Aurich Lawson | Rivian | Getty Images
The Combined Charging System customary‘s days in North America might be numbered. That’s the spec that the auto trade arrived at for electrical automobiles to quick cost utilizing DC, which mixes the five-pin J1772 plug (for AC charging) with two pins for direct present. But the connector and its cable are massive and unwieldy, in contrast to the extra elegant different created by Tesla (referred to as the North American Charging Standard), which has had its personal walled backyard of charging infrastructure for over a decade.
Until now, that’s, as a result of Tesla is letting different automakers over that wall. First it was Ford. Then General Motors joined in. And right this moment Rivian revealed that it, too, is switching from CCS to NACS, Tesla’s competing customary, in 2024. Unlike the 2 automakers that preceded it, Rivian didn’t have to affix Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a Twitter Space to announce the information.
“We’re excited to work with Tesla and to see collaborations like this assist advance the world towards carbon neutrality. The adoption of the North American Charging Standard will allow our present and future prospects to leverage Tesla’s expansive Supercharger community whereas we proceed to construct out our Rivian Adventure Network. We sit up for persevering with to search out new methods to speed up EV adoption,” stated Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe in a press release.
In an electronic mail to prospects, Rivian stated that it could make adapters obtainable, so individuals shouldn’t await the manufacturing unit to change over to the NACS port from CCS1. It additionally says that it’ll add Tesla charging websites to its cell and automobile navigation apps. From 2025, it would begin constructing NACS ports into its automobiles.
Like GM, Rivian is within the midst of deploying 1000’s of DC quick chargers with CCS1 plugs, and like GM, Rivian says that the change to NACS doesn’t have an effect on these plans. As with Ford and GM, there aren’t any particulars as to the phrases of the deal between Rivian and Tesla.
Now we wait to see which OEM shall be subsequent—Volkswagen Group and Hyundai Motor Group are presently the 2 automakers with the best quantity of EV gross sales in North America which are nonetheless sticking with CCS1, at the least for now.