R2 Fast Charging Test Beats Rivian’s Own 29 Minute Claim

The R2 actually charges a bit faster than Rivian claims. Tom Moloughney from State of Charge just completed the first independent 10 to 80 % DC fast-charging test on the R2, which wrapped up in just 26.9 minutes. For context, Rivian says it should take 29 minutes, so the R2 beat its own spec by a solid two minutes.

The test happened in Colorado Springs, using an R2 Performance ‘Launch Package’ that had literally just been delivered to its new owner. Tom charged up at a Walmart station with 400 kW ABB A400 units, but had to improvise a bit. The R2 can actually pull just over 600 amps (Rivian told him it’s 630 amps max), which is pretty wild for a 400 volt EV. The NACS connectors on those chargers are capped at 375 amps, so to get all the juice, he had to switch to the CCS side with a 500 amp-rated adapter.

The charging curve starts off strong. The R2 was already pulling over 200 kW just 38 seconds after plugging in, and it hit 214 kW at the one-minute mark. From there, power kept climbing as the battery voltage rose, peaking at 226 kW when the battery hit 31% (about six minutes in). That’s when the car starts dialing things back a bit.

Ten minutes in, the R2 had jumped from 10 to 45%. Tom pointed out that adding 35% in just ten minutes should get you close to 100 highway miles, assuming average weather. At the 15-minute mark, half the battery was back, with 46.9 kWh added to its 88 kWh total. The session finished at 80%, with the car still drawing 68 kW, and the average for the whole run was 150 kW.

For range, the test R2 had 20-inch All-Terrain wheels (rated at 307 miles by the EPA). That means in the first ten minutes, the R2 added about 10.8 miles of range for every minute charging. If you go by the 330-mile rating for the 21-inch All-Season wheels, you would get about 11.6 miles per minute in that same stretch.

Tom shared his data with folks who know the R2’s charging behavior, and they said this is basically what you can expect. Things like weather can shift the time by a minute or so. He says the R2’s charging curve isn’t the fastest out there (some rivals get from 10 to 80% a bit quicker), but it’s still pretty solid. He also thinks Rivian could improve things even more with a software update, maybe cutting the time down to around 25 minutes.

One heads-up from testing: during a separate 0 to 100% session, one of the pins on his CCS-to-NACS adapter actually melted, likely because the R2 draws so much current. Most of these adapters are only rated for 500 amps, so it is something to watch out for. Tom says he has a full video coming soon, all about adapters with the R2, plus his 70-mph highway range test and the full 0 to 100 % charging breakdown.