Rivian To Build EV Charging Network In Offbeat Locations Across US For Adventurous Customers

Rivian is planning to install dozens of electric vehicle charging stations at adventure spots to appeal to its customer base and build confidence in its product, TechCrunch reported Monday.

What Happened: The Amazon.com Inc AMZN-based automaker will add the chargers as a second layer in addition to building infrastructure for charging EVs across the United States, according to TechCrunch.

The charging stations would reportedly come up at hiking trails, mountain bike courses, and kayaking spots, the Michigan based EV company’s CEO R.J. Scaringe told TechCrunch.

Scaringe said he was excited about creating charging locations beyond the interstate. “ We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how you can essentially create these curated drives,” he explained.

Why It Matters: Rivian, having raised $6 billion has developed its EV charging technology in-house, which includes its high-speed DC charger, noted TechCrunch.

Scaringe said the backbone of the chargers — the power electronics module — was going to be deployed at scale.

See Also: Rivian Says All Its Electric Vehicles Will Now Come With Driver Assistance System

The executive said its high-speed DC charger will be capable of charging a vehicle in 20 minutes and allow it to cover 140 miles in range.

The automaker is focusing on charging fleet-based B2B vehicles like commercial vans and its consumer-oriented adventure network using the same power modules.

Rivian is planning to control the entire experience consumers have while charging their vehicles and will not rely on third-party networks, as per its CEO.

The company’s vehicle charging units use common connectors for rapid charging based on an open international standard and may not end up as a proprietary system such as one offered by Tesla Inc TSLA.

Benzinga’s Take: Rivian has experience in establishing an adventure-themed charging network as is evident from it doing so during the “Long Way Up” series featuring Hollywood star Ewan McGregor and his motorcycling companion Charley Boorman. The series, available on Apple Inc’s AAPL TV+ service, features the duo riding Harley Davidson Inc HOG electric motorcycles on a 13,000-mile ride spanning from Patagonia to California. 

Click here to check out Benzinga’s EV Hub for the latest electric vehicles news. 

Photo by Richard Truesdell on Wikimedia