Rivian announces “Rivian Rewards,” a referral program for Rivian owners
Rivian has launched a referral program, allowing owners and purchasers to gain discounted gear or free charging through use of their Rivian referral code – or, with enough referrals, even an “almost”-free Rivian vehicle.
If there’s one thing about EV owners, is that owning an EV tends to turn you into an advocate for them. The experience is just so much better than driving on gas, and you want to share that with your friends.
This was particularly apparent in the early days, when Tesla owners became the biggest advocates for the company, and many recognized that they had “sold” several vehicles to friends or neighbors with their constant positive talk about their EVs.
As a result, several asked for some sort of recognition from the company for their sales efforts. Tesla instituted a “referral program,” a method for Tesla owners to gain benefits when they convince others to buy a Tesla. The program has been available on-and-off over the years, with various incentives, and Tesla just brought it back.
Now, Rivian is making their own referral program, and it works pretty similarly to how the Tesla program has over the years.
Rivian creates “Rivian Rewards”
Rivian is calling the program “Rivian Rewards.” All US-based Rivian owners qualify, and will have a referral link they can find in the new “rewards” section of their Rivian account.
The way it works is, when someone uses an owner’s Rivian Referral code to purchase a vehicle from Rivian’s “R1 Shop,” its online listings of in-stock vehicles available for delivery now, that owner will receive their choice of:
- 750 points that can be redeemed in Gear Shop or R1 Shop (1 point equals 1 dollar in credit)
- 6 months of charging at Rivian Adventure Network sites (up to a lifetime limit of three years)
These rewards also apply to the purchaser, not just the owner, so if you buy your car through a referral link then you’ll get your own 750 gear points and/or 6 months of free RAN charging.
In addition, Rivian says it plans to have a “special Rivian Adventure Weekend” at some point next year, to which it will invite the first 100 owners that make 25 qualifying referrals.
Rivian has quite an extensive “gear shop” with not just Rivian-branded merchandise like shirts and caps, but lots of vehicle accessories that are useful in the types of adventure situations that Rivian is known for. For example, this three-person rooftop tent will set you back $2,800… or about 4 referrals.
But perhaps more interestingly than that, the points can also be used in Rivian’s R1 Shop, which is used for purchasing new vehicles.
That’s gonna take a few more than 4 referrals, but the points can also be applied as a discount on a new car, which could be a nice little chunk of change for those who are able to get a lot of referrals. Rivian says that you can “almost!” buy a Rivian entirely with points – but that they can’t be used on vehicle deposits, custom configurations, reservations, or purchases outside the R1 shop.
Tesla did something similar allowing large discounts on the (upcoming?) next-gen Roadster, but it got a little out of hand. Perhaps as a result of this lesson, Rivian says that the 750 point reward is valid until the end of this year, but that point rewards may change after that. Also, points last 2 years before expiring.
But it also says that it plans to examine the program as it goes, and potentially expand it so that owners can earn and spend points in other ways as they come up with new ideas.
We could imagine more events like the “Rivian Adventure Weekend” might be popular with owners, so maybe something that would end up in being an option in the future.
Head on over to Rivian’s site for an FAQ about the program or the full legal Terms & Conditions if you want to find out more.
Electrek’s Take
These programs are pretty neat and can certainly be lucrative for some owners who have a lot of well-off friends or are otherwise able to get a lot of referrals. For most owners, though, it’s just going to be a nice little bonus for spending time out of their day to be “the EV guy” among their friend group and helping people out with their EV questions.
That said, the one thing I always felt was unfortunate about the Tesla referral program is that it spoiled some of the goodwill associated with word-of-mouth advertising.
EV owners will tell their friends to buy an EV regardless of if they’re being compensated for it or not, because we recognize they’re just great. When those recommendations come with no compensation at all, everyone can understand that they are honest recommendations. However, adding compensation into the equation makes it feel like maybe there are other reasons behind the recommendation beyond our simple enthusiasm for electric mobility, which just cheapens the recommendation a little.
But on the other hand, we are still doing all this word-of-mouth work that ends up going to the company’s benefit, and that’s surely reducing their sales costs, so the compensation is fair from that perspective. I just don’t want people to think that I’m recommending an EV because I’m getting paid for it, because I have and do recommend them regardless of if any money comes my way (because no matter what, cleaner air and happier drivers come my way when there are more EVs around, and that’s a good thing).
All that said, if our coverage of Rivian has helped inform you about the brand, feel free to use our Rivian referral code to get 6 months of free charging or 750 points with your purchase.
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National Grid Renewables has broken ground on its 100 MW Apple River Solar Project in Polk County, Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin solar farm, which will use US-made First Solar Series 6 Plus bifacial modules, will be constructed by The Boldt Company, creating 150 construction and service jobs. Apple River Solar will generate over $36 million in direct economic benefits over its first 20 years.
Once it comes online in late 2025, Apple River Solar will supply clean energy to Xcel Energy, which serves customers throughout the Upper Midwest. According to National Grid Renewables, the solar farm will generate enough energy to power around 26,000 homes annually. It will also offset about 129,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year – equivalent to taking 30,900 cars off the road.
“We are excited to see this project begin as it underscores our dedication to delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy to our customers,” said Karl Hoesly, President, Xcel Energy-Wisconsin and Michigan. “This project is an important step in those goals while bringing significant economic benefits to Polk County and the local townships.”
Electrek reported in February that Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, expects to cut more than 80% – and possibly up to 88% – of its emissions by 2030, putting it on track to hit Minnesota’s goal of net zero by 2040. It also says it’s on track to achieve its clean energy goals for all the Upper Midwest states it serves – Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Michigan.
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Tesla has announced that it will finally deliver 500 kW charging as it is about to install its long-awaited V4 Supercharger cabinets.
The rollout of Supercharger V4 has been a strange one, to say the least.
Tesla has been deploying the new charging stations for two years and calling them “Supercharger V4”, but it has only been deploying the charging stalls.
Supercharger stations are made of two main parts: the stalls, which are where the charging cable is located, and the cabinets, which are generally located further back and include all the power electronics.
For all these new “Supercharger V4”, Tesla was actually using Supercharger V3 cabinets. This has been limiting the power output of the charging stations to 250 kW – although
Today, Tesla officially announced its “V4 Cabinet”, which the automaker claims will enable of “delivering up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semi.”
Here are the main features of the V4 Cabinet as per Tesla:
- Faster charging: Supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, including 30% faster charging for Cybertruck. S3XY vehicles enjoy 250kW charge rates they already experience on V3 Cabinet — charging up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.
- Faster deployments: V4 Cabinet powers 8 posts, 2X the stalls per cabinet. Lower footprint and complexity = more sites coming online faster.
- Next-generation hardware: Cutting-edge power electronics designed to be the most reliable on the planet, with 3X power density enabling higher throughput with lower costs.
Tesla reports that its first sites with the new V4 Cabinets are going into permitting now. The company expects its first sites to open next year.
We recently reported about Tesla’s new Oasis Supercharger project, which includes larger solar arrays and battery packs to operate the charging station mostly off-grid.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to all Supercharger stations, and Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
It took about 8 years, but it sounds like the pieces are now getting actually in place with Supercharger V4, Megapacks, and this new Oasis project.
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Hyundai has a new secret weapon it’s about ready to unleash. To revamp the brand in China and counter BYD’s surge, Hyundai is launching a new AI-powered EV next year. The new model will be Hyundai’s first dedicated electric car for the world’s largest EV market.
With the help of Haomo, a Chinese autonomous startup, Hyundai will launch its first EV equipped with generative AI. It will also be its first model designed specifically for China.
A Hyundai Motor official said (via The Korea Herald) the company is “working to load the software” onto the new EV model, “which will be released in the Chinese market next year.” The spokesperson added, “The level of autonomous driving is somewhere between 2 and 2.5.”
In comparison, Tesla’s Autopilot is considered a level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the SAE scale (0 to 5), meaning it offers limited hands-free features.
With Autopilot, you still have to keep your eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel, or the system will notify you and eventually disengage.
Haomo’s system, DriveGPT, unveiled last spring, takes inspiration from the OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
The system can continuously update in real-time to optimize decision-making by absorbing traffic data patterns. According to Haomo, DriveGPT is used in around 20 models as it looks to play a bigger role in China.
Hyundai hopes new AI-powered EV boosts sales in China
Electric vehicle sales continue surging in China. According to Rho Motion, China set another EV sales record last month with 1.2 million units sold, up 50% from October 2023.
Over 8.4 million EVs were sold in China in the first ten months of 2024, a notable 38% increase from last year.
BYD continues to dominate its home market. According to Autovista24, BYD accounted for 32.9% of all PHEV and EV (NEV) sales in China through September, with over half of the top 20 best-selling EV models.
Tesla was second with a 6.5% share of the market, but keep in mind these numbers only include plug-in models (PHEV).
Like most foreign automakers, Hyundai is struggling to keep up with the influx of low-cost electric models in China. Beijing Hyundai’s sales have been slipping since 2017. Through September, Korean automaker’s share of the Chinese market fell to just 1.2%.
Last month, Hyundai opened its first overseas digital R&D center in China to help kick off its return to the region.
According to local reports, Hyundai is partnering with other local tech companies like Thundersoft, a smart cockpit provider, and others in China to power up its next-gen EVs
With its first AI-powered EV launching next year, Hyundai hopes to turn things around in the region quickly. The new model will be one of five to launch in China through 2026.
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