Startup electric-vehicle maker Rivian has made the online configurator live for its upcoming R1T pickup and R1S SUV, allowing customers to build their “Electric Adventure Vehicles” at https://rivian.com/. Beginning on November 16th, pre-order holders could access, and on November 23rd the company will open ordering to the general public. U.S. customers can reserve a special, limited-volume Launch Edition configuration. R1T deliveries start in June 2021 and R1S in August 2021. Canadian deliveries for both vehicles will begin in November 2021.
Customers can choose color, interior, battery range, wheels, and tires—and even add a camp kitchen. There are also updates on new features, pricing, and equipment packages. The Launch Edition has special interior badging, an optional Launch Green color, and is equipped with a 300+ mi (482+ km) battery pack, premium Adventure package, and select upgraded wheels and tires at no additional cost.
Starting U.S. prices for the Launch Editions are $75,000 for R1T and $77,500 for the R1S, both with 300+ mi driving ranges. The Adventure Package vehicles start at the same price, while Explore Package vehicles begins lower at $67,500 for the R1T and $70,000 for the R1S. Delivery for non-Launch vehicles will commence in January 2022.
Funding help
Rivian was founded in 2009 by its high-profile Chief Executive Officer, RJ Scaringe, who led the company through the initial tough economic climate of the time to later secure substantial financing to scale and establish the company’s product and technology platform. He earned his MS and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the research team in the Sloan Automotive Laboratory.
He now leads a Rivian team of more than a 2000 people in developing vehicles, technology, and services in Plymouth, MI; San Jose and Irvine, CA; Vancouver, Canada; and Surrey, England. As with many startup OEMs, some of the top product execs hail from other established automakers. Rivian’s include Nick Kalayjian, who spent more than a decade at Tesla, as Executive Vice President of Engineering; Matt Horton, former CCO of electric bus maker Proterra, as Executive Vice President, Energy and Charging Solutions; Georgios Sarakakis, who hails from Tesla, Apple, and Waymo, as Executive Vice President of Reliability Engineering; and Charly Mwangi, a former Tesla engineer, as Executive Vice President of Manufacturing Engineering. Charles Sanderson is Chief Engineer; Brian Gase is Chief Engineer – Special Projects; and Noe Mejia runs Rivian’s Service Operations.
The company will produce vehicles at its revamped 2.6 million ft² (0.2 million m²) plant in Normal, IL, a former Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plant.
A bed-load of investment has funded the growth and talent acquisition.
For the latest investment announced in July 2020, Rivian closed a round of $2.5 billion led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. The investment will support “Rivian’s innovative and talented team as they now prepare to deliver their groundbreaking products that help shift to a carbon-neutral planet,” said Joe Fath, portfolio manager of T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund.
Participants in this investment round include Soros Fund Management LLC, Coatue, Fidelity Management and Research Co., and Baron Capital Group. Existing shareholders Amazon and funds managed by BlackRock also participated.
“We are focused on the launch of our R1T, R1S and Amazon delivery vehicles,” said Scaringe. “With all three launches occurring in 2021, our teams are working hard to ensure our vehicles, supply chain and production systems are ready for a robust production ramp up.”
The latest investment announcement is Rivian’s first in 2020. It follows a number of announcements in 2019, with a $700 million funding round led by Amazon in February; a Ford Motor Co. investment of $500 million in April; and a Cox Automotive for $350 million in September. The last one also includes exploration of partnership opportunities in service operations, logistics, and digital retailing.
Also, in September 2019 Rivian announced it was developing an electric delivery van for Amazon using its skateboard platform, with 100,000 ordered for deliveries starting in 2021.
Equipment packages
The R1T and R1S Adventure and Explore packages use the same basic drivetrain and chassis tech, with quad-motor drive, independent air suspension, active damping, and electrohydraulic roll control. They also feature a panoramic all-glass roof, 4G and WiFi capabilities, 6 USB ports, 4 110-V outlets, and Amazon Alexa voice control.
The Adventure Package (included in the Launch Edition) comes standard with an off-road upgrade featuring a reinforced underbody shield and on-board air compressor. In the R1T, that package adds bed functionality including a powered tonneau cover and the Gear Guard remote-monitoring system. It also features a premium interior with heated and cooled perforated “vegan leather” seats, natural-grained ash wood throughout the cabin, and an immersive Elevation 360° audio system with removable Bluetooth speaker.
With the Explore Package, the sport interior features matte black finishes throughout the cabin with heated “performance-stitched” vegan leather seating, a surround sound audio system, and a manual tonneau cover that can be stored in the Gear Tunnel.
While every R1T and R1S at launch comes with the 300+ mi pack, the R1T with a 400+ mi (643+ km) pack will be available starting in January 2022. Following start of production, a longer range R1S with both five- and seven-passenger seating will be announced as will a 250+ mi (402+ km), lower-priced R1T and R1S.
Clean designs
While the R1T pickup and R1S SUV share much of their designs, one of the main body lines of the R1T wraps up and around the cab to highlight the lateral cutline for the Gear Tunnel, the unique cross-vehicle storage space between cab and bed. Both vehicles feature short overhangs, high ground clearance, and aggressive approach and departure angles—enabled by the skateboard platform. Wading depth is more than 3 ft (0.9 m). Signature design elements are the “stadium” headlights and a daytime running light that extends the entire width of the vehicle.
The R1T is 218 in (5537 mm) long, the R1S 202 in (5130 mm). The wheelbase is 135 in (3429 mm) for the R1T and 121 in (3073 mm) for the R1S. Both are and 72 in (1828 mm) tall and 79 in (2006 mm) wide, with side mirrors folded, and share maximum ground clearance of 14.4 in (365 mm).
Rivian says the interior is intended to be a premium environment, convey craftsmanship, but invite rugged, daily use. Sustainably sourced wood is used throughout and as a structural element that integrates the main center display and driver cluster. In high-wear areas, materials take inspiration from sportswear and active gear, combining durability and easy cleaning.
“The biggest challenge was creating an interior design that delivered a premium experience, while still being comfortable as a space that is heavily used,” said Head of Design Jeff Hammoud. “To do this, we looked outside the automotive industry and took inspiration from contemporary furniture, as well as hiking and outdoor gear, to drive the design.”
Rivian claims the vehicles’ architecture delivers more lockable storage—68 ft³ (1925 L)—than any other vehicle in their respective segments. They share a 330-L (11-ft³) front trunk that measures 25.4 in (645 mm) front to back, 54.8 in (1391 mm) wide, and 22.7 in (576 mm) deep. It is easily accessed with a hood powered for opening and closing.
The R1T’s lockable Gear Tunnel extends across the vehicle and provides more than 350 L (12.3 ft³) of space for hauling oversized gear such as snowboards, golf bags, or strollers. Its doors act as steps for loading items into the bed or onto the roof.
The R1T pickup’s bed measures 51 in (1295 mm) wide and 54 in (1371 mm) long with tailgate up and 83.8 in (2128 mm) with the tailgate down. It features three 110-V outlets and an integrated compressed air. A watertight tonneau covers the bed. Two integrated locking cables safely secure bicycle frames and other gear to the bed. The Gear Guard feature, which monitors the bed, uses a camera to alert owners of content tampering. Beneath the bed floor is a 200-L (7.1-ft³) sealed bin that can also be used to store a full-size spare tire.
The rear of the R1S SUV features a liftgate and a small tailgate that provides an area to sit. The second- and third-row seats fold flat for more storage, with a maximum of 108 ft³ (3058 L).
A system with telescoping racks and mounts attaches to the roof of either vehicle, as well as the bed rails and bed floor of the R1T. The racks integrate with a range of accessories including tents, travel containers, and bike/ski racks. When not in use, the racks can be easily stored in the front trunk.
Skateboard power
The Rivian pickup and SUV were first shown at 2018 LA Auto Show.
“I started Rivian to deliver products that the world didn’t already have—to redefine expectations through the application of technology and innovation,” said Scaringe, at the time. His team started with a clean sheet “to deliver the ideal vehicle for active customers. This means having great driving dynamics on any surface on- or off-road, providing cargo solutions to easily store any type of gear, whether it’s a surf board or a fishing rod and, very importantly, being capable of driving long distances on a single charge.”
The foundation of both vehicles is Rivian’s skateboard platform, which houses the battery pack, drive units, suspension, braking, and thermal system all below the height of the wheel. The architecture has a low center of gravity for vehicle agility and stability, further enhanced by a sophisticated suspension with front unequal-length double wishbones and rear multi-links. The suspension features dynamic roll control, adaptive dampers, and height adjustment for an air suspension for highway comfort, on-road performance, or off-road capability.
The quad-motor electric drive delivers 147 kW to each wheel. Active torque vectoring, for high-speed cornering to low-speed rock crawling, controls 3500 N·m (2581 lb·ft) of “grounded torque” per wheel—14,000 N·m (10,325 lb·ft) for the full vehicle. The combination eables 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) and 0-100 mph (0-160 km/h) acceleration in 3 s and less than 7 s, respectively. Maximum tow ratings are 11,000 lb (4990 kg) for the R1T and 7700 lb (3492 kg) for the R1T.
Three battery sizes are planned, with the 180- and 135-kW·h packs available at launch and a 105-kW·h version to be made available within six months. The battery is designed for fast charging, with rates of up to 160 kW enabling about 200 mi (321 km) of range to be added in 30 min of charging. In addition to DC fast-charging, an 11-kW onboard charger facilitates rapid Level 2 charging.
Rivian’s energy-dense battery module and pack incorporate tough underbody protection and an advanced cooling system. Adaptive control algorithms learn driver behavior, optimizing user-specific battery management for maximizing battery life, reliability, and second-life reusability.
Connectivity and digital experience
Rivian developed its connected car platform to allow for flexibility of the hardware, software, and user experience. The platform operates on a high-speed Ethernet backbone that enables robust security. It supports “granular” over-the-air updates of vehicle software to enhance functionality and improve performance.
Understanding its customers desire for “connected adventure,” Rivian developed maps, music, navigation, and other adventure-focused features. The digital user interface reflects “adventure, outdoors, and exploration.”
The full digital experience for vehicle status and control is enabled by mobile/web applications and a cloud ecosystem for data exchange and processing enabled by machine learning and data services. The in-vehicle experience consists of a 15.6-in center touch screen, 12.3-in instrument cluster, and a 6.8-in rear touch screen.
The standard Driver+ hands-free advanced driver assistance system gets continually improving functionality through those over-the-air updates. The ADAS will automatically steer, adjust speed, and change lanes on select highways at launch. More road types will be introduced through over-the-air updates.
Driver+ is powered by two redundant compute platforms, 12 ultrasonic sensors, 10 exterior cameras, 5 radars, high-precision GPS, and an interior camera for driver alertness monitoring. Rivian promises that the hardware package and all Driver+ enhancements will be provided over-the-air at no expense.
Rivian’s safety systems and body structure are designed to deliver IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) Top Safety Pick Plus and the U.S. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) five-star ratings. Safety features include eight airbags for occupant protection and reinforcements of the skateboard platform to protect the battery.
Other electric pickup reads…
