of that.

 

[Andy96734]

Now get NACS out of Tesla's exclusive control and into a recognized standards body, and all will be good.

Yes. As article says NACS was rebrnded and Tesla decreed it was a standard vice any standards setter. That said Musk/Tesla build it and they will come is playing out very nicely to their bottom line advantage.

 

[Mathme]

Couple of musings on this topic:

1. I think this is a good thing as when on road trips, it'll open up more charging options;
2. I know people who bought a Tesla "because all other charging sucks." They are going to be pissed because all of their precious chargers are going to be taken up with Fords and Vivian's;
3. I'll buy the adapter when it's available;
4. I think this lead time is likely to first build the adapter, and then for Rivian to develop some code for the trucks to work in the Supercharger network;
5. I hope these adapters will be tied to the VIN or not terribly expensive...otherwise someone will end up getting their adapter stolen at some point;
6. I believe Tesla will charge a premium...but who knows, maybe Tesla and Rivian can work a sharing deal with the Supercharger and RAN Networks.

 

[FrankieJ]

LOL... you don't understand how thought experiments work do you?

Just because the dealer prices them the same doesn't mean the consumer will pay the same price.

How about another thought experiment for you. So Rivian will provide an adapter but lets say the adapter is capped at 150kW and the NACS Rivian can charge up to 300kW. Are the two trucks still equivalent from a consumer prospective?

Why don’t we just wait and see before we get all worked up about it. Overall very positive news and I’m pleased that they moved so quickly.

 

[LL75]

Why not both? RAN can concentrate on the ADVENTURE areas. (And include both plugs)

At their pace, I rather have tesla do it. They don't even have a RAN in Texas yet. !!!

 

[SamDoe1]

Eventually we're going to run into issues with battery cooling, there's only so much heat that can be evacuated with a system that's onboard a vehicle. Having to up-size so significantly adds cost, complexity, and weight. External ports for liquid sharing could be very advantageous down the line.

Of course am I going to trust any random DC charging station to handle my coolants? I'd be extremely leery of that.

Not a chance I'd be on board with sharing coolant with a public charger with questionable service history. The battery and connection cooling is a current problem that may or may not actually be a hardware problem rather than SW cooling strategy. Cooling the cable, adapter, and charge dispenser itself is a different problem.

 

[Acoustic71]

Are you sure someone actually reset it? If someone reset it, shouldn't your Rivian have just started charging again? Or does it require an unplug/replug event for it to consider starting again after an external "failure"?

Or maybe it was just being because of this:
Acoustic71 said:
as there were four chargers barely working

Poor choice of words. I was remembering the wording the Tesla guy used. I got the impression that he did not know anything about the Tesla Destination Chargers. I'd say that he didn't seem to know that although Tesla makes these small Level 2 chargers, that they are not officially owned or operated by Tesla. Sometimes I forget that myself. It just adds to the confusion. These Level 2 charges vary by location. Most that I have encountered in the wild claim to be either 5-6kW, or some suggest 11kW. I wouldn't count on either. One should only count on these to get a bit of charge. I was hoping to get a full charge to 80%, but I wasn't depending on it. In other words, I was going to take what I could get. What made the interaction with the Tesla guy so awful was that he kept insisting that it was my (or the other folks charging) doing something wrong that was causing his Tesla to charge so slowly. And yes, for the zillionth time, I watched him reset my charger more than once. The last time he reset it I was watching him from our motel window on the second floor, overlooking my R1T and the other chargers.

 

[MDH]

I would really love to be able to use either supercharger or ccs networks on my once or twice a year road trips. It seems silly to carry an expensive adapter the other 350 days a year. Someone should set up a rental service for the adapter. $30/week to rent a $500 adapter. Or maybe I'll buy one together with friends and co-op it.

Really? You have a $90K vehicle and are concerned about a $500 adapter?

 

[emoore]

I'm happy about this for overall charging of EVs but disagree with everyone that says just let Tesla build out the charging network. That's like saying just let Shell build out the gas stations and everyone else can just stop. Doesn't make any sense. We need all the chargers we can get so more from Rivian, Tesla, EA, EVGo, Chargepoint, etc.

 

[BeanEW]

I wish they will consider to include a couple feet of cable when they design the adapter. It will cost more but much more useful.

 

[Autolycus]

Rivian said very clearly that this announcement changes nothing about their plans for the RAN. I think that's the right decision for them. They want to guarantee a certain user experience, just like Tesla does. GM, Ford, etc. are the ones who are being stupidly short-sighted by relying on others to invest in charging infrastructure. The big reason for the difference: Rivian and Tesla actually care about increasing EV adoption. GM, Ford, etc. are just trying to follow the market and are only making EVs because they think it's the next big thing that they have to do.

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