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Rivian follows Tesla’s footsteps, will open its charging network to other EVs
(driveteslacanada.ca)
this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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I think you mean Rivian discovers what Tesla has : private charging networks aren’t as lucrative as the open charging networks everyone else runs.
It feels a bit different to me. Tesla hugely invested in their own charging network, while everyone else let EA do it for them. Tesla could have kept their network private to sell more vehicles. As for the exclusive Rivian chargers…I’ve never seen one, but the nearest one to me is about 300 miles away.
It's more complicated than private network = more sales, because otherwise why would they open it at all? As a public corporation, the default assumption is that they think they'll make more money opening the network than keeping it closed. There's NEVI money, there is whatever backroom deals with the other automakers, there is brand prestige with NACS, there is marketing effect of getting drivers of other brands EVs to engage with their network, there is the long term view that their market share can only shrink and it's better to ensure their customers have access to every charger, etc. I think time will show that open access is more profitable for everyone.
IIRC didn't Tesla start building their network when there wasn't really a standard, and who was still going to win was up in the air? Seems like a good investment, but now that things have settled, creating your own network is really just a vanity project. Tesla opening up their network is smart, they were one of the two winners in North America, so opening up the network gives them a new revenue stream, and I'd be surprised if'n they don't find a way to leverage those chargers to drive sales.
Initially sure; the Tesla Chargers were a safe haven, and it’s good, but plans like that aren’t made for the Now but for the Later as well. The only path was to open it up if they wanted that US subsidiary money, as Rivian will now get access to (I personally can’t see why they made it private like Tesla, but hey - I’m not rich either so I don’t get exclusivity logic. It’s essentially a gas station).
I think a lot of reliability issues in the US system come down to some simple differences, say from the European model. Here in Europe, each car carries its own cable - we can plug in anywhere and we know the cable will work. Sometimes you have to call the post supplier and tell them that their system needs to be reset, but I can probably count on one hand the number of times is I’ve had a problem with the post over the last 3 1/2 years.
The second most likely thing is that they let the market decide what the connectors should be. If there is a standard, evolve the standard and make it better, etc. CCS is up to 350kW now - 3 years ago I was lucky to find 150kW chargers, 5 years ago, 50kW was standard. Evolve, don’t throw out.