Rivian vs Ford J3400 Tesla supercharger NACS adapter

[bbonkk]

Just got my Ford adapter yesterday, September 12, 2024, and my Rivian adapter the next day. Here are some photos of both adapters and how they were packaged. My Ford lightning was bought in September 2022 so that puts it about two years ago. The Rivian was bought in January of 2023 and R1S vin xxxx1601. From my perspective, they’re exactly the same adapters most likely manufactured by Tesla. Here are photos of the boxes and how they were packaged. I am going to store them in each of my vehicles. So far they seem to work fine. My Ford adapter was supposed to arrive in June only to get pushed off to July and then September. Then all of a sudden just showed up. Rivian let me know a week ago that they would be shipping it and just arrived. I use some of my old 35 mm camera lens bags to store the adapters. It should keep them from getting beat up. The other difference between the two is that Ford gives you full instructions and how to use the adapter. Rivian gave no instructions at all.

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[moosetags]

Thank you for your information and Pictures. Our Rivian adapter is on the way and we already have one of the A2Z adapters.

Brian

 

[MidnightRivian]

Thanks for sharing your delivery timeline and review.

I have the Ford adapter right now and I did like having the instruction but I can understand why Rivian wants to cut down on waste and speed up processing times

 

[VSG]

Rivian does give you directions - in the box there was a slip of paper with a barcode that you could use to get the manual. And of course the instructions are available in the center console when you go to charge, or by bringing up the manual in the center console, or by using the app when you look at a Tesla charger that needs the adapter ... this way you always have easy access to the current version of the instructions without having to look for that little paper book that Fords sent you.

 

[Baldewin]

Rivian adapter should have come with a QR code printed on a label that provides complete instructions.

Attached image of label.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Ford also has more money to spend. Remember, Ford's EV sales is only 4.4% of their total sales (and that's even with a 72% increase over the previous year). Everything Ford does on their EV business can and is subsidized by the disproportionally larger ICE sales. Ford also do more business with the printers—leverage to negotiate lower cost on printing and all materials. Even the butcher paper or packing peanuts cost money.

Sure, the extra packaging and materials make an impression. But, it's all stuff that most people will end up discarding, recycle or lose anyway.

What's actually useful in charging your Rivian? It not the cardboard box, the instruction card or the expense of sending ad agency staff to the printing press to supervise and sign-off—have been on many similar trips for other OEMs, did one just 2 days ago. What you see side-by-side is the operational difference between new and old OEMs. One is lean. The other isn't, and doing things the way things have always been done (and no one questions the waste).

And all of the adapters are indeed manufactured by Tesla. Giga-NY to be precise, also where their solar roofs and Superchargers are made. There should be markings on both stating so.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Rivian adapter should have come with a QR code printed on a label that provides complete instructions.

Came here to say this. Not including any instructions at all is a miss, imo.

Editing my comment to add that if you sign into your Rivian account and click on the shipment for the adapter, it redirects to this page:

I mean, we assume that most people on the forums will know how to use this. But I guarantee there are many who don't.

Do better, Rivian. ?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Came here to say this. Not including any instructions at all is a miss, imo.

Editing my comment to add that if you sign into your Rivian account and click on the shipment for the adapter, it redirects to this page:

I mean, we assume that most people on the forums will know how to use this. But I guarantee there are many who don't.

Do better, Rivian. ?

Same problem with their manual tonneau and people breaking them; because they—ignorant of instructions—pulled on the fragile plastic pins instead of the obvious "grab me" loop right in the middle. Instructions were made available online, but there was no announcement. People learned of it when the connected few shared the page link to their online communities. Even then, in this day and age, people don't bother with instructions. How many people in this forum have actually read their owner guides? I'd bet it's fewer than 10%. The subreddit? if you tell anyone to read their owner guide, they're more likely to tell you to f-off than thank you for showing them the way. But, I digress...

At the very least Rivian could have released a short how-to video on all online platforms and sent out an email blast. Leadership teams in Customer Comms and Service need to wake up. They are way behind the production ramp. Status quo is going to backfire big time once R2 deliveries get underway, regardless of how cool the product is.

 

[azbill]

There should be markings on both stating so.

I have both, neither one has an indication of where it is built. They have a part number and a serial number.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Came here to say this. Not including any instructions at all is a miss, imo.

Editing my comment to add that if you sign into your Rivian account and click on the shipment for the adapter, it redirects to this page:

I mean, we assume that most people on the forums will know how to use this. But I guarantee there are many who don't.

Do better, Rivian. ?

Is there not a QR code that links to this page? I swore others reported there was.

https://rivian.com/support/article/nacs-dc-adapter-guide

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

I have both, neither one has an indication of where it is built. They have a part number and a serial number.

I recall seeing a post saying there was, how I learned where it was made. Don't matter, as long as you get/got one and it charges. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[RivianRunner]

What's actually useful in charging your Rivian?

First and foremost, a working charger.

 

[Hillbilly]

Been a long time since opting in without notifying to confirm address...

 

[VSG]

"Once you opt-in, we’ll follow up to confirm your shipping address when your adapter is ready to be delivered"

 

[Brian-MS90D]

It's been well covered and documented that all of the official adapters for all the companies (Rivian, Ford, GM, etc) are exclusively manufactured by Tesla.

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