Level 3 Charging 2025-2026 for Rivian R1S May Require a $300 "Accessory"

[R1SFamilyGuy]

get yourself the right DCFC and Level 2 adapters, leave them in your car

100% do this. I have friends (with Teslas) who I have done mini road trips with and they have an adapter that they left at home. “I forgot”. It’s mind boggling to me. “

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[lefkonj]

Adapters are our state for the next few years. If your car was J1772/CCS1 you would want a Tesla adapter for both Level 2 and Level 3. If your car is NACS you need the adapters for Level 2/3. Nothing we can do about it. Its a small cost lots of us have spent.

 

[RivAW]

So OP is stating that they didn't do any research at all or try to understand the current general state of EV charging before purchasing.......

 

[SANZC02]

I can understand why manufacturers are starting to not supply a portable charger with purchase. I have a 2016 Tesla Model S and a 2022 R1S, the only time I ever used the supplied portable charger on both were to make sure they work, they are both pretty much brand new sitting in the vehicles.

My Tesla will not work on any CCS station so the only adapter I have in that vehicle is a J1772 to NACS level 1/2 adapter, supplied with the vehicle.

In the R1S I have a level 1/2 J3400 to J1772 and a NACS to CCS adapter, both purchased by me. I did subsequently get the Rivian NACS to CCS adapter when my number came up but needed one sooner which is why I purchased it.

When I get the R2 I already have a J1772 to J3400 so will end up purchasing a CCS to NACS for that vehicle.

 

[DuoRivian]

Depending on your circumstances, especially your location...

I live in Indianapolis and recently took delivery of a 2026 R1S. I'm thrilled with the vehicle and am a fan of Rivian. The following is intended as a caution to other people considering buying and as constructive feedback for the good folks at Rivian Automotive, Inc.:

The 2025 and later models of the R1 vehicles come with a NACS charging receptacle. No charging capability is included with the purchase in most regions of the country, except for limited options at other companies' stations. No level 1 cable for home charging is provided, and, importantly, there is no adapter for level 3 CCS charging (including the Rivian Charging network or any of the other "227K chargers in North America" mentioned on the website), which make up the vast majority of what is available to you.

Oddly, they provided an adapter for level 2 home charging with a CCS-type interface (for unclear reasons). Unfortunately, I mistook this included item for a level 3 adapter - which was clearly my mistake.

When I told the folks at Rivian that I was surprised that the adapter sent was not for access to the level 3 CCS stations, I was told that I could purchase a Combo CCS DC adapter ($300) from the Gear Shop, and "In the mean time, you would have to find a NACS fast charger. Primarily, this is going to be Tesla Superchargers".

I asked them for information about charging for my vehicle without the adapter, specifically at the Rivian Adventure charging stations. The question was deflected/not answered. Instead, they said, "you are only able to charge at fast chargers that have the NACS plug in. We do not have an exact answer for the number of chargers in the country that have the NACS plug in. Within your Rivian navigation, you can filter the chargers where an adapter is not needed!"

I did find the helpful rivianroamer.com site, which indicates that 16 of the 137 Rivian Adventure sites nationwide have NACS chargers. As it stands, they are mainly on the west coast (None in the states between NY and CO, which total 3; my closest is a 12+ hour drive), and therefore none of the five on the extended travel route I frequently take to northern Michigan have them.

I understood that the Rivian network is smaller and regional, but I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to access the ones available to me with my new R1S. Also, looking at local level 3 chargers in Indianapolis, CCS chargers vastly outnumber NACS, and using a NACS charger adds a 30-45 minute round trip from my home, depending on traffic.

When I expressed to my contact at Rivian that I was disappointed, they pointed out that the website states, "Depending on your vehicle, you can use a Rivian-approved CCS1 adapter, J1772 AC adapter, or NACS DC adapter to expand your charging options," which I am sure can be found somewhere. FWIW, I also see their website info also states: "Only Rivian-provided NACS DC adapters are authorized for use on the Tesla Supercharger network. Use of unapproved adapters can result in damage to your vehicle. Any damage caused by use of third-party adapters is not covered under warranty."

All this is not to claim catastrophe. I haven't mentioned level 2 charging (except for that odd adapter included with my purchase). I am having a home charger installed soon, and I expect this will be where 80% or more of my charging will be done (an extra cost that was easily understood/non-opaque when I bought the vehicle). Also, the future will be better as more level 3 NACS chargers are being added everywhere with new stations and retrofitting existing stations (including the Rivian ones).

I do feel misled overall about the "thousands of fast chargers all over the map" advertised, as the vast majority of all charging stations are, in fact, inaccessible without purchasing an "accessory" from Rivian. Those in most regions of the country may feel, as I do, that the current state of the charging infrastructure makes the adapter a necessity, and it should be included with vehicle purchase.

I must have missed something, what is the problem charging with NACS? There are thousands of these fast chargers.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I must have missed something, what is the problem charging with NACS? There are thousands of these fast chargers.

He took delivery of a MY26 (NACS port) and is surprised a CCS1 to NACS DC adapter is not included in price of purchase (for chargers/networks that are still on CCS1), but is an optional customer-paid accessory. Such is the current state of auto industry. Everyone is moving away from complimentary adapters. Rising business costs and slimmer profits tend to do that. While there may be thousands of NACS DCFCs, they aren't everywhere... or even open to non-Teslas. I'd be shocked if retrofits are anywhere near 10% right now.

 

[Cascadian]

Why doesn’t Rivian offer to sell adapters on the spot during deliveries?
Maybe they do or are they banned by stupid dealer laws?

 

[ndmiller]

No-one mislead anyone. There are competing standards in the US and adapters have been a way of life ever since NACS (Tesla original) and J1772 and CCS and Chadmo came on the scene over a decade ago.

EV's will require adapters for a good long while as charging providers aren't spending millions on new infrastructure converting to NACS anytime soon. Both of our Rivian and Tesla have competing standard adapters for level 2 and 3 charging. In fact the CCS-NACS is the first adapter I bought for our Tesla on Teslas site.

Also the reason Rivian or other makers adopting NACS was a nothing burger. They all had CCS before which required adapters to use all charging infrastructure and now they have NACS which requires adapters to use all charging infrastructure.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Why doesn’t Rivian offer to sell adapters on the spot during deliveries?
Maybe they do or are they banned by stupid dealer laws?

No, it's not that. It's because they are resource-limited and CAPEX-reduction-sensitive. Any retail operation beyond selling cars takes a back seat. If you've ever read about Gear Shop shipping errors or how difficult it is to return orders... that's all evidence of how limited their merch/accessory retail operation is in scope & capability. Priorities & growing pains. Nearly all eyes are on R2 launch.

 

[Time2Roll]

NACS should prove to be all you need as it is everywhere now and only expanding. Other connectors will fade with time. May never need that adapter. What is the issue again?

I am one of the buyers that waited for NACS and very pleased to have it. No need to look backward.

 

[hammick]

So OP is stating that they didn't do any research at all or try to understand the current general state of EV charging before purchasing.......

No the OP had a very nice introductory post. Please stop trying to stir shit up. These forums are negative enough already.

And it was news to me that the portable charger is no longer included so I learned something from his post.

 

[SANZC02]

NACS should prove to be all you need as it is everywhere now and only expanding. Other connectors will fade with time. May never need that adapter. What is the issue again?

I am one of the buyers that waited for NACS and very pleased to have it. No need to look backward.

You should still get a CCS to NACS adapter if you do any longer trips. Tesla V1 and V2 Superchargers are not NACS compatible so there are places where there are a lot of older Superchargers where Tesla travels are easy but NACS will still require a few CCS stations to fill in the holes.

 

[Time2Roll]

You should still get a CCS to NACS adapter if you do any longer trips. Tesla V1 and V2 Superchargers are not NACS compatible so there are places where there are a lot of older Superchargers where Tesla travels are easy but NACS will still require a few CCS stations to fill in the holes.

Yes and the vehicle navigation should know the compatible places.
By all means get the adapter if actually needed.

 

[DucRider]

People sometimes forget that a large percentage of Tesla Superchargers are not NACS compliant and non-Tesla vehicles will never be able to use them (until/unless Tesla upgrades them).

NACS/J3400 is more than just the plug/port - it also encompasses the communication protocol (CCS) that controls the charge session. The original Supercharger protocol was based on CHAdeMO.

 

[VSG]

NACS should prove to be all you need as it is everywhere now

Very few road trips that I have made would have been possible if the only chargers I had access to were the open Tesla superchargers.

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