? Rivian Adopts Tesla NACS Standard! (Adapters in 2024, Standard Charging Port in 2025)

[Longreach]

VW has stated they are not going NACS. So you can use EA whenever desired.

GM also said they would not transition to NACS… until two days later when they did!

Just a matter of time for VW… and EA, which presumably will carry on as a competitive NACS charging network (assuming they can find a reliable way to fix their broken chargers).

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[zymolysis]

Exactly. Rivian needs very good returns on their investments. The RAN network isn't one of them.

Can you cite your data, showing that the RAN network won't have a good ROI? Don't forget to include carbon offset credits.

 

[Pixelshot]

Just posted a vid of my thoughts:

 

[Black Muddy Rivian]

Um, okay, then you're paying for that build out when you could have been reinvesting into the products you actually sell.

Nobody is going to buy a Rivian and say, I bought it for access to the RAN network.

Gotta say, I'm one of the folks that put a deposit down because of the RAN network.

I think RAN is a big part of the brand and will be even more so for the R2 market. I hope Rivian continues to roll out the network with the goal of hitting those areas underserved by charging infrastructure from CCS or NACS (née Tesla). I think there's a pretty good market share of folks that like to go to remote places but don't want to spend money on an ICE vehicle. Thus the RAN locations at REI, but I digress.

I live in a household that already has a non-Tesla BEV, my wife's VW e-Golf. So I can appreciate the pain of finding working EA chargers for a number of years now. I'm rooting for the NACS thing to work out in Rivian's favor, as well as hoping that this doesn't negatively impact the RAN rollout (as the Rivian PR would have us believe). Cheers!

 

[Tahoe Man]

Can you cite your data, showing that the RAN network won't have a good ROI? Don't forget to include carbon offset credits.

Sure, I'll make sure to include all those carbon credits from, you know, typical grid fuel.

 

[Tahoe Man]

Gotta say, I'm one of the folks that put a deposit down because of the RAN network.

I think RAN is a big part of the brand and will be even more so for the R2 market. I hope Rivian continues to roll out the network with the goal of hitting those areas underserved by charging infrastructure from CCS or NACS (née Tesla). I think there's a pretty good market share of folks that like to go to remote places but don't want to spend money on an ICE vehicle. Thus the RAN locations at REI, but I digress.

I live in a household that already has a non-Tesla BEV, my wife's VW e-Golf. So I can appreciate the pain of finding working EA chargers for a number of years now. I'm rooting for the NACS thing to work out in Rivian's favor, as well as hoping that this doesn't negatively impact the RAN rollout (as the Rivian PR would have us believe). Cheers!

Convenient for you but not a source of $$$ for Rivian. Last thing they should doing is putting in chargers in remote locations.

They initiated adoption of NACS, now they should just sell off their RAN to whoever wants it, Chargepoint or ??? and get out of the charging business altogether.

 

[MP3Mike]

Convenient for you but not a source of $$$ for Rivian. Last thing they should doing is putting in chargers in remote locations.

They initiated adoption of NACS, now they should just sell off their RAN to whoever wants it, Chargepoint or ??? and get out of the charging business altogether.

That is why I was suggesting that Rivian work with Tesla and co-fund remote locations. Rivian can kick in some money but let Tesla do the install/maintenance/etc. Those locations will be a benefit to Tesla Cybertruck owners as well as Rivian R1/R2 owners, and since Rivian is going to open the RAN anyway, I don't see the point of them maintaining a separate network. (That would be different if Tesla maintained their Superchargers as poorly as EA maintains their sites.)

The RAN will never be a profit center unless they charge obscene amounts for charging, if they don't duplicate a large nationwide network to spread the remote costs out onto, and even then you would have to attract enough usage to cover those costs, which could be a problem.

 

[Black Muddy Rivian]

Convenient for you but not a source of $$$ for Rivian. Last thing they should doing is putting in chargers in remote locations.

They initiated adoption of NACS, now they should just sell off their RAN to whoever wants it, Chargepoint or ??? and get out of the charging business altogether.

Yes, not a source of revenue for Rivian unless RAN drives a significant portion of sales that otherwise wouldn't have happened, as it certainly did in my case. The fact that Rivian is still espousing RAN support with this NACS announcement suggests that they still believe that to be the case. I hope they continue to since, as you point out, that's convenient for me. Though, I suspect I'm not the only one that finds that convenient. Not trying to argue with you, just trying to point out that RAN being baked into the brand may not be such a bad thing for sales.

 

[2025R1S]

Rivian needs to get in the battery storage business so they can sell themselves storage for their RAN locations. That is how EVGo, EA and others do it - and they often end up buying them from Tesla.

Ultimately, this is how the Supercharger network is profitable and possible in areas where demand charges could make it impractical for DCFC. Unless the customer is willing to pony up and pay those (demand charges) costs, the battery system has to take the pain out of it.

That is why I was suggesting that Rivian work with Tesla and co-fund remote locations. Rivian can kick in some money but let Tesla do the install/maintenance/etc. Those locations will be a benefit to Tesla Cybertruck owners as well as Rivian R1/R2 owners, and since Rivian is going to open the RAN anyway, I don't see the point of them maintaining a separate network. (That would be different if Tesla maintained their Superchargers as poorly as EA maintains their sites.)

The RAN will never be a profit center unless they charge obscene amounts for charging, if they don't duplicate a large nationwide network to spread the remote costs out onto, and even then you would have to attract enough usage to cover those costs, which could be a problem.

 

[quartz]

Can't wait to not have to almost get into multiple, independent fights/accidents with pedestrians and other drivers while simultaneously jockeying for position at the Burbank EA Walmart station on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[Zorg]

VW/EA will have to move to NACS to compete if all other players switch (as now appears to be a foregone conclusion.) I was responding to the people (in this thread as well as on other social media) who seem to think all other charging networks should just go away.

That EA will shrivel up and die, that RAN should be shut down, etc. They all seem to think Tesla is the only charging network that needs to exist. Obviously I don't think that's going to be the case, and am rebuking those who imply it should be.

Ultimately, opening Tesla supercharger network increases competition. Best will survive, worst will die/get acquired. Good old capitalism at work.

 

[Throwdown]

It's smart to do this now, every CCS connector can easily be swapped to the NACS or just sell adapters that go both ways. I believe chargepoint said they were already going to start putting NACS connections on their chargers. Personally I'll only use a Tesla station when 100% necessary, so likely never as I've never owned one, and I've done cross country trips using CCS stations with little to no issues. I'm happy to see it all go to the same connector regardless of who owns what.

 

[Zorg]

Yes, not a source of revenue for Rivian unless RAN drives a significant portion of sales that otherwise wouldn't have happened, as it certainly did in my case. The fact that Rivian is still espousing RAN support with this NACS announcement suggests that they still believe that to be the case. I hope they continue to since, as you point out, that's convenient for me. Though, I suspect I'm not the only one that finds that convenient. Not trying to argue with you, just trying to point out that RAN being baked into the brand may not be such a bad thing for sales.

What we know is that Tesla lost a ton of money on their charging network in the early days. Now that they reached scale, they may actually make some money off of it, though I suspect it's a low margin business. So, it will be years before Rivian reaches sufficient scale before they make their RAN profitable. Basically won't happen until they ramp up their R2 platform.

 

[HaveBlue]

 

[R1Sky Business]

So this is why there was so much bullish option flows into RIVN

Time to sell

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