Last month, the electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian announced that its EV owners would have access to Tesla's Supercharger network. Rivian owners can now request a free adapter by scanning a QR code — which Rivian will send in a notification — on their vehicle's navigation screen, per Electrek.
According to the Rivian website, customers should start receiving their North American Charging Standard DC adapters this month. However, drivers who don't want to wait for the adapter can still access Superchargers marked as "open to non-Tesla EVs" if they have a third-party adapter, as Electrek reported.
As Rivian explained, making Tesla's Supercharger network available to Rivian owners unlocks 15,000 fast chargers for drivers to use across the United States in addition to 16,000 other fast chargers accessible through various public charging networks.
The company website states that drivers will see compatible Superchargers pop up in their vehicle's navigation when they plan trips, along with their charging speed and availability.
"To keep pace with the scale of EV adoption, we are building out the Rivian Adventure Network, our own network of fast chargers designed to extend access to reliable fast charging across the US," Rivian announced.
As of March 18, the company's network included more than 424 fast chargers available at 70 sites in 22 states. While the network is open exclusively to Rivian owners, all EV drivers will be able to access it later this year.
Rivian will prioritize adding stations in "mature EV markets" that would benefit from greater capacity, areas with limited access, and popular tourist destinations, such as Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks.
Rivian is the second automaker to gain access to Tesla's Superchargers behind Ford, which opened up some Tesla V3 Superchargers to Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners earlier this year.
According to Consumer Reports, many other automakers, such as BMW, Genesis, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota, announced their vehicles will be compatible with Superchargers beginning this year.
Tesla seems to have set the bar by using the NACS connectors on its chargers, as Ford, Mazda, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Scout Motors, and Rivian all plan on incorporating NACS hardware into their vehicles starting in 2025, per Rivian and Consumer Reports.
Expanding access to public chargers and implementing NACS connectors in EVs will hopefully encourage more people to buy the more environmentally friendly cousins of gas-powered cars, which will help reduce pollution.
"Supercharger access will help alleviate range anxiety by providing many more fast, reliable, and available chargers," Sapan Dhora, a Rivian R1S owner, told Rivian.
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