If You Are Getting a Rivian R2, Plan on Carrying Charging Adapters

The Rivian R2 fun begins tomorrow and unlike the R1 it is built to sell in real volume. That changes the charging conversation a little. A lot more people are about to take a Rivian on a road trip for the first time, and once you get past the Tesla Supercharging network, Rivian Adventure Network, and even IONNA, the rest of the public charging world still runs on connectors your NACS port cannot use directly. So you are going to want adapters.

This is not a new problem. R1 owners have been living with it since Rivian announced you could charge at Tesla Superchargers. But the R2 is the one that puts a Rivian in a lot more driveways, and most of those buyers are coming from cars where they never had to think about any of this.

Two adapters cover almost everything you will run into. A CCS1 adapter for DC fast charging, since plenty of fast chargers out there are still CCS, and a J1772 adapter for Level 2 AC, which is what most destination chargers, workplaces, and older public stations use. With those two in the frunk you can pretty much plug in anywhere.

Rivian sells both in the Gear Shop. The CCS1 DC adapter is $200 and the J1772 AC adapter is $50, so $250 for the pair. They work, and they are the safe default if you would rather just buy from Rivian and be done with it.

There is one wrinkle worth knowing before you spend anything. Depending on where you live, Rivian is essentially handing the official adapters to you for free.

Customers registering a new R2 in CA, CO, DC, DE, MA, MD, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, VT and WA can get a Rivian Portable Charger, J1772 AC Adapter and Combo CCS1 DC Adapter at a discount equal to the price of each item. We’ll automatically apply your discount during the purchase process before delivery of your vehicle.

If you are registering in one of those states, that changes the math completely. The official adapters cost you nothing, and the portable charger comes along too, so there is no real reason to look elsewhere for those buyers. Everyone outside that list is back to paying full price, and that is where the A2Z route is worth a look.

We have teamed up with A2Z on this, and full disclosure, the links below are affiliate links. A2Z has been a partner of ours since they launched their NACS adapter for CCS vehicles, and they are the adapters I actually use day to day. Their CCS1 DC adapter, the Thunderstorm, runs $139, and with my referral link you get an extra 10 percent off, which brings it to $125. Their J1772 AC adapter, the Atom, is $45 and comes down to $40 with the same discount. That is $165 for both.

So the math is $250 with Rivian or $165 with A2Z for the same two pieces.

I know third party adapters make some people nervous, and that is fair. There is a lot of junk out there. But A2Z is the brand I trust, and these two are not cheap no-name parts. Both are UL2252 and CSA-C22.2 certified. The Thunderstorm is rated for 500A and 1000V, which is well beyond anything the R2 will ever pull. The Atom is rated for 80A at 240VAC.

Here are the links if you want them:

• A2Z Thunderstorm CCS1 DC adapter (affiliate link)
• A2Z Atom J1772 AC adapter (affiliate link)
• Rivian CCS1 DC adapter
• Rivian J1772 AC adapter

You can find cheaper options on Amazon, of course. I would be careful there. A bad adapter can damage your vehicle, and the few dollars you save are not worth that risk on something carrying that much current.

If you are picking up an R2 soon, I would just get the adapters now rather than wait until you are standing at a charger you cannot use. Over time more of these networks will add native NACS plugs and the adapters will matter less, but we are not there yet, and on a road trip this year you will reach for them more often than you expect.