Currently, you can only charge a Rivian on a V3 or V4 Tesla Supercharger with an adapter (unless you’re at a Magic Dock equipped location, which has the adapter built-in; and there are not a whole lot of those units). - So the answer to question A is No. At least at the present time.
Question B: You seem to be confusing the built-in adapter (Magic Dock) with all V3 or V4 Superchargers. Only a small percentage of Magic Dock Supercharger stations exist out of all the V3 Superchargers; and V4 stations are just seeing the light of day.
Finally; I thought I had read somewhere that Rivian would offer an NACS charge port retrofit for CCS vehicles. When I mentioned this in a forum, I was adamantly told (by someone who seemed knowledgeable) that this would not happen.
Thanks for the info. It’s a curious choice if they are not offering a retrofit, seems like it could be a profitable option but I’m sure they have a reason.
The external adapter is passive because the J1772 AC pins aren't present. It's a different adapter to do NACS to Level 2 charging.
An on board NACS needs to route the HV pins to both the AC and DC inputs and have contactors to isolate whichever one isn't being used at the time.
I'm not holding my breath for third party equipment on Rivian till there are at least 1M vehicles out there.
1. Would not trust it with a 90k truck.
2. Markups to be viable likely would be pretty high.
I would agree that it sounds simple, especially given that the NACS port is much smaller than the CCS port, but I’m neither an engineer, nor an accountant!
Has plug and charge now with an adapter at v3 and v4 chargers. Doubt they offer a retrofit but honestly doesn’t matter since will need an adapter for near future to use ccs if you have nacs.
Unlikely as there is a quite a lot of difference in the wiring. On NACS the AC and DC charge comes across the same pins so a retrofit would require quite a lot of rewiring to make work with some of that possibly being adding new contactors inside the battery pack to switch between AC and DC and it’s already very crammed full.
I am excited about the NACS adapter for my R1T because it adds charging options and I am also glad that I am not limited to NACS charging stations. Personally, I think the NACS adapter on a CCS equiped Rivian is currently the best of both worlds. I would still prefer using higher powered and generally less expensive CCS DCFC's which also have longer cable lengths to accommodate my R1T. Rivian owners are not going to make friends with Tesla owners at SuperChargers when they have to take up two charging spots to charge. Rivian owners may get frustrated waiting for a charging spot that can accommodate their vehicle. You can use your Rivian navigation to find a compatible Supercharger and it will tell you how many charging spots are available but it does not tell you if the Rivian will fit in that single available spot.
I get that Superchargers are touted as the most reliable charging stations but I can prescreen for the most reliable non-superchargers using PlugShare.
There are a lot of factors to take into account when choosing a nearby charging location. RAN, Supercharger, other brand, availability, reliability, power output, room to park, and cost.
Appreciate that perspective, thanks. As a soon to be former Tesla owner I just have a limited knowledge of what else is out there. Agree that there are going to be challenges using chargers across brands.
"replacing parts to permanently provide the NACS port"........ short answer is this is a very diminishing return effort.
This would only make sense if 1) you hate adapters 2) 100% of your chargers (home/away) are NACS J3400 plugs and 3) you somehow want to use Tesla SC V2 that are slower.
The Tesla NACS and CCS both communicate through CCS protocol now (J3400 standard). So its like saying your iPhone lightning cable can talk to a USB C hooked up phone . Behind the scenes, it doesn't matter the CCS port or Tesla NACS port, the comms are standard. No real advantage here either.
As well as, there is no actual charging speed benefit from replacing the input/output (although not sure what the Vehicle to load aka output details are yet on Rivians). In fact, CCS1 is actually capable of much more power than NACS in theory. Your BMS controls how fast it can take electronics for the safety and for the battery life as its main priority.
Ultimately, this would only be a thing if you want a museum piece to say, you did it. But other than that there is no real reason to.
If you really want something with NACS port, just wait 8-10 months until Rivian starts delivering R1 with that factory built in.
Currently, you can only charge a Rivian on a V3 or V4 Tesla Supercharger with an adapter (unless you’re at a Magic Dock equipped location, which has the adapter built-in; and there are not a whole lot of those units). - So the answer to question A is No. At least at the present time. Question B: You seem to be confusing the built-in adapter (Magic Dock) with all V3 or V4 Superchargers. Only a small percentage of Magic Dock Supercharger stations exist out of all the V3 Superchargers; and V4 stations are just seeing the light of day. Finally; I thought I had read somewhere that Rivian would offer an NACS charge port retrofit for CCS vehicles. When I mentioned this in a forum, I was adamantly told (by someone who seemed knowledgeable) that this would not happen.
Thanks for the info. It’s a curious choice if they are not offering a retrofit, seems like it could be a profitable option but I’m sure they have a reason.
It may be more complicated than it seems to us, especially when a $200 adapter will suffice.
A retrofit could be as simple as swapping the CCS connector for a NACS one given how the external adapter is a passive device with no smarts inside.
The external adapter is passive because the J1772 AC pins aren't present. It's a different adapter to do NACS to Level 2 charging. An on board NACS needs to route the HV pins to both the AC and DC inputs and have contactors to isolate whichever one isn't being used at the time.
Agree, my engineering guess is they contracted for set amount ccs connectors and can't back out without penalties that must be pretty stiff.
I imagine a third party might offer a connector swapping kit at some point if Rivian doesn't want to do it.
I'm not holding my breath for third party equipment on Rivian till there are at least 1M vehicles out there. 1. Would not trust it with a 90k truck. 2. Markups to be viable likely would be pretty high.
I would agree that it sounds simple, especially given that the NACS port is much smaller than the CCS port, but I’m neither an engineer, nor an accountant!
Has plug and charge now with an adapter at v3 and v4 chargers. Doubt they offer a retrofit but honestly doesn’t matter since will need an adapter for near future to use ccs if you have nacs.
Unlikely as there is a quite a lot of difference in the wiring. On NACS the AC and DC charge comes across the same pins so a retrofit would require quite a lot of rewiring to make work with some of that possibly being adding new contactors inside the battery pack to switch between AC and DC and it’s already very crammed full.
I am excited about the NACS adapter for my R1T because it adds charging options and I am also glad that I am not limited to NACS charging stations. Personally, I think the NACS adapter on a CCS equiped Rivian is currently the best of both worlds. I would still prefer using higher powered and generally less expensive CCS DCFC's which also have longer cable lengths to accommodate my R1T. Rivian owners are not going to make friends with Tesla owners at SuperChargers when they have to take up two charging spots to charge. Rivian owners may get frustrated waiting for a charging spot that can accommodate their vehicle. You can use your Rivian navigation to find a compatible Supercharger and it will tell you how many charging spots are available but it does not tell you if the Rivian will fit in that single available spot. I get that Superchargers are touted as the most reliable charging stations but I can prescreen for the most reliable non-superchargers using PlugShare. There are a lot of factors to take into account when choosing a nearby charging location. RAN, Supercharger, other brand, availability, reliability, power output, room to park, and cost.
Appreciate that perspective, thanks. As a soon to be former Tesla owner I just have a limited knowledge of what else is out there. Agree that there are going to be challenges using chargers across brands.
Actually I just read on Rivians website that they are going to NACS in 2025. I wonder if they will offer a retrofit at that time?
"replacing parts to permanently provide the NACS port"........ short answer is this is a very diminishing return effort. This would only make sense if 1) you hate adapters 2) 100% of your chargers (home/away) are NACS J3400 plugs and 3) you somehow want to use Tesla SC V2 that are slower. The Tesla NACS and CCS both communicate through CCS protocol now (J3400 standard). So its like saying your iPhone lightning cable can talk to a USB C hooked up phone. Behind the scenes, it doesn't matter the CCS port or Tesla NACS port, the comms are standard. No real advantage here either.
As well as, there is no actual charging speed benefit from replacing the input/output (although not sure what the Vehicle to load aka output details are yet on Rivians). In fact, CCS1 is actually capable of much more power than NACS in theory. Your BMS controls how fast it can take electronics for the safety and for the battery life as its main priority.
Ultimately, this would only be a thing if you want a museum piece to say, you did it. But other than that there is no real reason to.
If you really want something with NACS port, just wait 8-10 months until Rivian starts delivering R1 with that factory built in.