Charging Up On the Rivian Adventure Network

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Rivian’s Adventure Network is a public DC fast charging network with locations strategically positioned to enable Rivian owners to go on more adventures in more places.

The Rivian Adventure Network

They’re standing up new charging stations near outdoor meccas like Sedona, Arizona, Bozeman, Montana, Flagstaff, Arizona, and an exciting new Charging Outpost model in Joshua Tree National Park. “We’re building out our charging network to support adventure-oriented locations,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said (YouTube).

Sustainability is also a key pillar of Rivian’s business, and the Rivian Adventure Network is no exception. “Every kilowatt-hour our chargers deliver is matched with renewable resources like solar and wind, on an annual basis,” Rivian said. It’s great to see Rivian setting a high bar for itself and holding itself to that high standard even as it works to scale and open its public fast charging network.

Rivian has been building out its charging network for a number of years now, but has stepped up the pace of installations in the last two years. The majority of the Rivian Adventure Network is dedicated to Rivian owners only and will not allow any other EV drivers to charge there, whether they be Teslas using an adapter or a Hummer EV with a native CCS port.

Over the last year, Rivian has started introducing a handful of Rivian Adventure Network locations where all EVs are welcome and are able to charge. Rivian’s Joshua Tree Outpost (view on PlugShare) as they call it, was the first of these locations and features 12 x 300 kW CCS1 chargers as well as a lounge where drivers can rest their feet, grab a snack, and use the restroom while they charge.

I was excited to try out the Rivian Adventure Network when I took a Rivian R1S loaner I was reviewing on a road trip. The navigation in the Rivian has a built-in rating system that gives stations a “Charging Score” based on data pulled from past charging session experiences from actual Rivian drivers. Factors include things like average top charging speed, payment success, and overall charging session success.

The vehicle then uses these scores as a key factor when mapping out the route and chargers for your journey. It’s a great attempt to integrate real-world charging reliability into the navigation in a meaningful way. In our testing, the navigation did a great job of picking chargers for our journey. Though, congestion in the greater Los Angeles area caused some unexpected delays.

Using The Rivian Adventure Network

I didn’t know what to expect when I pulled up to the first station. Would I need a credit card? Did I need to configure something in the Rivian app? Or was there another quirk that I wasn’t aware of? Rivian uses the Plug&Charge protocol, so as long as the payment method is set up in the car, the experience is seamless.

There are so many other charging stations run by the dozens or hundreds of charging network operators sprinkled around the United States. Each seems to require a different app, some are tap to pay, while others seem to require a special dance to unlock the magic juice within.

I pulled up to the first Rivian Adventure Network fast charger and grabbed the CCS adapter. Good so far. I opened the charging port on on the R1S and plugged it in. Much to my delight, it simply started charging the Rivian, making good on the ease promised with Plug&Charge.

It was a beautiful experience and much like the one Tesla drivers have come to enjoy at Tesla Supercharger Network sites around the world. In fact, the Rivian was even able to simply Plug&Charge at Tesla’s NACS-compatible chargers, like the one we charged  the Rivian R1S on in Williams, Arizona.

The two chargers I used on the way out to Flagstaff, Arizona, were rated at 300 kW and I was pumped to see what they could push out. At the second station, I arrived with around an 8% state of charge and was a little disappointed that it only ramped up to 195 kilowatts.

I was the only vehicle charging at that location’s eight stalls, and with the state of charge of the R1S on the low side, I was expecting a bit more speed. This is in line with what other users experienced, according to Rivian Roamer, which shows the typical peak charging speed is 192 kW.

In terms of building out and optimizing their charging network, it’s early days for Rivian. More importantly, they have already started delivering on the most important pieces of what it takes to operate a reliable charging network.

They’re installing sleek, compact chargers with cables that have good reach and theoretically operate at speeds competitive with the other big players. Most importantly, Rivian is putting a high priority on uptime and high reliability across its charging network. We don’t have any specific uptime or reliability numbers from Rivian, but numerous figures peg it at over 95%.

Open to All

Rivian launched its charging network exclusively for Rivian owners and has slowly been opening up stations one at a time to non-Rivian drivers. As of this writing, 42% (47 out of 112) of Rivian’s Adventure Network locations are open to all NACS-compatible EVs with the appropriate adapter, according to Rivian Roamer.

Rivian has made consistent progress to open up its network to non-Rivian NACS-compatible EVs. This directly supports EV adoption more broadly as well as for Rivian, as those other EVs increase utilization of existing sites, generating more revenue from existing assets.

Future Plans

Looking further into the future, Rivian plans to continue to expand its Adventure Network. “We’re expanding our Rivian Adventure Network, with more than 600 sites expected in the next few years,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a recent interview with CNBC.

This is good news for all EV drivers, as high reliability and easy-to-use chargers benefit everyone. All the chargers Rivian has installed to date utilize the CCS1 charging standard. In the future, this will change, as Rivian has committed to installing native NACS charging ports on future vehicles, including the highly anticipated R2 and R3.

Head over to Rivian’s website for more information about its Adventure Network. For a ton of great detail on charging, NACS-compatible sites, and charging scores, check out Rivian Roamer.