© Reuters. Newly installed car chargers at a Tesla Super Charging station are displayed in Carlsbad, California, US on September 14, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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By Abhirup Roy
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Electric car maker Rivian said on Tuesday it will adopt Tesla’s (NASDAQ:) charging standard, giving Rivian customers access to America’s largest charging network and adding impetus to Tesla’s bid to set the industry standard.
Rivian said its customers will have access to 12,000 Tesla Superchargers with adapters in the US and Canada as early as spring 2024. The company, which has its own small network of fast chargers, will put a Tesla-style charging port standard on its vehicles starting in 2025.
“We prefer Tesla’s more compact connector and see it as an opportunity to take advantage of the charging infrastructure they’ve built,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaring told Reuters in an interview.
The decision, first reported by Reuters, is one in a series of victories for Tesla. On Tuesday alone, BTC Power said it would add the Tesla standard to its electric chargers, Texas said it would require state-subsidised charging stations to include a Tesla plug, and Hyundai Motor said it would consider making its cars more compatible with the Tesla standard.
Tesla also has recent deals with General Motors (NYSE:) and Ford. As other automakers gain access to Tesla’s charging network, Tesla stands to benefit from selling power to a broader group of EV drivers.
Shares of Rivian in Irvine, Calif., jumped, up 5.5%. Tesla shares closed up 5.3%, bringing the gain since the Ford deal was announced in late May to 49%.
Rivian, which makes the R1T truck and R1S SUV, said it will continue to expand its fast-charge network. In 2021, it has outlined plans for more than 3,500 charging stations.
Scaringe said the Rivian network will also adopt Tesla’s standard plugs, opening up a significant revenue stream from Tesla owners using Rivian chargers. “The network will actually become cash flow positive fairly quickly,” he said.
Tesla superchargers account for about 60% of all fast chargers available in the United States, according to the US Department of Energy.
While other electric vehicle makers need access to reliable charging to allay customer fears of being stranded, most have shied away from building grids because installing and maintaining them requires significant investments for limited returns.
That’s why I think you’ll see more and more partnerships,” said Akshay Singh, partner at consulting firm PwC Strategy &.
Tesla’s recent deals represent major steps in displacing a competing standard known as Combined Charging System (CCS) that was once supported exclusively by President Joe Biden’s administration. The government is providing $7.5 billion in funding to accelerate the deployment of electric chargers in the United States.
Eligibility for some of that federal money required Tesla to open up its network and the automaker brought the tech brand back to the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
“It’s great to see the industry coming together to embrace the charging standard in North America,” Rebecca Tinucci, senior manager of charging infrastructure at Tesla, said in a statement.
CCS charger manufacturers and operators such as ABB E-mobility North America, a unit of Swiss industrial company ABB, Tritium DCFC, EVgo, and FreeWire have all raced to announce the addition of NACS plugs to their charging stations since the Ford and GM announcements.
Services and other revenue, which includes fees for using Tesla’s Superchargers, accounted for just under 10% of Tesla’s revenue last quarter. The company does not break out in collecting revenue alone.
