State Of Charge has put a Rivian R2 through a 10 to 80 percent fast-charge test that it believes is the first independent run of its kind, and the number came in ahead of the automaker's own claim. Rivian quotes 29 minutes for that window. In this test, the R2 did it in about 27. The host reports a peak of 226 kilowatts and an average of 150 kilowatts across the session on a car with an 88 kilowatt hour pack. The catch is how the R2 gets there: rather than move to an 800 volt system, Rivian kept a 400 volt architecture and pushed the current instead, with the vehicle calling for up to around 630 amps, higher than almost anything else you can buy in North America. The host frames this as the first neutral, independent look at how the R2 actually charges, rather than a number quoted from a spec sheet.
That amperage choice matters more than the headline time. Most EVs top out near 500 amps, so the R2 needs specific hardware to hit its peak, and the video notes that only certain chargers, such as Alpitronic units and the ABB A400 on its CCS connector, can deliver the full current the R2 wants. For a buyer, the practical takeaway is that the 10 to 80 percent figure is the one worth caring about, because that is the realistic road-trip stop. Very few drivers run below 10 percent or sit at a fast charger past 80, so peak kilowatts make for good spec-sheet bragging but rarely change a real journey. On that measure, beating the claim by two minutes is a small but genuine win, even if some rivals still complete the same window quicker.
The host breaks the run into range replenished rather than raw percentages, since the R2 comes with two wheel setups that change the math. The video cites EPA ratings of 307 miles on the 20 inch all-terrain package and 330 miles on the 21 inch all-season tires, and pairs those with its own 70 mile per hour highway result of 264 miles on the all-terrain car. On the charging curve, the video reports the R2 climbed past 200 kilowatts within a minute, held maximum current for the first six minutes to its 226 kilowatt peak around 31 percent, then tapered. In the first ten minutes it added close to 11 miles of range per minute on the EPA basis, dropping to the mid single digits in the second ten as the rate eased. The host also notes a small, normal bump in power near 71 percent, and says about 46.9 kilowatt hours had gone into the pack by the 60 percent mark. State Of Charge flags a hardware caution too: during a separate 0 to 100 percent session, a pin on one CCS-to-NACS adapter melted, which the host attributes to the unusually high current the R2 pulls. The takeaway offered is to be careful with adapters at full amperage, and that a future software update could shave two to three more minutes off the curve. All figures are presented as the channel's own test results.
Bottom line: Rivian made a defensible call here. Skipping 800 volts keeps cost down, and pushing amperage still lands a 27 minute charge that most owners will find perfectly livable. It is not class-leading, and the adapter warning is worth taking seriously if you road trip on mixed hardware. But underpromising and overdelivering on a charge time is the right way to set expectations, and if the hinted software gains land, the R2 gets more competitive without any change to the car itself. Buyers should judge it on the full-window time, not the peak.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.