Lifestyle
Rivian R2’s Charge Port Moved to Work Better at Tesla Superchargers
Despite its continued lack of profitability since going public, Rivian is doing a lot of good things. For example, the EV maker rescues trucks stuck in a rut and uses shared owner data to let other owners know where the crummy chargers are. The latest add to its no-one-asked-but-we’re-going-to-do-something-nice-anyway list is repositioning vehicle charge ports so they’re more compatible with Tesla Supercharger stations.
Nearly every automaker that sells an EV has announced it will be adopting the Tesla-developed North American Charging System (NACS) charger connecter by 2025. It’s quite a flip from the currently standard Combined Charging System (CCS), which is also the dominant global connector that Tesla itself uses for its cars overseas. But outside of the Supercharger network, the U.S. EV charging infrastructure just plain sucks.
To fend off increasing customer dissatisfaction and slowing sales growth, automakers probably feel a quick fix is adapting to the existing vast, fast, and surprisingly reliable NACS-based Supercharger network rather than waiting for a snail’s pace federally-backed infrastructure to catch up. The problem is there is no standard on where vehicle charge ports should be. There never has been.
Tesla, for its part, has all of its charge ports in the left rear of the vehicle. Like other automakers making the NACS switch, Rivian offers an adapter for its soon-to-be-retired CCS-pronged plug. In 2025, R1 models will have direct NACS compatibility, followed by the R2 in 2026. That’s not the only change coming. Rivian has also moved the charging ports.
Green Car Reports says that during a recent showing of the upcoming R2 and R3X models at the Rivian Space in Pasadena, California, the plug-in location was now the left rear. When the vehicles first debuted, those ports were located on the right rear. Official Rivian images specifically highlight this, all of which still appear on its website. Rivian has previously said that the right rear is ideal for curbside charging as well as plugging into its own charging network.
Although a nice gesture, the update isn’t without detractors. For one thing, the new port position doesn’t help owners who trailer, tow, or use equipment racks. And it’s a valid complaint considering the R1T and R1S have their charge ports in the left front of the vehicle. Public stations with pull-through chargers exist but are scarce. Keep in mind, too, that not only are tow-friendly vehicles like trucks and SUVs going electric, but so are RVs.
According to Gridserve, a majority of EVs have charge ports located in the rear. The chicken-dinner winner is the right side, which claims 37% of the EVs, while the left accounts for 28%. Although these figures are based on U.K. EV sales, they do show a lack of consensus among EV automakers. Sometimes, even internally, there’s no agreement. Kia EVs, for example, have charge ports located in the right rear, left front, and middle front. But this madness could be methodical and based on everything from where the vehicle electronics are, to the market where it’s sold, to even how the vehicle is used (like, ahem, towing).
I’m not sure we can call this a nascent industry at this point, but, damn, does the EV market still have a lot of growing pains to work through. Plus, the industry needs to focus not just on the 42-mile-daily-average suburbanite commuters but also the business travelers, road trippers, haulers, weekend warriors…you know, everyone if the goal is an EV-only future. Because, honestly, disconnecting a trailer just to connect to a charging station is a bish.
Sunday Puzzle
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On-air challenge
I’m going to give you two words starting with the letter B. You give me another word starting with B that can follow my first one and precede my second one, in each case to complete a compound word for a familiar two-word phrase.
Ex. Boot Box –> BLACK (bootblack, black box)
1. Beer Button
2. Blue Binder
3. Bounce Burner
4. Billiard Bearing
5. Busy Builder
6. Bar Bottoms
7. Baby Brothers
8. Bird Buster
9. Brick Boy
Last week’s challenge
Last week’s challenge came from listener Michael Pickard. Name something in 10 letters that’s found in a kitchen. Drop its sixth letter to name something on a keyboard. Then drop the new word’s fifth letter to name something no one wants to get. What words are these?
Answer: Backsplash –> backslash –> backlash
Winner
John Blakelock of Yellow Springs, Ohio
This week’s challenge
This week’s challenge comes from Evan Kalish, of Bayside, N.Y. Take the name of a nocturnal creature, in two words. The first word is a spooky sound. Move the last letter of the first word to the start of the second word and you’ll get another spooky, nocturnal sound. What is the creature and what are the sounds?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, June 25 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.
Lifestyle
Exclusive | Paul Kueker ID’d as beloved dad of 2 who tragically plunged to death at Madison Square Garden concert
The 51-year-old rock fan who fell to his death during a weekend Goose concert at Madison Square Garden was a beloved married dad of two from Connecticut, his weeping mom told The Post on Sunday.
Paul Kueker fatally plunged 150 feet from the Chase Bridge in the World’s Most Famous Arena while the event was in full swing shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday — the day before Father’s Day.
“He was the greatest kid in the whole wide world,” Kueker’s mother, Patricia Finelli, said through tears. “He’d give you the shirt off his back.
“He has two children, a beautiful wife, and he took care of me like I was a piece of gold.”
Kueker was with his wife at the time, according to Fox News.
The Niantic man was rushed to Bellevue Hospital after the fall, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
He was on the Chase Bridge, an elevated seating section that was added to the arena in 2013, when he fell, Fox said.
Goose, a Connecticut-based jam band, was booked for a two-night gig at MSG as part of their summer tour and on their second night there when the tragedy struck.
They completed their full 16-song set around midnight Saturday, after the fall.
“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken to learn of the tragic event that occurred at tonight’s show,” the band later said in a statement.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to everyone affected. Thank you to the emergency personnel and venue staff who stepped in with care and support.”
Alzo Slade and Peter Sagal on stage at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago
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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Caro Claire Burke and panelists Karen Chee, Peter Grosz, and Shane O’Neill. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Alzo This Time
Tourists Embrace The USA; The Wedding of the Century; Advances in Parenting
Panel Questions
Stolen Flavor
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about 80’s band A-ha making the news this week, only one of which is true
Not My Job: Caro Claire Burke, the author of Yesteryear, joins us to answer questions about yearbooks
This week, Caro Claire Burke, author of the book of the summer, Yesteryear, joins us to play a game called, “Yesteryear, meet Yearbook.” Three questions about yearbooks.
Panel Questions
Bookmarks and Beaches; One Man’s Trash
Limericks
Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: Jurassic Purse; Viper Visions; Humanity’s Tilt
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict, what would be the big surprise at Taylor Swift’s wedding
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