This Is Rivian’s New Electric Seven-Seat SUV

Rivian is a new electric car company with bases in both California and London. Yesterday, we saw its idea of a fully-electric, stupendously powerful pickup truck called the R1T. Today, it has revealed a fully-electric, stupendously powerful SUV called the R1S.

The spec, then, is similar to that pickup truck. Both cars utilise Rivian’s ‘skateboard’ electric platform, which puts the battery, drive units, suspension, braking and thermal system all below the height of each wheel.

And just like the pickup, each wheel gets its own 147kW electric motor for AWD, matched up to your choice of battery size. There’s a 180kWh pack with an estimated 400 miles of range, and a 135kWh battery with 300 miles of range. Later, a smaller 105kWh battery will be offered which provides over 240 miles.

The R1S SUV weighs the same as the pickup – 2,650kg – and the fastest version is the 135kWh battery version. That car – again, like the pickup – does 0-60mph in 3.0 seconds, 0-100mph in under seven and tops out at 125mph. Even the smallest 105kWh battery allows for 0-60mph in under five, so no version is what you’d call ‘slow’.

It gets the same torque vectoring, underbody protection, level 3 autonomy hardware, dynamic roll control, adaptive damping and height-adjustable air suspension, too. The setup of the suspension itself is also the same – double wishbones up front, multi-link at the back.

This one of course, is shorter than the truck. For a guage, it’s roughly the same size as a BMW X7. So yeah, still pretty huge. And that’s because it will offer seven seats, which you can preview via the cutaway image above. Looks big, no?

There’s a 330-litre front boot, and a small tailgate and opening at the rear, with a smaller 180-litre rear bin. Those rearmost seats can also be folded down flat to make it a five seater SUV with slightly more luggage space. Hell, even the second row of seats can be folded down to make it a van.

There’s lots of connectivity as you’d expect, actual wood used in the interior, and many active safety systems all wrapped up into that striking body. While the R1T pickup is scheduled for 2020, this R1S isn’t due until the beginning of 2021.