Rivian Charging Conundrum: Why Does Tesla Only Open Up Some of Their Chargers To Non-Tesla Vehicles?

[Rivian Blue]

I read an article were a Rivian owner complained about having 3 Tesla locations in his area, but didn't know why this one particular location wouldn't show up on the Tesla app for him but the other 2 did. It wasn't until he looked at them all on the PlusShare app and noticed it said "open to non-Tesla" on the 2 that are available but the one that's not says, "Tesla Only." The Telsa only location has 18 chargers and is at a mall right off of a busy interstate exit, were he usually sees about 3 or 4 charging at one time, so it's not that busy.

I've used Tesla for a long time before owning my R1S. So for those who might be a bit confused and frustrated about this kind of situation, here's a little explanation as to why Rivian owners experience this.

So older stations use a different communication protocol that is not compatible with CCS vehicles. It isn't Tesla not permitting non-Tesla vehicles at those locations, the non-Tesla vehicles just don't have the hardware required to talk to the chargers at those locations. Tesla's V2 chargers which can be identified by advertising 120kw or 150kw will not work for non-Tesla vehicles. Tesla's V3 and V4 chargers which advertise 250kw or faster will.

Safe to say that anyone experiencing this, isn't missing out on much because the V2 chargers aren't the best. They come in pairs that share power, so if the paired stall is in use then your max speed is only 60-70kw. And avoiding the pair isn't straightforward. At some locations the pairs are adjacent, at other locations all of the A's are at one end of the lot and the B's are all at the other. So before you pull in, you have the read station ID from the charger and then find its partner so you can verify that no one is using it.