Electric vehicle company Rivian Automotive RIVN is one of the many companies competing for market share in the growing sector of the automotive industry. When it comes to electric vehicle charging technology, Rivian may have a new solution to differentiate itself.
What Happened: Rivian’s R1T electric pickup truck is one of the bestselling electric vehicles in its class. The truck is marketed to many different consumers, including those who like adventure, with free charging at select National Park locations.
A new patent from Rivian could signal its focus on improving its own electric vehicle chargers to get an edge over the competition.
The patent shows that Rivian would use air conditioning to increase charging speeds by heating or cooling the battery of the vehicle directly during the charging process, according to Teslarati.
During the current charging method, the battery heats up and the charging station lowers the power output as the charging progresses to allow the battery to cool down, lowering the output from the charger.
The patent shows that the air conditioning system would be built directly into the charging station. The device would blow hot or cold air on the battery, helping to keep a consistent temperature throughout the charging process.
Rivian indicated that the new technological innovation is in response to the demand for the cooling of batteries during the charging process.
Pictures from the patent show that current Rivian vehicles would not need to be modified in order to utilize the new battery charging process.
Related Link: Rivian Q3 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Miss, Production Up 67% QOQ, Reaffirms 25,000 Production Goal
Why It’s Important: Rivian said in the patent filing that it believes fire risk during charging can be lowered, along with increased charging speeds, and a longer battery life.
The patent does not indicate how much faster the battery charging process could be by using this new technology.
In the highly competitive electric vehicle market, consumers are often considering battery range and cost as the two most important factors. The availability of chargers, the cost to use the chargers, and the time it takes to charge the vehicle are also important.
RIvian’s patent may never see the market, but if it could be a key differentiator in the highly competitive EV industry.
RIVN Price Action: Rivian shares are down almost 6% to $19.02 on Tuesday, versus a 52-week range of $15.28 to $71.50.
Photo: Rivian
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