Rivian’s 3rd vehicle (dubbed as R2R) will be a cross between a crossover and a station wagon!
Rivina CEO RJ Scaringe in 2018 had spoken about building a 'rally car' based vehicle with a high ground clearance, and it seems that the R2R might just be it.
Rivian intends on launching the R2R, which would be the cross birth between the crossover platform and a station wagon. I cannot quite clearly picture it in my head, but knowing Rivian, chances are that the vehicle should look aggressive and quite impressive.
What is particularly interesting is that this could be there most affordable product till date, and this would surely worry Tesla. The R1T was priced at $69,000 and the R1S was available for $72,000, making them seem quite upmarket. The R2R, as per rumours could be priced very competitively, and with its capabilities, it might just one up the Tesla Model 3. Capabilities?
Well, like I said, the R2R is believed to be a ‘rally car’ which would mean it would have tremendous off-road capabilities. Not many SUVs in the EV segment are off-road friendly and this makes the R2R unique. Rivian is known for off-road skills, and this can be proven by the fact that they displayed their R1T, pulling off a zero radius ‘tank turn’, and this was made possible by the powering each wheel of the car with an independent electric motor.
According to sources, the R2R will be utilise a quad motor all wheel drive system, and this system will be powered with a peak horsepower of 500ps. However, any chance of it being launched soon is very unlikely, as Coronavirus has compelled industries all over the world to shut down temporarily.
Because of the pandemic, lives have been lost, the economies are in a fix, and the auto world has seen motor events, and car launches being postponed or cancelled. Rivian was hoping to launch the R1T this year, but they have had to postpone the launch to 2021 as their factory in Normal, Illinois has been temporarily closed.
For now, there is no date which would suggest when the R2R is to be launched, the only thing that is certain is that the R2R exists on paper, and maybe that is enough for now. We as enthusiasts will let our imagination run wild with this scant information and soon, Rivian might provide us with more information. A few auto industries are resuming production in May, and I hope Rivian too manages to do so, because I would surely not want someone like Rivian, who has such exciting products to offer, being left behind.
