Most electric vehicle manufacturers have committed to equipping their vehicles with North American Charging System (NACS) SAE J3400 ports beginning in 2026. This means that many non-Tesla EVs released prior to this are unable to plug in, because they're rocking CCS (SAE J1772 with extra pins) for level 2 and level 3 charging. Consequently, EV owners looking to juice up must carry an adapter to ensure they can use any charging stations that use the NACS standard, which just so happens to be the same type of port Tesla has installed on its vehicles. A Rivian R1S owner, Vivian Yip (@vivianyipofficial), says that although her car doesn’t sport a NACS charger, she’s still able to use Tesla superchargers with ease. And she doesn’t need to carry her own adapter to do so. She recently demonstrated this in a TikTok showing her recharging the Rivian at a Buc-ee’s. How Do You Use A Tesla Charger In A Rivian? Yip begins, saying, “You wanna see something cool? Well I’m at Buc-ee’s right now because we’re charging our car. And of course we need to stop because you know we’re driving a longer time. So the most common charger that you see out there is Tesla. Even though I drive a Rivian. And don’t give me any comments like I hate Tesla. I just chose Rivian, that’s what I drive … and I want to show you how to charge your Rivian with a Tesla charger.” Next, she approaches an empty charging kiosk and grabs the cable to reveal the port terminals. “Now if you know anything about electric vehicles, you know that Teslas look like this. But, how do you charge it, if it’s not the same charging head as a Rivian?” Then she grabs the head and long-presses the button located near the tip of the cable while it’s still locked into the terminal cubby. “You just press this button for a couple seconds, and then you push up until it clicks,” she explains. She then pulls the charging cable out to reveal that it comes with a CCS adapter. Tell us what you think! View Comments She continues, “And then the whole thing comes out and now you have a CCS charger … and you can charge your Rivian. Isn’t that cool? Most people don’t know about this, you’re welcome.” Woman Solves EV Charging Woes Several people who replied to Yip’s TikTok were floored by the adapter trick. “You are a hero! My man has a Ford Mach E. I bought him an adapter so he could use Tesla’s chargers as well … we had no idea that it came with one built in,” one wrote. Someone else lamented that they'd purchased a NACS-to-CCS adapter, only to discover that some supercharging stations are already rigged with the adapters. “Wait a minute, I just spent $200 buying my own adapter. Do all Tesla charging stations do this?” they said. Another user said that while they knew Buc-ees have charging adapters, they'd struggled to use one. “I tried to charge my BMW i4 at Buc-ee’s with the Tesla chargers, but couldn’t get the adapter to release. I now learned I didn’t hold the button long enough to release the adapter. Thank you!” Someone else said that these types of supercharging units aren’t exactly ubiquitous. “Only for the new gen chargers! This isn’t the case on the older model chargers,” they wrote. Tesla Superchargers With A Magic Dock The apparatus that Yip displayed in her video is known as a Magic Dock. Buc-ees isn't the only charging facility that has them. Many of the superchargers at Tesla charging stations are equipped with Magic Docks. Recharged reports that there are at least 3,500 Tesla superchargers with Magic Docks, with more terminals being added over time. Recharged notes that Magic Dock compatibility is considered rare. So if you’re planning on going on a road trip in an EV, you should plan your route accordingly. or bring an adapter Otherwise, you may just end up at a supercharging station that doesn’t have the appropriate charging port for your vehicle. Motor1 has reached out to Tesla via email and Yip via Instagram direct message for further comment. We'll update this post if either responds. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team
+2 others
