This will be available to every Rivian vehicle ever made.
The company has yet to confirm the details of this future update.
This feature could allow owners to save on their energy bills and power their home during an outage.
Rivian is reportedly preparing an over-the-air update that will roll out bidirectional charging capabilities to all of its vehicles currently on the road.
This has yet to be confirmed by the automaker, but the Twitter account @rivianupdates cites a company spokesperson who said more details about this capability are coming soon.
This is not surprising since many automakers have been talking about bidirectional charging in the last year or so, with Ford, Hyundai, and Kia already offering it on their newest EVs.
Bidirectional charging allows the driver to use the energy stored in the vehicle’s battery to power all sorts of electrical equipment, charge another electric vehicle, or even power their entire home through an outage.
This is especially interesting for Rivian owners since pickup trucks and large SUVs are often used to go camping in places where access to electricity can be limited.
Combined with the optional camp kitchen that was discontinued but is reportedly being updated, this could make Rivian trucks particularly well-suited for those who like to camp away from civilization.
In addition, bidirectional charging can be used to reduce the owner’s domestic energy bill by powering the house when electricity rates are up and then being charged when prices are lower, such as during the night.
Some electric vehicles are even capable of sending excess power back to the grid, which contributes to reducing the load on the entire system and can generate a credit on the owner’s bill.
Since this update will be made over the air, this means that all of the hardware necessary for bidirectional charging is already present on the R1T and R1S models.
Since the company hasn’t commented on this subject yet, we don’t know if this update will be free or if it will come at a cost for the owners.
Source: @rivianupdates (Twitter.com) via Carscoops
