Precondition battery for fast charging when navigating to Tesla Superchargers?

[Ilovejunebugs]

I just got my official NACS adaptor from Rivian. This makes me wonder if my truck will precondition the battery for fast charging when navigating to a Tesla Supercharging station? I can test this on my next road trip, but I am curious if anyone in this community already has the answer. Thanks!

Yes it will. I charged at a Tesla DCFC over the weekend using my rivian nacs adapter and my truck started preconditioning the battery as soon as i chose the charger as a destination.

Sponsored

 

[yetti96]

How do you tell Rivian Navigation that you're headed to a Supercharger for actual charging purposes?

I had Rivian Nav search for "Tesla Supercharger Moses Lake WA" when I was about an hour away. No preconditioning at all. I might as well have told it I was headed to Arby's.

Moses Lake isn't near a whole lot else, so I couldn't trick the nav into thinking I was headed somewhere it did recognize. Fortunately it wasn't too hot or cold, so charging speed was OK anyway.

Thanks for any advice!

I was going to ask about temps, because I have had it even begin cooling the battery over an hour from a location before.

 

[DrYz1]

This isn't easy, @DrYz1. Here's what I know and believe:

*** TESLA SUPERCHARGERS ***

First, most Tesla Superchargers are not open to non-Tesla EVs. Open https://www.tesla.com/findus to see what's what.

By default, Tesla's "Find Us" map shows all the categories on the left. To narrow it down to one category, you have to click everything you DON'T want in order to remove it. Three of the categories are Tesla Superchargers.

"Superchargers" (lightning bolt in red circle, without radiating arcs) are Tesla-only. Nothing you can do will make those Superchargers charge your Rivian.

"Superchargers Open to Other EVs" (lightning bolt with radiating arcs) have built-in "Magic Dock" NACS-to-CCS DC adapters. You don't need to bring any adapter to these, you just need to know how to remove the "Magic Dock" from its housing. Push and hold the bulls-eye icon near the end of the NACS wand. While pushing the bulls-eye icon, push the NACS wand into the socket and hold it until you hear a little click. Then (I think you're still holding the button) remove wand and adapter from the socket. Tesla has about a seven-second video in its app. You can spend a long time on paid-by-the-minute YouTube videos that aren't as clear as Tesla's ultrashort video.

"Superchargers Open to NACS" require a third party adapter such as the A2Z Typhoon. Be ready to push everything together hard the first few times. Carefully follow A2Z's directions.

If you expect to use Superchargers (with Magic Dock or with adapter) two or more times a month, buy a $12.99 Tesla membership, start your charge in the Tesla app BEFORE plugging in, and enjoy a lower price per kWh.

If you expect to use Superchargers once a month or less, first plug in the NACS wand and adapter to your Rivian and do NOT start the charge in the app. Your vehicle sends Rivian a signal that it's you. Rivian sends Tesla an electronic token promising to pay Tesla's posted non-member rates for the charging session. When Tesla charges Rivian, Rivian passes on that charge to the card that you use for primary payment on your Rivian account.

*** VOIDING THE WARRANTY? ***

Rivian doesn't warrant non-Rivian adapters. Period. They warrant their equipment only.

If Rivian thinks a non-Rivian adapter has contributed to injuring somebody, or damaging your vehicle, or damaging someone else's vehicle, or damaging a charger or a third party's property, Rivian (or another allegedly injured party) can hold you liable for the damage.

Will the injured party collect on the damages they think you caused? That's up to the courts! I believe most courts would use the standard of "preponderance of the evidence." If that's hard to determine, some courts will defer to the most sophisticated engineers or the most respectable attorneys. Some courts will sympathize with you as the "little guy." You never know.

Whoever loses can appeal -- if they have the time and money to spend on an appeal. Not a fun process for individual owners.

You may even be subject to mandatory arbitration -- the arbitrators are officially neutral, but all arbitrators know that big companies can steer repeat business to arbitrators whose verdicts favor them, and you can't steer them any repeat business at all. You may not even be able to get to the courts at all.

Will your insurance reimburse you for any liability, or for damage to your vehicle? That's up to your insurance company -- and maybe the courts, if you and the insurance company can't agree about whether your policy covers this situation.

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't know what's in your contract with A2Z. Most likely they warrant to replace their product if you make a serious case that it was defective. Most likely they don't warrant to cover any damage alleged to be caused by their product. (@A2ZEV: Please correct me if I'm wrong about your policy!)

All that being said, I'm not aware that the A2Z Typhoon NACS-to-CCS adapter has ever been alleged to cause harm to a vehicle or charger. So there is a very small risk of very costly damage.

Because the risk is very small and mostly theoretical, some on this forum have pressed ahead in order to enjoy the benefits of an NACS-to-CCS adapter sooner rather than later. Because the outcome could be very costly, and because many Americans prefer to wait for USA-made equipment rather than Chinese-made equipment, others on this forum are waiting for Rivian's adapters (which are made by Tesla in Buffalo NY).

I hope others will correct me if I'm wrong about any of these facts or opinions. None of this is any kind of legal advice. You decide what you should do, @DrYz1.

***

I hope this helps. Very best wishes!

I just did a 1500 mile round trip

I didn't want to subscribe to any of the vendors (is that how we refer to those selling electrons?), so perhaps I didn't get the best pricing, but the subscription fees wouldn't work out for me in the long run

The Rivian chargers were the cheapest (the whole trip may have cost more than gas for our Kia Carnival)

Used Electrify America and EVGo - kinda pricey

I was nervous about access and that prompted me to get the adaptor, but in the end it wasn't necessary, and I confess I was pleased not to pay homage to Tesla/Musk

Sponsored