Their strategy was to build them where there weren't other dcfc chargers, opening up new areas especially around outdoors places. Their chargers are much better maintained in general than the infamous Electrify America (they really struggle to fix EA chargers when they have problems, and they have problems) - there's a long story behind this.<p>Rivian started before the plan to use superchargers was even envisioned, so today some of those holes that Rivian was filling aren't so important because tesla superchargers are nearby.<p>Rivian has done a great job keeping their chargers working, have the software be reliable, just running a good service. Many and maybe most DCFC charger networks (DCFC meaning high power CCS chargers not including Tesla superchargers) really have struggled to match the uptime and reliability tesla SC. Tesla's magic ability it: (1) fix them when they break, quickly. (2) don't just build 4 chargers in a spot, it's almost the same cost to build 8 or 10. (3) string them together along main travel routes to make it possible to travel.<p>The entire rest of the the charging industry basically fails at those 3 things. Most of them can't manage to fix a broken charger, sometimes in months. One major reason is they often don't have standardized hardware so there might not be a spare hardware to fix something there.
Rivian's charging network map: <a href="https://rivian.com/experience/charging#map" rel="nofollow">https://rivian.com/experience/charging#map</a><p>They have plans to install 3,500 stations across North America, but they have a ways to go to reach that level of density.
With current charging times, I wonder if EV companies are considering buying up the surrounding land of their charging stations and subsequently leasing the land. Once EV becomes more mainstream/adopted, people are very likely to stay in the area for a long period.<p>Either stay in your vehicle, or grab a nice hot meal for an hour. Maybe vicinity of EV charging stations will revive the “strip mall”
The have a charger very near to where I go in Michigan, and 30 miles from the nearest supercharger. They announced earlier this year that they would open up the RAN “near the end of the year” so I’ve been waiting for this announcement. The fact that they will only gradually modify existing chargers to work with other vehicles is a disappointment. It’s all CCS so it should just be a software update. I am really looking forward to charging my model Y at the Rivian charger. I’m guessing that that will be a long time coming now. Oh well, I guess the Red E charger gets my business for the foreseeable future. They have excellent customer service and they just upgraded the charger to be much faster.
Side note: why don’t gas stations offer charging? They’re already at good locations and they could drive business to their shops and delis.<p>Especially if they happen to be in a an area with no other chargers around.<p>Don’t even be fancy. Just buy a consumer grade charger with a 220 volt outlet and have the cashier charge $20/hour or something.
Side topic but I’ve thought it would be cool for EV owners to offer their chargers up just for people in emergencies. Battery about to die. You could even charge a big mark up.<p>I’d be willing to help a poor traveler once a week or so.<p>Someone should make a website like that where ev owners can list themselves for emergency charging.
I think it’s cool how you can essentially gain range when the number of charger locations increases. You can go to lower and lower charge levels if you know there’s a charger every few miles.<p>On the flip side. When there are few chargers you could be forced to charge at 60% battery!
Had no idea they had a charging network, but does it really matter? Tesla is so far away ahead of everyone else that I cannot see anyone catching up. Even if they stop making cars Tesla can keep making money off their charging network.
I had no idea that Rivian had a charging network and they build them like an hour from where I live so I see them all over the place. I just assumed they used the Tesla ones or the generic ones you see all over.
Phased rollout, yes? I heard chatter about this on the Lightning forum earlier today and the comments said it was currently just a single site available to us.
Cool feature: The Rivian R1T and R1S are equipped with a "Tank Turn" feature, allowing the vehicle to rotate 360 degrees in place by spinning the left and right wheels in opposite directions.
bonkers that EVs are known to depend on child labor/slave labor in the DRC to the order of 2kg/5lbs of cobalt PER EV, and people think it's cool to drive them around.<p>When I see them, I think of how broken-hearted I would be for my three year old kid if she were 'employed' in the slave labor industry of cobalt mining in the drc.<p>some EV batteries don't consume cobalt, I concede, but the industry and market and trade and slavery still is created and sustained by the EV industry. I could never.<p>I propose that you consider adding a >125cc scooter to your mobility toolkit. It's a convivial vehicle class.
I applaud the effort to expand charging across the nation as this will inevitably increase the comfort level of the average joe on the fence with range anxiety.<p>The elephant in the room that nobody is talking about is the connector.<p>There are SEVEN different competing charging connector types in North America. if i dont have an adapter, im either screwed into spending 3 hours at a charging station or im calling a tow truck. Until the USA adopts a reasonable national standard then all this electric car futurism is just branded nonsense and patent profiteering.<p>ICE automobiles have TWO standards for fuel, regular pump, and hi-flo nozzles with a wider diameter built to fit commercial trucks. they are free to use.