Electric vehicle maker Rivian to join Tesla charging network as automakers consider company's plug

Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla’s charging network starting next year

Rivian-Tesla Charging (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Electric vehicle maker Rivian says it will follow General Motors and Ford and join Tesla's charging network next year.

The startup truck, SUV and delivery van maker says Tuesday that like GM and Ford, it will include ports with Tesla’s connector on future Rivian vehicles starting in 2025. It also will offer an adapter for owners of current Rivian EVs.

It is another domino to fall as the auto industry considers switching to Tesla's connector, which it calls the North American Charging Standard. At present, nearly all automakers other than Tesla use what is called a CCS connector developed with the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Tesla has more direct current fast-charging plugs in the U.S. than any other network, and its stations are in prime locations along freeway travel corridors.

Other automakers also are looking into the switch. Last week, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said his company's U.S. teams are studying the change and will make a decision in a few weeks.

“We right now are evaluating that possibility,” Tavares said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. “It can have good things and bad things.”

He said the good things are being evaluated, and the bad things include dependence on Tesla.

Currently Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, has no fully electric vehicles on sale in the U.S., but it does sell three plug-in gas-electric hybrids that can go short distances on battery power. The company plans to sell an electric commercial van this year, followed by an electric Ram pickup and other vehicles.

Rivian is a relatively small player in the U.S. automotive market, selling just under 30,000 vehicles from 2021 through the first quarter of this year. But the Irvine, California, company is viewed as a key Tesla competitor.

its owners will have access to over 12,000 Tesla Superchargers starting next year.