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: ua-cam.com/video/eQH6gB-0jSY/v-deo.html Also - realizing this was not the opening day - just a few days after it originally went online! - Kyle
Now that one of the major automakers has switched, it’ll just take one or two more to decide the fate of CCS in America. Let’s see what happens… No question we’re a lot closer to having Rivian / Polestar / GM etc switching to NACS than we were yesterday ⚡️
Yes, Rivian should absolutely switch to the technically superior NCAS connector. No issues with any company (including Rivian) building out their own network, but the sooner CCS dies, the better. I also think it would be in Rivian's best interest to broker a similar deal as Ford in terms of allowed into Tesla's network.
I hate to say it, but we should be crucifying Ford over capitulating to Tesla. The Tesla connector may be better, but it's not better enough to justify the risk of Tesla establishing a monopoly on charging, which seems like a real possibility if the whole industry suddenly changes direction and abandons CCS. I'd prefer the Tesla connector, as I suspect most would, but we still need EA, ChargePoint, EVGo and everyone else to exist, which we can't take for granted if the narrative is always going to be "just get a Tesla and use Tesla stations, they always work." If that happens, and everyone else goes out of business, what we're left with is one vendor with a monopoly on a pretty critical service.
@@AaronAverett We'll have to agree to disagree on this. Why would we need EA, ChargePoint, etc. with CCS connectors? They should transition to NACS on their charging network. I don't think anyone is arguing that the Tesla network should be the only network. All charging networks should step up their game.
No one is arguing that Tesla should be the only network, but if the narrative always is "Don't even bother with EA/EVGo/ChargePoint; just go to Tesla," there's no incentive to use their competitors, and EA/EVGo and others will eventually go away. That's bad. We need the competitors to exist, and be competitive, and that hill gets a lot steeper if we abruptly remove the primary reason CCS car owners have for using CCS stations.
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!
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!
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.
It’s simply because the phone cameras automatically increase shutter speed and if it gets too fast, it matches the frequency for LEDs and they match up. A similar example is seeing a video of a helicopter with the propellors looking to be stationary.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
They would be dumb not to. Infact, I would expect the other legacy automakers to follow suit soon. All it takes is one to lead the way. Ford is a big name brand that decided to be the first to take Tesla up on their offer.
Ford isn't switching. They aren't building cars with Tesla ports. They are literally just including Tesla/CCS converter. EDIT: I was wrong about including the port, but it doesn't mean they are switching. Likely will make cars with two ports.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
You could have said the same thing about the Tesla charging network for the last 10 years. The exclusivity, even if short lived, is a marketing tool. As someone who's owned both brands a vehicle, I'd say it's the most effective tool they have. The only time I miss owning my Tesla is when I have to go charge some random CCS network. The dependability on anything other than Tesla, and apparently now Rivian, is atrocious.
They’re also likely a function of land ownership and lease access. You can’t just put chargers wherever you want. The malls are likely making their land available for “free” or even helping to subsidize the cost to get them there. Applying to have a charger at the foot of a trail head on public land would likely take years and $$ to get a permit.
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?
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
@@GA-wq8xq So does that make you the jealous observer? Or do we need to go down the list of relevant people in history who possess knowledge on certain subjects without the rubber stamp of academia?
@@PumpUptheJam81 interesting. I am just a person who watches his video and responded to your comment. He has some knowledge but there are many other people who have more knowledge
@@GA-wq8xq No, you made a decision to make a condescending remark about the guy that was not only unnecessary, it revealed your insecurity or a lack of class. No doubt there are more “qualified” people who may know more, but few people can channel enthusiasm of a topic coupled with communication skills aimed at a wide audience.
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.
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.
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.)
There is a RAN location in Roseburg now in the Hampton Inn parking lot just off of the Garden Valley exit of I-5 in Roseburg. Not sure if it is actually officially open but the construction appears to be complete.
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.
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
@@205rider8 well guess since Tesla save them there will be no need for them to use CCS I don't know why I keep seeing Teslas at EVGo and EA they never work after all I've been left stranded every time 😭😒🤔
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.
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.
Ford got smart. They know that EVs from other brands will never go anywhere without a reliable charging network. And we can't sit on our rear ends and hope for EA to get it's act together.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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”
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?
Yo Kyle. It’s nice to see a video about CCS where you are not whining. A couple of corrections for you, EA is not sharing charger availability with Rivian so it will always say 0 of X available. That is Rivian’s mistake rather than just making it say unknown. Regarding the location, I have used a lot of (more than most) of the RAN stations and most are adventure locations near me, see Oregon Madras, Crescent, Klamath Falls on the east side of the Cascades are exactly what you say and open up access to lots of adventure that would otherwise be very difficult with a R1T, before those the only option was an EA in Bend. Another example is the OR and CA coast. In fact only a handful are at locations like the one in this video. Last of all no one knows when Rivian is going to start charging was supposed to be the end of April, no longer a membership but rather a la carte. Also stop being such a Tesla fan boi, I mean come on. You state that no to minimal problems with the RAN but somehow it is not as good as Tesla SC reliability???
Thanks, Kyle. When Rivian opens their network (RJ has mentioned maybe by the end of this year?), I think they're going to eat Tesla Magic Dock's lunch. These sites are so much better configured, 1000 V capable, at more usable/convenient locations, etc.
did you even watch the video? It shares like 250kw across 3 stalls meaning if 3 people are using at the same time each one charges at ~75kw. Better more convenient locations? LOL they barely have any sites
@@cwang9915 First, amps are not kW. Each cabinet shares 750 A, so split three ways, that's 250 A each. At Rivian's charging voltage, that's ~100 kW each across all stalls when all are occupied, and frankly, that's better than a lot of Tesla Supercharger sites can do when all the chargers are occupied. And if you're looking at this from a CCS perspective, Rivian's sites are far better than Tesla's Magic Dock sites. Tesla is free to prove me wrong (and I'd love them to), but so far they haven't. Maybe if Tesla opens their Alturas and Susanville Superchargers, then we can start having a discussion about who has better site locations. (BTW, I hope Rivian is also reading this.)
@@newscoulomb3705 Kyle says when fully occupied, each stall will only output about 100kw each as you point out as well. On Tesla's V2 supercharger which has been around for years now, each stall outputs 250kw each possibly more but the cars have been limited to 250kw. I don't even bother with non v2 superchargers because of the unknown of sharing a stall or not. Even when there are plenty of stalls on 150kw chargers people dont know that it is shared and they plug in on a shared stall and you have to move. In the US, it would've been easier if everyone just adopted the NACS Tesla plugs. Ford is doing it right, they are moving to NACS plugs to take advantage of Tesla's great supercharging network which is going to go into overdrive in expansion. I have 2 R1S on order, it is great that they have RAN chargers on the way to Mammoth and Vegas but no chargers in Mammoth or Vegas so you are going to have to find level 2 chargers in each location. If they just used Teslas, it would be much easier. And they could've also continued to build their own adventure network for places where Tesla has no presence, which is rare.
@@cwang9915 The V2 are only 145 kW charger. The V3 are 250 kW. I'm not as familiar with Tesla's site power distribution as Kyle or Brenden, but I do know that Tesla often runs up against overall site power limitations. For example, when all of the stalls at Baker, CA are occupied, each can only output about 50 kW. And that makes sense because it means that Tesla's Baker Supercharger site has roughly the same total power output as the Electrify America site that's collocated with it. That's why, in my opinion, bigger isn't always better, but I agree with Kyle that Rivian needs to do a better job of bridging power for all its dispensers. Tesla's proprietary plug as a public standard is a joke, though, and Ford's adopting it is a sign of desperation and weakness. They could have negotiated a much better deal with Tesla, but they didn't. One thing it does illustrate is that Tesla could have offered individual adapters and unlocked access to the Superchargers all along, but they actively chose to not do that (one more knock against Tesla in my book). Mammoth is literally just one use case, and I've been driving CCS EVs back and forth by it on 395 for years now. Rivian is putting another location in at Lee Vining, which is really close to Mammoth. You should be able to charge a Rivian up enough heading into Mammoth from either direction that you wouldn't need to charge again for a week if you're staying local, and at that point, you really should be staying someplace with L2 onsite.
@@newscoulomb3705 I meant to say v3. I don’t stop at anything less these days. The NACS plus is superior to CCS. I think most agree on this point. Ford going to NACS is great for everyone. You can still use CCS with an adapter. What may possibly happen with Ford switching go NACS is that Tesla will argue that NACS should be the US standard and thus not need to change out all their stations to magic dock. On the route from Vegas to LA there are enough V3 superchargers you never have to stop at a V2 or baker. Barstow/ latest supercharger and primm are all v3. You also have the option to use the free tesla destination chargers at the Barstow outlets. I’ve done cross country drive and few thousand mile road trips a year. I don’t like limiting my lodging choices by choosing a place with a level 2. With a tesla it has been super easy to stay wherever I want. You pass multiple supercharger stops before even needing to charge
Please do share all the research you have done on this tired statement. I know of one article that actually bothered to do actual research and put time into identifying employee history through LinkedIn and a few other accessible databases. At that time maybe 1 or 2% of Rivian employees had a Tesla employment history, and most of them had worked for other companies after Tesla before they joined Rivian. Rivian didn't have to "pirate" anything. The much more likely truth is that the majority of these few were smart people that were more interested in working for an adult instead of an asshat like Musk. And no, I'm not a Tesla hater, just a Musk hater. I know they are great vehicles. If they would have made one with a functionality I was looking for that I also liked the looks of, I would probably have one. I also don't consider it a "slow" rollout. I've seen the data on how many chargers Tesla put out in it's first year or two of production and the truth is the great network they have now took at least a decade to build. I hope the future is bright for both companies, but my prediction is that 5 years from now the rollout for the Rivian networks will have been faster and every bit as successful as the first 5 years of Tesla's
@@Jay_G9226 Musk has done more to move the ball forward for humanity than anybody in recent history. He’s helped save free speech on Twitter as well. I’m personally very appreciative and thankful for him and all he has done.
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.
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.
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: ua-cam.com/video/eQH6gB-0jSY/v-deo.html
Also - realizing this was not the opening day - just a few days after it originally went online! - Kyle
Now that one of the major automakers has switched, it’ll just take one or two more to decide the fate of CCS in America. Let’s see what happens… No question we’re a lot closer to having Rivian / Polestar / GM etc switching to NACS than we were yesterday ⚡️
Yes, Rivian should absolutely switch to the technically superior NCAS connector. No issues with any company (including Rivian) building out their own network, but the sooner CCS dies, the better. I also think it would be in Rivian's best interest to broker a similar deal as Ford in terms of allowed into Tesla's network.
I hate to say it, but we should be crucifying Ford over capitulating to Tesla. The Tesla connector may be better, but it's not better enough to justify the risk of Tesla establishing a monopoly on charging, which seems like a real possibility if the whole industry suddenly changes direction and abandons CCS.
I'd prefer the Tesla connector, as I suspect most would, but we still need EA, ChargePoint, EVGo and everyone else to exist, which we can't take for granted if the narrative is always going to be "just get a Tesla and use Tesla stations, they always work." If that happens, and everyone else goes out of business, what we're left with is one vendor with a monopoly on a pretty critical service.
@@AaronAverett We'll have to agree to disagree on this. Why would we need EA, ChargePoint, etc. with CCS connectors? They should transition to NACS on their charging network. I don't think anyone is arguing that the Tesla network should be the only network. All charging networks should step up their game.
No one is arguing that Tesla should be the only network, but if the narrative always is "Don't even bother with EA/EVGo/ChargePoint; just go to Tesla," there's no incentive to use their competitors, and EA/EVGo and others will eventually go away.
That's bad. We need the competitors to exist, and be competitive, and that hill gets a lot steeper if we abruptly remove the primary reason CCS car owners have for using CCS stations.
Charging at EA can be an adventure, not the kind of adventure Rivian had in mind for their customers however.
😂
The thrill of not knowing if you can charge. It’s a great movie plot
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!
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!
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.
It’s simply because the phone cameras automatically increase shutter speed and if it gets too fast, it matches the frequency for LEDs and they match up. A similar example is seeing a video of a helicopter with the propellors looking to be stationary.
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.
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...
Kyle's voice is doing the 10% challenge.
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.
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!
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.
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.
6:22 "I'm done asking people to work on this stuff".
Lol, Kyle is at his wit's end with EA.
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.
It would be so nice to have one at Cannon mountain or loon
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.
With Ford's announcement yesterday, I bet Rivian switches to NACS soon.
They would be dumb not to. Infact, I would expect the other legacy automakers to follow suit soon.
All it takes is one to lead the way. Ford is a big name brand that decided to be the first to take Tesla up on their offer.
I hope they all do. It is a superior format. At this point, it will simply make sense to have both options on the vehicle.
Ford isn't switching. They aren't building cars with Tesla ports. They are literally just including Tesla/CCS converter.
EDIT: I was wrong about including the port, but it doesn't mean they are switching. Likely will make cars with two ports.
@@EQ3282 2025 Ford is putting NACS ports on their cars. Starting next year, there will be an adapter.
@@PumpUptheJam81 It’s superior in the smallest ways, literally doesn’t matter. The problems are around software and manufacturing of other companies
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.
I totally agree about needing chargers in more “adventurous” places. Especially MOAB. Telluride and Silverton would be extremely useful, too.
Keep up the great work, Rivian!
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.
Las Vegas has some close to done within the city, near the Tesla Las Vegas Blvd South location.
12:00 - Bless You
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!
Hope to see you guys do a RAN road trip once the gaps start filling, South Carolinas is basically done!
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 :)
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.
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
Rivian is a lifestyle brand. Don’t think about it as anything other than being able to say “yeah we have that”
Rivian has said it will open the RAN to other brands.
You could have said the same thing about the Tesla charging network for the last 10 years. The exclusivity, even if short lived, is a marketing tool. As someone who's owned both brands a vehicle, I'd say it's the most effective tool they have. The only time I miss owning my Tesla is when I have to go charge some random CCS network. The dependability on anything other than Tesla, and apparently now Rivian, is atrocious.
That charger is in the perfect location. If you’re “overlanding” in a Rivian, you’re definitely a mall crawler.
When will we have the Rivian 10% challenge?
I agree on the overall mission for the RAN location priorities but this and other “normal” locations are likely branding focused.
They’re also likely a function of land ownership and lease access. You can’t just put chargers wherever you want. The malls are likely making their land available for “free” or even helping to subsidize the cost to get them there. Applying to have a charger at the foot of a trail head on public land would likely take years and $$ to get a permit.
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?
Bc there will still be CCS in the ground and more coming
Because an R1T is like 50X better than an F150 lightning if you want to do anything other than haul lumber.
15:40 Distrubuting Kempower style you mean :) we shall name this kinde of Power distrubution KEPOWER STYLE.
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.
They are doing the Blue Ridge Parkway - that is adventurous.
Is it still only for Rivian owners? After the Ford/Tesla news that would be a bad look for Rivian.
At the moment yes, but they’ve discussed opening up
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.
Why are they positioned sideways, they could get better cable reach 90° counterclockwise from the current position
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
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
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.
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.
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.
Agreeee
Just you. He is a trust fund hobbyist. No academic background either.
@@GA-wq8xq So does that make you the jealous observer? Or do we need to go down the list of relevant people in history who possess knowledge on certain subjects without the rubber stamp of academia?
@@PumpUptheJam81 interesting. I am just a person who watches his video and responded to your comment. He has some knowledge but there are many other people who have more knowledge
@@GA-wq8xq No, you made a decision to make a condescending remark about the guy that was not only unnecessary, it revealed your insecurity or a lack of class.
No doubt there are more “qualified” people who may know more, but few people can channel enthusiasm of a topic coupled with communication skills aimed at a wide audience.
Yea, I thought they were going to focus on National Parks and such.
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.
We would like to see more builds in Florida and South Florida.
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.
Okay now open it up to us who drive cars from good brands
they should focus on putting them in Windsor just becasue haha :D
“Which is not very adventurous.” 😂
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.)
There is a RAN location in Roseburg now in the Hampton Inn parking lot just off of the Garden Valley exit of I-5 in Roseburg. Not sure if it is actually officially open but the construction appears to be complete.
@@jamescardelli4254 HAH! Totally spaced that one! Okay, they have one more on I-5, although not really in a big city.
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.
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
We’ll worry about the connections and number of dispensers later. Rivian needs to grow their network first.
Speaking of plug and charge, Tesla should make plug and charge an option at third-party stations (non-superchargers.)
Rivian should do what Ford did and partner with Tesla Superchargers. Would slove a lot of issues
Yes make your business dependent on a competition lol
@@marcusrose5943 Or depend crappy third party charging. Ford will still be able to use the CSS with and adapter.
@@205rider8 well guess since Tesla save them there will be no need for them to use CCS I don't know why I keep seeing Teslas at EVGo and EA they never work after all I've been left stranded every time 😭😒🤔
@@marcusrose5943 Rivian is dependent now on broken chargers.
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?
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.
Is there at least a Patagonia or REI at the mall? 🤔
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.
All companies should be mandated to open charges to all companies.
They need to add the Tesla Supercharger Network, just like Ford just did!
Ford got smart. They know that EVs from other brands will never go anywhere without a reliable charging network. And we can't sit on our rear ends and hope for EA to get it's act together.
the screens actually not glitched. you'll notice every 'N' looks like that on the screen. maybe the font?
At the 7min mark, what did the Electrify America phone app say about the chargers status? Did it match what the Rivian said?
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
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. 🎉
Rivian needs to use NACS.
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.
There one in Greenville SC almost done
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.
If they struggle to put big power in far out places, maybe they can buy a megapack, and some solar.
Get well soon 🤒🤧
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)
The Front Royal one is already open.
@@cruiser97eric1 Oh excellent. It wasn't still a week or so ago when I checked. Thanks!
Drove r1t multiple times this week. I think Rivian is here to stay.
I there a reason the electric charging stations do not have cover to protect from inclement weather?
What did Rivian say about having two instead of three units to a box?
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.
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”
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?
They have a full size suv which so far no one else have. The ev9 and ex90 are soon coming to compete though
Shout-out to BC 👍😁
Yo Kyle. It’s nice to see a video about CCS where you are not whining. A couple of corrections for you, EA is not sharing charger availability with Rivian so it will always say 0 of X available. That is Rivian’s mistake rather than just making it say unknown. Regarding the location, I have used a lot of (more than most) of the RAN stations and most are adventure locations near me, see Oregon Madras, Crescent, Klamath Falls on the east side of the Cascades are exactly what you say and open up access to lots of adventure that would otherwise be very difficult with a R1T, before those the only option was an EA in Bend. Another example is the OR and CA coast. In fact only a handful are at locations like the one in this video. Last of all no one knows when Rivian is going to start charging was supposed to be the end of April, no longer a membership but rather a la carte. Also stop being such a Tesla fan boi, I mean come on. You state that no to minimal problems with the RAN but somehow it is not as good as Tesla SC reliability???
How about throwing us a bone in the Northeast?
Tesla: let’s call our standard NACS
Ford: let’s adopt the NACS standard
Rivian: let’s rollout more old stuff
they put the cable on the left side of the charger should be been the right
My Rivian has been showing me 0 sites available at all EA chargers for a while now.
Indeed, Kyle knows better, EA and Rivian don’t share data.
@@djstwo Kyle also knows that the best way to get engagement on the Internet is to get the facts wrong 😂
Thanks, Kyle. When Rivian opens their network (RJ has mentioned maybe by the end of this year?), I think they're going to eat Tesla Magic Dock's lunch. These sites are so much better configured, 1000 V capable, at more usable/convenient locations, etc.
did you even watch the video? It shares like 250kw across 3 stalls meaning if 3 people are using at the same time each one charges at ~75kw. Better more convenient locations? LOL they barely have any sites
@@cwang9915 First, amps are not kW. Each cabinet shares 750 A, so split three ways, that's 250 A each. At Rivian's charging voltage, that's ~100 kW each across all stalls when all are occupied, and frankly, that's better than a lot of Tesla Supercharger sites can do when all the chargers are occupied.
And if you're looking at this from a CCS perspective, Rivian's sites are far better than Tesla's Magic Dock sites. Tesla is free to prove me wrong (and I'd love them to), but so far they haven't. Maybe if Tesla opens their Alturas and Susanville Superchargers, then we can start having a discussion about who has better site locations. (BTW, I hope Rivian is also reading this.)
@@newscoulomb3705 Kyle says when fully occupied, each stall will only output about 100kw each as you point out as well.
On Tesla's V2 supercharger which has been around for years now, each stall outputs 250kw each possibly more but the cars have been limited to 250kw.
I don't even bother with non v2 superchargers because of the unknown of sharing a stall or not. Even when there are plenty of stalls on 150kw chargers people dont know that it is shared and they plug in on a shared stall and you have to move.
In the US, it would've been easier if everyone just adopted the NACS Tesla plugs. Ford is doing it right, they are moving to NACS plugs to take advantage of Tesla's great supercharging network which is going to go into overdrive in expansion.
I have 2 R1S on order, it is great that they have RAN chargers on the way to Mammoth and Vegas but no chargers in Mammoth or Vegas so you are going to have to find level 2 chargers in each location.
If they just used Teslas, it would be much easier. And they could've also continued to build their own adventure network for places where Tesla has no presence, which is rare.
@@cwang9915 The V2 are only 145 kW charger. The V3 are 250 kW. I'm not as familiar with Tesla's site power distribution as Kyle or Brenden, but I do know that Tesla often runs up against overall site power limitations. For example, when all of the stalls at Baker, CA are occupied, each can only output about 50 kW. And that makes sense because it means that Tesla's Baker Supercharger site has roughly the same total power output as the Electrify America site that's collocated with it. That's why, in my opinion, bigger isn't always better, but I agree with Kyle that Rivian needs to do a better job of bridging power for all its dispensers.
Tesla's proprietary plug as a public standard is a joke, though, and Ford's adopting it is a sign of desperation and weakness. They could have negotiated a much better deal with Tesla, but they didn't. One thing it does illustrate is that Tesla could have offered individual adapters and unlocked access to the Superchargers all along, but they actively chose to not do that (one more knock against Tesla in my book).
Mammoth is literally just one use case, and I've been driving CCS EVs back and forth by it on 395 for years now. Rivian is putting another location in at Lee Vining, which is really close to Mammoth. You should be able to charge a Rivian up enough heading into Mammoth from either direction that you wouldn't need to charge again for a week if you're staying local, and at that point, you really should be staying someplace with L2 onsite.
@@newscoulomb3705 I meant to say v3. I don’t stop at anything less these days.
The NACS plus is superior to CCS. I think most agree on this point. Ford going to NACS is great for everyone. You can still use CCS with an adapter.
What may possibly happen with Ford switching go NACS is that Tesla will argue that NACS should be the US standard and thus not need to change out all their stations to magic dock.
On the route from Vegas to LA there are enough V3 superchargers you never have to stop at a V2 or baker.
Barstow/ latest supercharger and primm are all v3. You also have the option to use the free tesla destination chargers at the Barstow outlets.
I’ve done cross country drive and few thousand mile road trips a year. I don’t like limiting my lodging choices by choosing a place with a level 2. With a tesla it has been super easy to stay wherever I want. You pass multiple supercharger stops before even needing to charge
Will Rivian open up their charging to Ford vehicles?
Open the network to other brands!
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
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.
Surprising how slow Rivian is rolling out their charging in spite of all of the Tesla employees they pirated.
Please do share all the research you have done on this tired statement. I know of one article that actually bothered to do actual research and put time into identifying employee history through LinkedIn and a few other accessible databases. At that time maybe 1 or 2% of Rivian employees had a Tesla employment history, and most of them had worked for other companies after Tesla before they joined Rivian. Rivian didn't have to "pirate" anything. The much more likely truth is that the majority of these few were smart people that were more interested in working for an adult instead of an asshat like Musk. And no, I'm not a Tesla hater, just a Musk hater. I know they are great vehicles. If they would have made one with a functionality I was looking for that I also liked the looks of, I would probably have one. I also don't consider it a "slow" rollout. I've seen the data on how many chargers Tesla put out in it's first year or two of production and the truth is the great network they have now took at least a decade to build. I hope the future is bright for both companies, but my prediction is that 5 years from now the rollout for the Rivian networks will have been faster and every bit as successful as the first 5 years of Tesla's
@@Jay_G9226 Musk has done more to move the ball forward for humanity than anybody in recent history. He’s helped save free speech on Twitter as well. I’m personally very appreciative and thankful for him and all he has done.
@@jmanjr you need to work more on your sarcastic tone, I really hope you are joking
@@jmanjr I agree very much. Don’t really understand the haters.
@@harriska yea I dunno what to tell you. If you can’t understand than I guess that explains a lot about your viewpoints. Sorry
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.
As a model y owner I would love it if Rivian would adopt the Tesla standard plug and adopt the Tesla system. I would see a R1T in my future.
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.
Should seldom be a problem, unlike some other charging stations I've encountered, this one is at far end of parking lot from adjacent mall
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.
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.
Yup, cut off your nose to spite your face. Sell that obsolete CHAdeMO Leaf and get a model 3 to enjoy the best charging network in the world.
The EA status has been wrong most of the time in my R1 lately.
It's a shame there are still two "standards" in the USA. Things won't be good until legislators force one standard in all of USA, like gas pumps.