Rivian gains access to Tesla’s Supercharger network, free adapter coming

Rivian has officially gained access to Tesla’s Supercharger network and announced that it will start shipping an adapter to its owners for free next month.

When Tesla opened up its connector to other automakers in the hope of making it the new charging standard in North America, Rivian was one of the first to jump on board after Ford got the ball rolling.

Ford was the first to gain access to the Supercharger network with a new adapter that it started to offer for free to Mustand Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners last month.

We reported that Rivian was not too far behind and today, the American EV maker confirmed the start of Rivian EV integration into Tesla’s Supercharger network.

Rivian announced:

Rivian owners now have access to the Tesla Supercharger network and will start receiving NACS DC adapters in April.

There’s a bit of confusion about “Rivian owners now having access” and the adapter coming in April.

The integration has now happened in the Rivian app, and if you happen to have a third-party NACS-to-CCS, you can now use Superchargers that are marked as “open to non-Tesla EVs” with a Rivian vehicle and directly through the app.

Rivian wrote in a press release:

Because we handle our charging hardware and software in-house, we can seamlessly integrate most fast chargers — including the Supercharger network — into our charging ecosystem. Our unified digital platforms make it easy to transition between our mobile app an in-vehicle infotainment. This allows Rivian owners to enjoy an end-to-end experience where they can do their trip planning, filter chargers, set route preferences, navigate, and add stops without missing a beat.

Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend buying a third-party adapter, as Rivian says it will supply them for free. Rivian says that it will send a notification to owners through their vehicles with a QR code to go through the process of getting their adapter.

Lectron is one maker of these 3rd party adapters and they are currently going for $199. Tesla and Rivian do not endorse using 3rd party adapters, but we’ve successfully used other Lectron devices in the past with 100% success. Your mileage may vary.

Rivian is also building its own charging network, the Adventure network, and it plans to keep growing it and open it to non-Rivian EVs toward the end of the year.

Electrek’s Take

The rollouts from Ford and Rivian appear really similar, which should give us an idea of how things will be moving forward.

I find it a bit weird that Rivian would announce integration now even though the adapters are apparently not coming for a few weeks, as you would need a third-party adapter to make things work at the moment.

But hey, that’s good for the few people who are in this situation.