Rivian to add car-to-car and vehicle-to-home charging capability in wireless upgrade

A wireless upgrade could soon allow R1T and R1S owners to power their homes using their vehicles

by sebastian bell

3 hours ago

by sebastian bell

All Rivian R1T and R1S models will reportedly get two-way charging capabilities in the near future, even those already on the road. The new feature will allow a Rivian vehicle to charge another electric vehicle, should it be stranded with a dead battery or even a home, should the power go out.

The capability will be enabled with an upcoming over-the-air update, according to @rivianupdates, a Twitter profile that is not associated with the company. However, in the tweets, the account quotes a Rivian spokesperson as saying that more details about two-way charging will be shared “in the future.”

We’ve reached out to Rivian for more information on this story and will update when we get a response.

Read: EV owners are excited about two-way charging

Bi-directional charging effectively transforms an EV into one large mobile battery, which can be used to power any number of electronic devices. While details on the capabilities of the first two Rivian models remain limited, Ford claims its all-electric F-150 Lightning (which has a smaller battery pack than the R1T) can power an average American home for up to three days.

That could come in handy during a power outage, but it could have more uses than that. Car manufacturers claim that smart owners (or those with a smart charging system) can use their vehicles to lower their electric bills.

By using a vehicle to power a home when electricity is most expensive and then using the grid to power the vehicle when electricity is cheapest, a homeowner can effectively spread their energy use and avoid using the grid during power spikes. demand, which could potentially help the entire system run more efficiently.

Although that’s the best case scenario, two-way charging has already become wildly popular in China, with EV owners using their batteries to do everything from keeping lights on during power outages to powering tools on the go. work and even boil a kettle at work.

It has not yet been made clear if there are any costs associated with this Rivian update.