American electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) announced earlier this week that the company will be joining fellow automakers Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and General Motors (NYSE:GM) in adopting Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) North American Charging Standard (NACS).
A look at the company’s owner’s forum reveals a strong consensus among owners and enthusiasts of the electric vehicle manufacturer's trucks in favor of integrating the NACS into their vehicles. A recent poll conducted on the Rivian Owners Forum demonstrated overwhelming support, with 78.7% of respondents expressing a positive outlook on the prospect of enabling compatibility between Rivian's R1T, R1S, and future models with Tesla Superchargers.
“The adoption of the North American Charging Standard will enable our existing and future customers to leverage Tesla’s expansive Supercharger network while we continue to build out our Rivian Adventure Network. We look forward to continuing to find new ways to accelerate EV adoption,” said Rivian CEO and Founder RJ Scaringe.
While companies like Rivian, Ford, and General Motors have fully embraced the Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS), some new automakers, like Lucid Motors, have expressed reservations about the system. Lucid Motors' (NASDAQ:LCID) CEO, Peter Rawlinson, argues that the top priority should be ultra-high voltage charging, rather than getting caught up in the NACS vs. CSS debate.
“I think it’s very important that when we look at US taxpayers’ money here, and how it is put to best effect, that it should be placed into a charging infrastructure that is future proof. And that means an ultra-high voltage charging standard. A thousand volts. That is the future for EVs. And really, it doesn’t really matter whether that plug, the way that high voltage enters the car, whether it’s through an NACS or CCS plug — that’s almost beside the point here — what’s really important is that we go for this efficient, high-voltage, high-power charging,” Rawlinson said.
Shares of RIVN are down 1.81% in mid-day trading on Thursday.