Andrew J. Hawkins, a transportation editor with over 10 years of experience covering EVs, public transportation, and aviation, brings us this exclusive update. His work has been featured in renowned publications like The New York Daily News and City & State.

Rivian's Charging Station Revolution: Open to All EVs

Rivian's First Open Charging Station in Joshua Tree National Park

Rivian's latest EV charging station marks a significant milestone as it becomes the first to be open to other companies' vehicles. Situated in California's Joshua Tree National Park, this new station is set to be the company's first accessible to non-Rivian electric vehicles. Its design features larger displays with a convenient tap-to-pay option, capable of accommodating any car brand's EVs. Currently, the Rivian Adventure Network, consisting of 560 chargers at 92 sites across the country, is exclusive to owners of the company's R1T and R1S vehicles. This approach was similar to Tesla's initial strategy of building its own Supercharger network for exclusive charging to its customers.However, with billions of dollars in federal funding at stake, automakers are reevaluating this exclusivity. One of the conditions for receiving federal funding for EV charging installation is that chargers must be available to all EVs, not just a single brand. Tesla took a major step in 2023 by opening its network to non-Tesla EVs. Soon after, it open-sourced its charging plug and renamed it the North American Charging Standard (NACS), making deals with other auto industries, including Rivian, to use it for their EVs.Rivian's EV chargers utilize the standard CCS connector for DC fast charging. But due to proprietary software, the stations remain exclusive to Rivian vehicles. With today's announcement, Rivian is starting the process of removing this exclusivity.Rivian has also stated its intention to adopt Tesla's NACS charging standard. Current Rivian customers can purchase an adapter if they wish to use the Supercharger network. By 2026, Rivian plans to start producing vehicles with a native NACS port.

Expansion Plans and Retrofit Efforts

Rivian spokesperson Evan Barbour revealed that the company's future EV charging sites will also be open to non-Rivian EVs. Rivian aims to open additional charging sites in Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York before the end of 2024. Meanwhile, existing stations will be retrofitted with software updates to accommodate other brands and hardware updates to add NACS charging plugs. In the interim, the Joshua Tree location and other stations will be available to Tesla owners with NACS-to-CCS adapters.The current landscape of EV ownership is a complex web of competing standards, subpar software experiences, and competing payment apps. While some customers acknowledge that the EV charging experience is gradually improving, this next phase of adapters and formerly proprietary chargers becoming universal is just beginning. It holds great potential for a more seamless and accessible charging experience for all EV owners.