After playing footsie with the idea for a bit, Rivian is also jumping on board with GM and Ford in adopting Tesla’s charging connector.
In a press release, the company announced that starting in 2025, Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port will be the default in its R1T, R1S, and upcoming R2 models. The company’s current vehicles, which still use CCS, will still be compatible with an adapter with Tesla’s Superchargers but won’t get the benefits of NACS.
In addition to adopting NACS in its future vehicles, the company says that all of its models will get access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers next year. That’s a huge jump and really on Tesla to continue to build out compatibility for its existing charging stations, but it’s likely going to happen since the company is also building out compatibility for a number of other brands.
While it’s adopting NACS, that doesn’t mean that Rivian is abandoning its own charging network. The company says it is still committed to building out the Rivian Adventure Network — and it should, since those chargers are usually in places you’d be less likely to find a Supercharger if you can believe it.
RJ Scaringe, the CEO and founder of Rivian, said in a statement that adopting NACS and working with Tesla is another step towards moving the world towards carbon neutrality.
“We’re excited to work with Tesla and to see collaborations like this help advance the world toward carbon neutrality. The adoption of the North American Charging Standard will enable our existing and future customers to leverage Tesla’s expansive Supercharger network while we continue to build out our Rivian Adventure Network. We look forward to continuing to find new ways to accelerate EV adoption.”
I’m excited to see Rivian make this decision. It’s pretty easy to see that not adopting this charging connector is going to be a bad move for any EV company that does so. It’s definitely turning into the standard since, not only has Rivian signed up, but Ford and GM too.
The interesting thing now will be if people put off buying a Rivian in order to wait until 2025, when the charging port makes its way onto the vehicle.
