Rivian has kept a relatively low profile since the automotive startup with Midwestern roots launched in 2009. Those days are over. CEO and founder RJ Scaringe unveiled two all-electric vehicles this week at the LA Auto Show that boast some eye-popping battery ranges as well as some noteworthy perfo…
Rivian has kept a relatively low profile since the automotive startup with Midwestern roots launched in 2009.
Those days are over.
CEO and founder RJ Scaringe unveiled two all-electric vehicles this week at the LA Auto Show that boast some eye-popping battery ranges as well as some noteworthy performance and capability features.
Rivian kicked off the week with a reveal of the R1T, a robust-looking 5-passenger electric pickup truck. On Tuesday, Scaringe took it up a notch with the introduction of a 7-seater all-electric SUV.
Rivian is expected to start production of the pickup and SUV in 2020.
Customers will be able to pick from different battery pack configurations. But in the beginning, Rivian will produce vehicles with the highest performance level and heftiest range first — a 180 kilowatt-hour capacity battery pack that can travel 410 miles on a single charge. A 135 kWh-pack will be available at launch as well. A base model equipped with a 105 kWh-battery that gets more than 250 miles of range will follow in 2021, the company said.
Both vehicles share the same”skateboard” architecture, which situates the battery in the middle of the vehicle in the floor. This low and central battery placement, similar to Tesla’s setup, provides that low center of gravity that helps deliver stellar handling on curvy roads.
