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- Rivian Adventure Network will offer 3,500 DC fast chargers for the exclusive use of Rivian owners, serving up automatic charging.
- A second network will see over 10,000 Rivian Waypoints for all other EV users, featuring the J1772 plugs.
- Rivian plans to complete the Adventure Network with over 600 stations by 2023, and over 10,000 Waypoints by the same year.
Rivian is planning its own version of Tesla's Supercharger network by revealing plans to install some 3,500 chargers at over 600 sites in the US and Canada, ahead of the market launch of its electric truck and SUV. Dubbed the Rivian Adventure Network, the stations will feature DC fast-chargers that will be able to add up to 140 miles of range in 20 minutes to the company's R1T electric truck and R1S sport utility.
The company says that the chargers will be for Rivian owners exclusively, and that the chargers will be automatic, which means owners will be able to simply plug their vehicles in. The chargers themselves will offer charging rates of 200kW at first but will expand to 300kW and higher in the future, and will all be located on main roads and highways, frequently by shops and cafes.
While Adventure Network of chargers will be solely for Rivian owners, the company also plans a second network of stations dubbed Waypoints, which will be available to other EV drivers. These will number over 10,000 and will be installed through 2023. The first batch will go to Colorado's 42 state parks, each getting two Waypoints each. Rivian plans to begin building this network starting this July. The company also plans to locate these Waypoints by parks, hotels, shops, and restaurants.
The Waypoints will feature only the J1772 plugs and offer a charging speed of 11.5 kW, so these won't be as quick as the DC fast chargers.
"Los Angeles to Tahoe. Manhattan to the Adirondacks. San Francisco to Seattle. I-70 to The Rockies. Michigan's UP via I-75. California's Hwy 395. The entire Blue Ridge Parkway from Shenandoah National Park down to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. All these routes and more will begin opening this year," the company promises.
Rivian's two-tier plan of charging networks represent a serious step for the company, just months ahead of the market launch of its first two vehicles, and unlike Tesla's network, only a part of it will be exclusive to Rivian owners. While not all of these stations will offer blazing fast speeds, at the moment the US needs all the chargers it can get, especially in the upper midwest and across the northern east-to-west routes, which have been largely neglected by station builders.
Western states like Colorado will get plenty of Rivian Adventure Network chargers by themselves, as will California and the Pacific Northwest, but the company will also add lots of chargers to the Northeast corridor and even western Canada.
Beyond the two networks, Rivian will also offer its owners its own wall charger, which the company says will add 25 miles of range every hour, juicing up the truck or SUV overnight from a nearly empty level to full at a 11.5 kW charging speed. Beyond charging, these units will feature WiFi connectivity for their own over-the-air updates. Rivian will be selling these chargers during the vehicle order process or separately, in case you have another EV that uses the J1772 plug.
Which region of the country do you feel has been neglected by EV charging station builders? Let us know in the comments below.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
