Future Rivian Software Update Will Unlock Bi-Directional Charging

Both the R1T and R1S already have the hardware needed for bi-directional charging, now they company has confirmed the capability should be unlocked in a future software update.

Modern vehicles, especially EVs, come equipped with more and more features that make them seem like rolling computers more than vehicles. Automakers are seemingly at war over who can deliver the most quirky features or computer games (I'm looking at you Tesla...). These features are entertaining for sure, but usually don't serve any practical purpose.

​However, some EVs have one very significant capability that is often overlooked by your "average Joe", and that's the ability for bi-directional charging, or Vehicle-To-Load capability. This feature allows your electric car to not only charge itself like you would usually, but also supply power to another vehicle or even your home... especially your home. This is something that seems to be somewhat of a standard requirement for any EV trucks, and now Rivian has confirmed that they will unlock this useful function in all of its electric vehicles.

In a weekly "Rivian Responds" Reddit post, Rivian officials claimed:

"Yes, we can confirm that all R1T and R1S (including vehicles in customer possession today) will be capable of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) charging. We’ll share more details on this bidirectional charging capability in the future but, for now, can confirm it relies on the CCS standard."

Rivian vehicles come equipped with 110V AC outlets... but they can only handle so much power.

The R1T and R1S already come equipped with standard 110 volt electrical outlets, however these outlets are limited by the amount of power they can deliver. Sure, they can power a wide range of household appliances and devices, from power tools to lighting fixtures, but don't bother trying to power anything significant in your house. For that, you need to use the CCS charging port. While normally used to input significant amounts of power into the large battery, the CCS port can also handle output of power. We see this already in use in a number of electric vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ford F-150 Lightning.

While there isn't any timeline mentioned, it is a realistic expectation that this will be available... eventually, and when they do I'm sure Rivian owners will rejoice.

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