Rivian will soon start billing owners that plug in at the Rivian Adventure Network (RAN). The company has let owners know what starting in early November the RAN will no longer be free, but exactly how much they will be billed has not yet been revealed.
Rivian first announced the RAN before it even started delivering its first electric vehicle (EV), the R1T. The company originally hoped to install over 3,500 of their own DC fast chargers, capable of charging at up to 200kW, at more than 600 locations in North America by the end of 2023. Rivian fell well short of that target, currently with over 50 stations operating across the US (none in Canada so far), all of which are 100% free for owners to use.
That is soon going to change. According to an email sent to owners last week, the company will start billing customers at all RAN sites in North America “in early November.” Unfortunately there were no pricing details included in the email, but it did say that the experience will be seamless and the charging session will be billed to the payment information saved in their account.
“As we bean to build out the Rivian Adventure Network, it was our pleasure to provide free charging to our earliest owners. Starting in early November, billing will begin at all Rivian Adventure Network charging sites,” Rivian explained in the email.
Even though the RAN uses the Combined Charging System (CCS), it is currently restricted to Rivian owners only. That is expected to change next year after CFO Claire McDonough confirmed that Rivian plans to join the Federal Charging Fund to rapidly expand the number of chargers, which requires chargers to be available to all EVs.
Rivian owners will also soon be able to plug in to the Supercharger network. Earlier this year the company signed a deal with Tesla to adopt the North American Charging Standard (NACS) and gain access to over 12,000 Superchargers across Canada and the US.
