Speaking during the Climate Week in New York City, where some 600 climate-advocacy programs took place over the past week, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe presented himself as part marketer, part businessman and part climate activist.
He outlined the key challenges facing the electric vehicle industry during an interview with New York Times Climate Reporter David Gelles. Scaringe praised Chinese electric cars, dismissed the politicization of EVs and downplayed the delays of the NACS adapters—which will provide non-Tesla EV owners access to thousands of Tesla Superchargers across the U.S.
Above all, Scaringe emphasized that EVs are a no-brainer. He said that the rest of the world is moving toward electrification really fast and the U.S. should lead the transition, not play catch-up.
Scaringe On The NACS Rollout
Last year, Rivian and other major U.S. automakers agreed to adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector, now standardized as the SAE J3400 plug.
This deal will provide non-Tesla EVs access to the extensive extensive Tesla Supercharger network via OEM-provided adapters. The goal is to improve the overall charging experience for all EV owners, regardless of the brand. However, the initial phase of the NACS rollout has been rocky.
Owners have reported that adapters are not being delivered on time, leading to speculations about the cause of the delays. While initial delays were linked to layoffs in Tesla’s Supercharger team, production of the adapters has ramped up at Tesla’s Buffalo Gigafactory and many of the laid-off employees have since been re-hired.
Gelles pressed Scaringe on the NACS delays, asking if Elon Musk or Tesla had misrepresented their commitments.
“We wish that the adapter ramp up was faster,” Scaringe responded. “The supply chains are complex. This is not some intentional slowing down of the ramp up. Tesla’s been a great partner to us,” he added.
He further stated that Rivian and engineers from the Tesla Supercharger team were working well together to ensure that the software integration was seamless.
“You think about all the noise that happens and you maybe imagine that there’s some tension that exists between these two companies. That’s not the case. The teams work great.” Scaringe said.
On EVs Being Politicized
The delayed NACS rollout isn’t the only roadblock in the broader adoption of EVs. They’ve also become a political hot button issue.
The Biden-Harris administration’s landmark Inflation Reduction Act has supercharged local manufacturing of EVs with billions of dollars in grants and loans plus tax credit incentives for buyers to go electric.
EV critic and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has threatened to water down the provisions from the IRA and has embarked on a misinformation campaign against EVs.
He linked EVs to a potential “bloodbath” of jobs in the auto industry, said things like “they don’t go far,” and “nobody wants to buy an EV.” He also pledged to “drill” more. Trump has only recently softened his stance on them after Tesla CEO Elon Musk pledged $45 million a month to a pro-Trump Super PAC.
Scaringe dismissed the politicization of EVs in a measured tone.
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“There’s no reason electrification should be a partisan issue,” he said. He added that it was illogical and made no sense from a technical point of view. “Whether you’re on the right or the left, you care about creating a better future for your kids.”
This huge partisan divide stems from misinformation, according to Scaringe.
“That’s due to the lack of understanding of the battery supply chain and also the lack of appreciation for the scale of challenge,” he said. “But we have to start somewhere. If we wait for this giant green perfection button to arrive, we’ll wait forever.”
He ended by stating that the politicization was indeed saddening and that Americans should collectively elevate the discussions away from that.
“There are eight billion of us on the planet. There’s no reasonable way in which we could live anywhere other than Earth. It’s our only home, it’s a beautiful home and we need to do everything we can to protect it,” he said.
