Update: Rivian officially announced that owners of the R1T and R1S EVs can now use the roughly 15,000 Tesla Superchargers in the United States and Canada. Each owner will also get a free adapter starting in April.
The original story below was modified to reflect the changes.
The Rivian R1T pickup and R1S all-electric SUV can now be recharged at Tesla Superchargers using an adapter that’s sold separately, reports on social media show.
Much like Ford EV owners, drivers of Rivian’s passenger vehicles can pull up to a Tesla Supercharger that’s only equipped with a NACS plug, attach a certified NACS to CCS1 adapter, and plug the cable in the car to initiate the session.
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Tesla Supercharger network opens for Rivian EVs in North America
Rivian owners can now recharger their R1T or R1S EVs at Tesla’s Supercharger network of DC fast chargers, according to several reports on social media. The Tesla Supercharger network is regarded as the biggest and one of the most reliable EV fast-charging networks in the United States and Canada.
According to a now-deleted post from X user @ryanhuber the vehicle communicates with the charger and the session begins automatically as long as there’s a payment method set up in the Rivian mobile app. This means that Rivian owners don’t need to install the Tesla smartphone app to get access to Superchargers.
The same thing happens with Ford-made EVs like the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E, which gained access to Tesla’s DC fast charging network at the beginning of March.
Ford’s CEO Jim Farley said that owners of blue oval-branded EVs will get a free adapter to make use of the deal with Tesla. Rivian will go on a similar route, with R1S and R1T owners getting a free adapter starting in April.
The R1S and R1T are equipped with a CCS1 inlet from the factory, just like Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Mustang Mach-E, and E-Transit. Tesla, on the other hand, uses the so-called North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector on the EVs it sells in North America, which is why non-Tesla EV owners need an adapter to top up at Superchargers. The upcoming R2, R3, and R3X will come with a NACS inlet from the factory.
The latest version of the Tesla Supercharger stalls, V4, has an adapter built-in, but there are currently very few locations in the United States and Canada that have V4 stalls operational. The vast majority of Tesla DC fast chargers are of the V3 variety, which doesn’t have an adapter built-in, except for stalls that have the so-called Magic Dock feature. The latter can be used on any brand of EVs, not just those made by companies that have a deal with Tesla to use all the Superchargers in North America.
