To reduce costs without sacrificing the driving experience, Rivian has introduced its next-generation R1S and R1T electric cars.
There is no denying Rivian’s need to reduce expenses. Presently, the carmaker loses almost $36,000 on each vehicle it ships.
In Q4, which is quickly approaching, the company has advised turning it into a slightly positive gross margin. Rivian has been approaching this issue from many different angles, including renegotiating with suppliers, but the biggest impact is expected to come with this redesigned next-gen version of the R1 platform.
From a design perspective, the vehicles are fairly similar, with mostly a few new design accents, like beautiful new plaid accents throughout the vehicles, updated front and back lighting, and many UI changes.
The new module design, along with the electronics system, have been updated for better efficiency and easier manufacturability.
Rivian commented: New Large and Max battery packs have redesigned modules and more efficient packaging, making them easier to manufacture and service, while offering up to an estimated 420 miles of range.
The company also has a new module design for its Standard pack that now allows the use of LFP battery cells. Rivian is talking about an EPA-estimated 270 miles of range for this new pack.
The company brought more motor design and manufacturing in-house, allowing for a more efficient packaging and implementation in its vehicles.
Rivian wrote about its new drive units: The new R1 platform offers more power, performance, and range, thanks to a Rivian-designed and built drive unit offered in Tri-Motor and Quad-Motor configurations. The 1,025 horsepower Quad-Motor R1T delivers 0-60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds and a staggering 1,198lb ft of torque when using Launch Mode.A Rivian-built Dual-Motor is available as well. These motors are now designed, engineered, and manufactured fully in-house.
These new motors and batteries enabled an insane 2.5 seconds 0-60 time for the R1T quad motor. I managed to do a 2.7 seconds run on a drag strip last week, but some people were able to get 2.5:
The Rivian R1T second-gen accelerates to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds with the quad motor config.
Either way, it is insane for a pickup truck and enough to snap your neck back.
Where Rivian made some of the biggest improvements are in its electrical architecture and compute platform.
The company went from 17 ECUs found in first-generation vehicles down to 7 in this new one. The automaker plans to release increasingly more advanced driver-assist features, starting with autonomous lane changes, but it expects that its hardware suite will enable up to level 3 autonomous driving in the future.
One of the rare design changes to the next-generation R1 is the lighting system. For example, the automaker updated its lighting to communicate the charging state with this new design:
The new architecture allowed Rivian to remove 1.6 miles (2.6km) of wiring from each vehicle.