The Rivian R1T quickly earned a reputation for being a fun and practical electric pickup, launching Rivian as a company to remember in the growing market. However, Rivian has recently shown some growing pains for EVs, as one of them was recently fried after being plugged into a charger.
America’s electric car drive
In a relatively short period of time, electric vehicles have gone from being novelties rarely seen by the average driver on the street to a familiar sight. Accordingly, 5.8% of all new cars sold in 2022 were electric vehicles. This means that more than 800,000 electric vehicles were purchased last year.
For electric vehicles, it makes buying an electric vehicle more affordable.
Some EV buyers simply choose to make the switch because there are some great EV options on the market. Tesla is a household name, and it has become a dream car for many. Rivian is a new name in the electric vehicle market, and the R1T Pickup is another promising EV.
You fry the Rivian R1T in a charging station
One of the most recent headlines surrounding the Rivian R1T hasn’t been a positive story about the EV revolution. I reported that a driver named Anson Wong plugged his R1T into a charger only for the truck to quickly get fried.
Wong claims that after plugging the truck in for a minute, there was an explosion and a cloud of smoke around his R1T.
Wong received error messages about the incident, and contacted Rivian and Electrify America. According to Wong, Electrify America tried to roughly restart the charger, then, four hours later, sent a technician to the site.
The truck has been plugged into the charger for about two days, and it says the R1T charging port and Electrify America charging cable are soldered together. In the end, Rivian took the car to have it checked and repaired.
The good news for Wong is that Rivian has responded well to the case. The company is replacing his truck’s charging port and battery pack, and he mentioned that Rivian has also provided rideshare credits in the meantime. Wong will not have to pay for these repairs.
While the news that a Rivian truck has encountered an issue like this may be concerning, this particular incident seems to be a bigger problem with Electrify America.
The CarScoops article notes that the Chevy Bolt and Chevy car have also had problems with Electrify America chargers. Since the three incidents involved three different EV models, the problem may be with the chargers themselves.
Some drivers aren’t eager to change to an EV
Regardless of whether it was fried by a truck or charger problem, this highlights how the transition to electric vehicles isn’t always smooth. Some drivers are reluctant to steer clear of gas-powered cars. EV chargers exploding may be uncommon, but other problems also lead to this frequency.
Having to charge an electric vehicle can be a huge downside for some drivers. It takes almost no time to get fuel, so the idea of having to wait until an electric car charges may be seen as problematic, especially for drivers who often take longer road trips. On the other hand, electric vehicles are getting better at going longer distances on a single charge.
