Rivian Is Ramping Up Their Adventure Network Charging Station Buildout! 

Do you think Rivian should now switch to NACS following Ford? This video was filmed just an hour ahead of the announcement - check out our thoughts on Ford switching to Tesla in this video here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eQH6gB-0jSY.html Also - realizing this was not the opening day - just a few days after it originally went online! - Kyle

Charging at EA can be an adventure, not the kind of adventure Rivian had in mind for their customers however.

If you add a "ND filter" to the camera, the rainbow/flicker/etc problem with some lights is greatly improved. A camera nerd could explain why/how and set you up. Cheap and easy. Even available for smartphones.

Would love to see Rivian partner with Freewire for some of the more adventurous locations that are going to be harder to stand up larger networks.

6:22 "I'm done asking people to work on this stuff". Lol, Kyle is at his wit's end with EA.

I'd really like to be a fly on the wall for all of the discussions of what DC fast charging is going into Moab for CCS vehicles. If any place in the US aligns with Rivian's view of adventure and off-roading, it's there. EA announced that they'll be building chargers there, but I wonder if Rivian will follow.

Yeah you said it best, putting a charger in a place where there is already another ev charger is nothing but a waste of resources and more likely a business/profit move despite their initial claims.

With Ford's announcement yesterday, I bet Rivian switches to NACS soon.

There are huge charging gaps all over the Rockies that everyone was hoping RAN would address. Road trips to the San Juans are really difficult ATM. That Salida charger had us all thinking that amazing EV offroading would be possible by this summer!

Rivian I believe announced that they are going to start charging for charging in 2024. I believe the plan is for the membership plans to roll out at the end of this year and them you'll have to have a membership to charger beginning in 2024. Probably will happen when they open up charging to other vehicles too.

When Ford NACS goes online, pressure by consumers will probably force manufacturers to switch. Why would a buyer buy a Rivian, when a F150 has access to the best charging network in North America?

Is it still only for Rivian owners? After the Ford/Tesla news that would be a bad look for Rivian.

I agree on the overall mission for the RAN location priorities but this and other “normal” locations are likely branding focused.

Hope to see you guys do a RAN road trip once the gaps start filling, South Carolinas is basically done!

Yea, I thought they were going to focus on National Parks and such.

The best thing about Tesla is their charging network. The problems and limitations with the non Tesla networks show how smart that was. Hate to say it but the Gov. might need to get involved with setting standards for these networks and connectors if we are all going to be owning EV's. fyi I did not like my Rivian and really dislike Teslas. but will be owning a different EV within the month but plan on rarely ever using these expensive charging stations. The country is not quite ready for road trips in a non Tesla EV.

Why are they positioned sideways, they could get better cable reach 90° counterclockwise from the current position

Do you have a video on the strategy and tools you use to plan a CCS road trip? I've got a trip from CO to FL coming up, and I'm trying to figure out the safest route.

That EA station is rarely full from my experience and there is another location not that far away next to Target in Superior. Rivian putting chargers at this location is strange.

Rivian decided to have its adventure chargers in town with a plan to open those chargers to all other brands. If Rivian adopts Tesla charging standard they can, as Kyle said at Insideevs podcast, simply install both CCS1 and Tesla ports either side-by-side or better on both sides of the truck the way Porsche and Audi does. Meantime if Rivian joins Ford then they must sell a dedicated adapter for Tesla superchargers.

the screens actually not glitched. you'll notice every 'N' looks like that on the screen. maybe the font?

they should focus on putting them in Windsor just becasue haha :D

We would like to see more builds in Florida and South Florida.

I recall you telling me you were thinking of going with the F150L a few months ago for its size when I met you in Christy’s. Change your mind? Still happy with the R1T? I’m debating on caving on my preorder pricing with the dual max and just going with the quad large pack before they liquidate us.

“Which is not very adventurous.” 😂

It'd be interesting (and pote to enlightening) if you guys started tracking RAN on rate your charge at the same level as EA, EVGO, etc. Might show the issue isn't specifically CCS.

14:35 - Rivian added a RAN to Madras, Oregon. For towing travel between Portland and Central Oregon "adventure" spots (there are many) this is perfectly placed. Before the RAN, the only CCS stations between the Portland metro area and Bend (a mid-size town with an EA) were state-funded 50kW stations that have two stalls at most. Most only one. I misread that the one I was going to stop at was 50 kW, not 150 kW, (I had used it for my BMW i3 before, which tops out at 50kW, and I had seen the state _plan_ to upgrade them to 150kW) and thought my trip would be fine (first weekend owning the Rivian, which arrived just before Labor Day last year,) only to find my charge stop took 2 hours. Now with the RAN? Easy trip. And now, there are three RAN along US-97 North/South through central Oregon, a route that previously only had the one EA as the only >50kW station. Likewise, there are two RAN along US-101 on the Oregon Coast (with one further up 101 in Washington, and a third in Oregon to open soon) - where without RAN, there are only two >100kW EAs. Here's a PlugShare map of Western Oregon and Southwestern Washington, filtering ">200kW CCS, all networks _except_ EA": i.imgur.com/M7xNZyF.png Two are EVgo, one is a "municipal test" station for CCS semi trucks, the rest are RAN. Only one of the RAN is in a major city, and it's also the only RAN along the major N/S freeway (I-5.). (Yes, I purposefully cropped it so Seattle was out - Seattle has a bunch of EVgo.)

I just saw that Ford is gonna be on the tesla supercharger network. I guess they will need to increase the floor plan to fit the extra cars

At the 7min mark, what did the Electrify America phone app say about the chargers status? Did it match what the Rivian said?

We’ll worry about the connections and number of dispensers later. Rivian needs to grow their network first.

Ok so is if just me or are Kyle and Alissa back together? 😂 Anna has disappeared out of thin air and Alissa is back in every video. 🎉

There's Rivian chargers at the north end of Skyline Drive (Shenandoah National Park) but they've been bagged for almost a year. I don't understand what is stopping them from opening (Front Royal VA)

Get well soon 🤒🤧

I live about 10 mins away from a Rivian service center and I'm going to go do a demo drive Tuesday. Anything specific I should test out that Rivian does better than everyone else?

Tesla: let’s call our standard NACS Ford: let’s adopt the NACS standard Rivian: let’s rollout more old stuff

Thanks Kyle for showing why the charging network is such a disaster! I have a 2015 leaf I bought new, but will never go more than 30 miles from home.( I live 5 miles from this mall) I have had so many problems charging I only charge at home. Charging should be universal like gas stations and reliable. I will not buy another EV until this is addressed.

Uff. Those Rivian chargers should all be pull-through. Big miss.

The North American standard will be NACS in 5 years, mark my words

That "stroad" dominated concrete landscape is awful. Yes there are trees and a footpath but it seems like urbanist Botox.

Still can't beat Tesla 3 second plugin time

Rivian has done a great job on Hwy 97 going North/South through central Oregon. There is only one EA site on that route (Bend) and Rivian added three more that actually compliment that one. Now if they would just open it up so I can use my ID.4 on it...

Rich from Rich Rebuilds has a Rivian in the shop with a $40k+ repair bill due to a small rear end accident. The all one piece rear I VERY expensive to repair and it appears most repair shops won't touch the job....would be interested to hear an episode about this Kyle!

Kyle's voice is doing the 10% challenge.

Kyle, right on regarding locations. I got our R1T because I wanted to do multi day overland trips. Personally I would like to see RANs at Beatty Nevada, this would further open up trips in Death Valley. Also somewhere between Hanksville and Torrey on along Utah 24. This will open the Capital Reef National Park back country. Finally I would like to see one in Gerlach Nevada, this will open the Black Rock Desert/High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation area. You got alot more pull than most of us. Please keep hammering Rivian this point. Thank you!

They need to install one in the White Mountains. Plenty of Rivians in New England, but you are prevented to visit the mountains in northern New Hampshire because there are no chargers.

When will we have the Rivian 10% challenge?

Lol Idk, it was a bit of an adventure going to the mall as a kid. We'd go into town for school outfits and maybe a Gamestop spree if I was lucky! Saw a bunch of pickup owners adventuring to the landscape supply yesterday. Of course, they were just there to order delivery, but their trucks sure were clean and undented.

Always love your videos....very honest. I think Rivian needs to put the RAN stations on major interstates because while many people use their R1's offroad, a lot of people don't and want to drive far on paved highways.

12:00 - Bless You

15:40 Distrubuting Kempower style you mean :) we shall name this kinde of Power distrubution KEPOWER STYLE.

Nice to see Rivian growing their EV charging network. As a retired electrical engineer, I would like to see a video that talks about the charging system components and what is required by the utility to provide the necessary power to an EV charging station. What is the cost of the charging system components versus the cost for the utility to provide power to site? What is really required to provide utility power to remote locations? Overall, good intro video on the Rivian Adventure Network.

Las Vegas has some close to done within the city, near the Tesla Las Vegas Blvd South location.

Okay now open it up to us who drive cars from good brands

Every time I see a Rivian adventure network I think “why?” It’s not like they have the fleet to support it. it is CCS. There is no reason why they can’t open it up, unless they just hate revenue

Is there at least a Patagonia or REI at the mall? 🤔

I totally agree about needing chargers in more “adventurous” places. Especially MOAB. Telluride and Silverton would be extremely useful, too.

I use the RAN chargers frequently and they are always flawless. Can't wait until we can charge our Niro on them. However, i agree about the adventure location. One of the chargers i use the most is in a multi restaurant parking lot, near a college. The spots are ALWAYS ICE'd during happy hour. Luckily, the trailer access spot is in the middle, so i can still reach it in a pinch. Just have to block 3 cars in.

Keep up the great work, Rivian!

I don't know if you could set up that video any better than if you scripted it, R1S pulling up as your going through your commentary was pretty slick

That charger is in the perfect location. If you’re “overlanding” in a Rivian, you’re definitely a mall crawler.

I think it's odd that Rivian has completely ignored the entire center of the country with their RAN. There isn't even one in Normal, IL where they make all their vehicles.

Actually, Flatirons not a bad call. Charge and shop/eat. Rivian probably got a deal for that. Then charged for up I-70 corridor or Boulder Canyon or even up I-25. Love it, lunch there tomorrow!

Rivian should do what Ford did and partner with Tesla Superchargers. Would slove a lot of issues

I was looking at Montrose, Colorado, and how there are 3 DC networks (Tesla, Rivian, ChargPoint) to charge there, mostly for the rich in Telluride. But all of Southern Colorado is void of charging, and Southwestern Colorado is a great place to go adventure in the mountains.

You're doing a GREAT job for EV users.. Thanks :)

Only Tesla and Rivian are creating charge networks, right? Everyone else is relying on third parties. I'm not sure VW has any control over EA.

They don’t need to be giving away free charging, though. I see no sense in that charge of modest amount and make a profit the companies burning cash too much and that’s something that they shouldn’t be burning cash on and they can build it a lot faster if they were starting to turn around a profit.

How much power is used to power the cooling of these systems? Could that be why they have so much extra power than what is available for the vehicles?

All companies should be mandated to open charges to all companies.

My Rivian has been showing me 0 sites available at all EA chargers for a while now.

They are doing the Blue Ridge Parkway - that is adventurous.

I there a reason the electric charging stations do not have cover to protect from inclement weather?

Rivian need to just go out of business before more ewaste I’d put out there

Will Rivian open up their charging to Ford vehicles?

The EA status has been wrong most of the time in my R1 lately.

they put the cable on the left side of the charger should be been the right

What did Rivian say about having two instead of three units to a box?

Is it just me or is Kyle a fantastic candidate to be an industry consultant? (Perhaps he already is) There have been some myopic decisions made throughout the industry and I cannot help but wonder who they use to make these critical decisions.

3:35 I don't mind this at all, and it's one of the reasons I think that the public charging providers don't need to mimic Tesla's large site build outs. I'm fully onboard with having a single exit, shopping plaza, etc. host several different charging providers. Look at it this way, this essentially a 10-charger CCS site broken up across the location, and given how long it took you to drive from one location to the other, imagine if you had to park and walk. That mall looks like it could easily support another two or three large charging sites, which would only enhance convenience for EV owners.

How about throwing us a bone in the Northeast?

There one in Greenville SC almost done

Shout-out to BC 👍😁

My Tesla "available chargers" online has never been wrong in 3 years, and with multiple drives between Austin & Denver. And every charger has always been available and online. And charge time has never exceeded 50 min.

I've had horrible experiences with EA chargers, especially in the cold. Stayed up in Frisco and tried to charge at the Walmart across the street from our Airbnb, peak was 22kw, temp was 20 degrees. Even yoyoed the truck to warm the battery before

The siting of this station is no different from any of the other networks, who are only putting chargers along Interstate highways, malls, etc, places that are already well served as you noted. The fact that Rivian put a station in Salida is amazing to me. It is on US 50 instead of an Interstate! Even with the new federal funds, EA, Tesla, and the other major providers have only announced more chargers to be installed on Interstates, and the federal money legislation stipulates that the funds be spent on Interstates, so nothing is going to change. The Interstates are already well served, it’s the US and State highways where charging stations need to be installed. Example: There are NO DC fast charging stations anywhere in the western half of Kansas south of I-70! Not a one! None in Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal, nothing.

If they want to accommodate non-Rivian owners with different port locations, a much simpler and cheaper solution than duplex dispensers would be to just move the chargers towards the building by one parking row. Much easier if that spot had a median, but still doable without, I think. It's not like the dispenser is wider than the streetlight base.

Ok but, where's Anna??

In other words, water is wet. Rivian was supposed to be doing this already and has stated “ramping up” their charging network buildout. So do you really need to repeat the same “news” every year and pass it off as something new and different. And yes, Tesla says the same thing every time someone asks about the supercharger network buildout as well, of which they also give the same response, “we are ramping up the buildout as fast as we can”

Saw the Rivian Adventure Network station in Kingman, AZ (I-40) is now online and a new one in Gila Bend, AZ at a Pilot just off I-8 is online or near completion.

Fortuna California has the same charger configuration and is active but it had no customers when I stopped to inspect it a week ago. I have seen only one R1T locally probably because the nearest service center and test ride location is 250 miles South near San Francisco.

Grand junction has 6 Rivian DCFC and 2 Level 2 dispensers. Same location as the tesla V1. They aren’t online as of two days ago but hopefully soon

Speaking of plug and charge, Tesla should make plug and charge an option at third-party stations (non-superchargers.)

Wait wait you still checking plugshare??? Thought rate your charge was it lol yes people please still share on PS its helpful to other ev drivers

If they struggle to put big power in far out places, maybe they can buy a megapack, and some solar.

the adventure comes with seeing how inaccurate the availability data is for EA

Rivian shares are in the crapper @ $15.00. Not sure they will stay in business.

Drove r1t multiple times this week. I think Rivian is here to stay.

They need to add the Tesla Supercharger Network, just like Ford just did!

Open the network to other brands!

A little disappointing only one pull threw location and the parking spots weren't painted green to inform ice owners the significance of those spots.