Mastering Tesla Superchargers with Rivian

[@felaxchow207]

A neighbor of mine down the ways who own a F150 lightning did some research noticed the same thing. The higher utilized sites are charging much higher per kWh than another one a few miles down the road. The 20 stall site cost difference can be much as 20 cents compared to a 8 stall site. I find that the Tesla App is much more accurate on the cost per kWh than their website, but it does give you an idea what to expect. In his use case, it's cheaper for him to Supercharge after midnight at the 20 stall site even as a non-member for 20 minutes than charging at home. Since he gets off work at 11 pm and passes by it every other day and there's a 24/7 Wawa conveniently located nearby, it's a win win. Majority of the time it's normally cheaper to charge at home than to DC fast charge, but there some outliers out there that you can take advantage of it. Carpe Diem...

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

Thanks for sharing!

[@EVunedited]

Mmm can you compare a EA charger in a similar location? Also, forgot to mention the Tesla Supercharger subscription. How does it integrate with the rivian app?

[@Griff_TE]

I wonder if some of those differences in prices also have to do with how much they have to pay for the lot or other local taxes/utilities.

[@joebinotto]

Thanks Ben. To get around the higher rates, why couldn't we pay for a Supercharging Membership at $12.99 month? It may make sense for some of us. Especially if we are planning long trips away from our level 2 home charger.

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

that'd be interesting to do the math on what the break even point is. Lots of variables but I suspect it might be worth it for the month you're traveling but otherwise not useful. Great question!

[@iamnid]

I believe this is already possible if you charge through the Tesla app.

[@skylerwilliams]

Good stuff, thanks Ben!

[@mattryan9444]

I just did my first charge in a Tesla charger and my a2z adapter pretty easy process

[@frankhernandez2410]

Where oh where can I purchase this adapter?! I have a 2024 Chevy Blazer EV. Please help.

[@andrewuk]

Integrated Tesla pricing membership into rivian app might be the way to go.

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

yeah wasn't even aware of it since I have a Tesla already

[@brennanspark]

Makes sense to upcharge non-Tesla owners for the incredible access Tesla is providing non-Tesla owners.

[@MrAngryrooster]

I’ve noticed that the prices have increased quite a bit recently at all supercharger locations. I imagine it might get worse as more non-tesla ev’s get access. I’ve also noticed that Electrify America has raised prices along the route from Vegas to Southern California. I would’ve thought more competition would lower prices.

[@USNEM]

It's a scam

[@jon4lakers]

Great job!

[@pingnick]

Anyone using their Ford or even Rivian etc for ride sharing other high mileage stuff will want to pay the subscription for better rates obviously whoa🤯

[@michaelalanstlouis]

That’s interesting about the non-Tesla tax. Do you think this will improve over time? Where the price differential gets smaller and maybe goes away entirely? It’s just more revenue for Tesla if everyone goes to them for charging.

[@georgelee8208]

With the Rivian adapter, can Rivians charge at all Tesla Superchargers or only those already capable with a magic dock ?

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

No magic dock needed but has to be V3 or V4

[@joenace6473]

Hey Ben, thanks for the video. I was wondering if you have had any major issues with your Rivian after you got those initial ones fixed? Thx!

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

Nope, just little stuff, mostly software

[@vawlkus]

didn't touch on making a Tesla account for better rates, so I wonder what the difference is there

[@thomasmyles677]

This price difference may also be a reflection of newer congestion pricing Tesla is using.

[@frankhernandez2410]

I have a 2024 Blazer EV and the Tesla App on my iPhone 15 Pro. I also have the Tesla adapter with me. I stopped at a Tesla 'Charging Station' at a Meijer (in Michigan) the other day, scanned the barcode on the charger station with the Tesla app and the charger station I was located at did not come up in the app (faster away stations came up) so I could not activate the charging session. What did I do wrong? Please teach me how to charge using the Tesla's. Thanks in advance.

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

Chevy needs to enable it which I don’t think has happened yet

[@stevensolazzo]

Had a similar experience yesterday at a station just north of Waco TX. The station didn't show up for me in the Tesla app but I was certainly standing in front of a Tesla charger row. Anyway, I figured out today that Tesla doesn't claim all the superchargers work with other cars. On the map he showed in the video, note there's a specific selection for chargers that work with non Teslas. I went and looked and sure enough, the location I was at isn't one that shows up when you search by that criteria. So even though you have the adapter, it won't work. I'd bet if you do the same on the Tesla app that location only shows up when you make that selection too.

[@frankhernandez2410]

@@stevensolazzo So what did you end up doing? Have you EVER used Tesla's to charge?

[@stevensolazzo]

@@frankhernandez2410 I ended up just driving two miles down the road to an Electrify America station so I was fine. But ultimately, I couldn't charge at that Tesla station I did charge earlier in the trip at a different Tesla station (that showed up on the Tesla app) so I know my adapter and account are setup right.

[@frankhernandez2410]

@@stevensolazzo So as long as it areas in my Tesla app I could charge there?

[@thomasjacques5286]

Hopefully the Tesla will correctly display how many stalls are actually available. 3 non-Tesla’s charging at an 8 stall site will be blocking 6 of the 8 stalls. Not cool for folks enroute on a road trip.

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

doubtful

[@joshburks9464]

If a F-150 Lightning gets about 2.4 miles per kWh and my current gas powered F-150 gets 20mph. Then I need to buy 8.3 kWh to go the same 20 miles. According to these prices that is like $4.9 - $5.8 a gallon. I’m not sure what gas costs in CA but that would mean there is 0 savings to use electric. So why not save the hassle and just burn gas or get a Hybrid like the Ram Charger 1500?

[@jysmtl]

This is a reasonable point. Gas prices have come down, electricity rates have gone up, so there’s not much savings anymore when charging at public DC fast chargers. But most trucks aren’t going to be charged most of the time at public high-speed chargers. If you charge on a home or office (fleet) charger, the savings are still substantial. Besides, the hassle is exaggerated. It’s real, with the poor reliability of the charging network, but it’s not hard to deal with. And you get the awesome performance of the electric vehicle, which is great, except if you do a lot of long distance towing, with current battery and charging technology you still need ICE or hybrid.

[@jcorsaro]

My experience with San Diego charging is that Electrify America and EVgo have more expensive rates than standard Tesla owners get from Tesla supercharging. So the non-Tesla supercharger rates are on par with the other charging networks in San Diego.

[@junehanzawa5165]

The price difference is because Tesla owners paid for the supercharger network by purchasing a Tesla. This is a way to make it fair to them. You can get the same price by the $12.99 per month membership, just like EA and EV go have their own memberships. The Tesla membership pays for itself after just one charge. Their prices are a lot cheaper than EA or EVgo with the membership, even if you factor in EA's and EVgo's memberships.

[@loconius]

Are those rates even cheaper than gas’s anymore?!?!

[@BenSullinsOfficial]

It’s getting tight actually

[@joshburks9464]

In some cases like the $0.79 a kWh it is more. Add in the extra hassle of waiting and any savings at the $0.44 a kWh and it’s not currently worth it. Only logical option is something like the Ram Ramcharger that is a plugin hybrid but gets 140 miles to a charge. Allowing you to charge at home for cheaper but still allowing you to fill up with gas and keep on going.

[@loconius]

@@joshburks9464 I really am starting to warm to the hybrid model more and more. We are kinda rural and that model would be perfect. Plug in hybrid I mean

[@joshburks9464]

@@loconius same here. I agree 100%

[@oferkrupka]

Maybe the higher price is because some EVs needs to capture 2 parking spaces instead of 1?

[@teslatalk42069]

Tesla literally just saved Rivian's ass

[@brunoheggli2888]

No

[@junehanzawa5165]

And Rivian burn their own ass again by placing the port on the wrong side again. Now tell us they're not trying to fail on purpose.

[@jysmtl]

Out of the goodness of their heart. It’s a business deal, that’s all. Tesla port placement is no better. Right now port placement is all over the map. It will eventually standardize.

[@earthtaurus5515]

@@jysmtl The tesla port location mimics where almost all petrol/gas/diesel cars have their fillports.

[@thewaxlab]

Aaaaand that Starbucks there only has 1 bathroom! WTH?!?!?

[@brunoheggli2888]

Just buy a used Chevy Bolt!

[@jysmtl]

Chevy Bolt can use NACS superchargers?