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Rivian Electric Truck Spotted Doing Some Serious Off-Roading
SEP 27 2018 BY STEVEN LOVEDAY 39
InsideEVs has happened upon some new, exclusive spy shots of Rivian’s upcoming electric truck and it’s pretty sweet.
Rivian Automotive has been sort of lurking in the depths of vehicle development for a number of years. Ever since we were apprised of the company and its plans, we have been covering it as much as possible. Sadly, there hasn’t been that much information to share. But, that’s about to change drastically, and very soon, as Rivian is set to show the world its products.
Related Rivian Automotive Coverage:
In the meantime, we’ve been fortunate to receive some interesting spy shots from time to time. This latest round suggests that Rivian is testing the upcoming pickup truck off the pavement. If you really dissect the photos and look closely, it’s pretty clear that the trucks employ an adjustable and adaptive air suspension. Take a look at the spy shots and notice the varying ride heights. And is that quad motors we see there, too?
Of course, this is all speculative until the reveal, but our trained eyes don’t miss much.
We can’t stress enough how excited we are that the world’s first all-electric pickup truck and sizable, highly-capable SUV are coming soon!
What do you think? Please leave us your valuable insight in the comment section below.
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Categories: Spy Photos, Trucks
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39 Comments on "Rivian Electric Truck Spotted Doing Some Serious Off-Roading"
At last a pick up that doesn’t ‘roll coal’!
Very happy to see this and wish them well.
Cool, I wonder if it will be waterproof up to wheel wells.
We really do need to start seeing some ev pick-ups out there in big numbers, though it may take some time, as the legacy makers want to extend the model life of the ICE pick-up for a s long as possible, so it will have to come from outside, of their bailiwick, which is problematic since imported trucks get hit with huge tariffs already, like 25%.
So Rivian is made in the states which will help, but what are their production capabilities?
Perhaps this will be a way to raise cash to build more production. Anyway good luck to them.
They own a former Mitsubishi factory in Illinois, which I believe came with a good deal of equipment.
Ah, thanks. I just was wondering because I couldn’t find projections numbers of evs they plan to build, and when, they plan to build them. .
Mitsubishi factory didn’t have leftover battery manufacturing equipment. Rivian will still be limited supply side by 3rd party battery manufacturers
Just like former Toyota Fremont didn’t have leftover battery manufacturing equipment.
So Tesla went to Panasonic and still does.
Only Nissan built their own cells and they are getting out of that business.
One of the big issues with Pickups is the massive requirements for batteries. Don’t be surprised if in future we have F150/1500 series trucks with 300kWh batteries. The Riven probably has at least 150kWh and probably only does 300 miles – fine for people in town, but not so much for people that actually use trucks for what theyre intended (towing/hauling)..
I hope I’m wrong though. But I’m expecting a $100k truck with 150kWh and a 300 mile range (100 miles towing).
Rivian has stated in the past the base price will be 50k with options above that going up to 450 mile range. So won’t be surprised to see pricing all the way to 90k or so.
Presumably $50k will be something like a 70kWh battery though, which will probably provide somewhere in the range of 150 miles (the far more aerodynamic Model X 75D does 235 miles). Practical for some localised fleets, but certainly not something many people would buy.
At a guess the 450 mile range will have something like a 200kWh+ battery. If those are both right then their battery prices need to be at or less than Teslas for them to make a profit.
Hopefully I’m being pessimistic as I’d love a 450 mile truck for $50k
Engadget have a lot more information on the vehicle from a visit to the factory earlier this year.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/21/rivian-ev-truck-suv-detroit/
I was a little pessimistic above but not by much. They suggest more a Honda Ridgeline size vehicle than an F150 (perhaps explaining the short box extended cab, which isn’t a common option at all, in fact it’s not even available any more). The size difference perhaps explains the price and efficiency over above.
80kWh with a 200 mile range, for around $50k which extrapolates to a 180kWh battery for the 450 mile $90k version…
And a 3.5ft wading depth, which puts it in the Landcrusier and Range Rover wading depth ballpark, which is apparently what they’re aiming to compete against.
Which is a shame for those of us that want a full sized truck and the towing/hauling capabilities they bring. That descriptions probably means an 8,000lb towing capacity and a hauling capacity of around 1000lb, if the thing fits into the bed (presumably looking at a 5.5′ box or smaller).
Have to be bigger than that. Consider the range of the Tesla S with 100kWh, a lighter, far more aerodynamic vehicle.
Rivian said $50k-$100k. GM,Ford,and FCA trucks go up to $100k these days.
BTW Capacity at Normal Illinois Mitsubishi factory was 240k cars per year.
the I Pace has a 50cm wading depth which means there’s no reason they couldn’t wade to their wheel depths if designed properly. Probably worth noting that unmodified domestic pickups shouldn’t be waded past the hubs (so around 14″) because they don’t have diff breather tubes so anything better than that is an improvement! International pickups and 4×4’s have much deeper wading depths (in the order of 2-4ft).
OMG, you California city boys crack me up! This is light trail riding, not serious off-roading 😉
None the less, I very much appreciate the update.
The big news here is that there as two suspension designs being tested. The truck on the left has a much better suspension design for a truck. Still need to see how it manages the lack of articulation compared to a live axle, especially with a 1000lb load (like a 2 seat ATV and two adults) – I’ll remain hopefully optimistic.
We should note that Rivian is trying to license their platform. One possible reason for these different suspensions and Ford bodies could be that Ford is considering using the Rivian platform. Might be a stretch but fingers crossed, as I’d much rather buy from Ford with their extensive support network, especially outside of big cities.
Haha! Missing the driveway and hitting the lawn is serious off-roading for 95% of the trucks and SUVs in the states.
Where are the pictures showing this tackling the Darién Gap? 😀
Go to West Virginia it the mid west. A lot of boys like to go muddling and off road with trucks
Yes sad but true trucks in the US are largely fashion accessories….
Speed bumps are some serious 4 x 4 ing…
A lot of trucks are actually 2wd. You can option most out versions in either a 2wd or 4wd depending on what you want a truck for.
Ford should buy them.
Me too
I particularly love the dedicated road tyres on the first truck. The second has a better set of tyres though. It also looks like the first truck has a different chassis, not just suspension, it looks thinner/higher than the other truck, which may well be the one seen in the last spy shots? Much better ground clearance.
And agreed, would much prefer a Ford EV truck than one from a manufacturer with almost no service network, although I still have my doubts that the first generation of EV pickups will be anything but road warrior/city cowboy vehicles. Got to start somewhere I suppose.
I’ll be waiting for the truck that can do 300 miles in -30 or with a large load in the back unfortunately.
It seems pretty clear to me that Rivian isn’t planning on building the whole truck. At least for now. My guess is, they offer their chassis and drive train to the OEMs to put their bodies on. They likely will also offer conversions for individual customers. You bring them your truck and they make it electric.
Not a dumb idea and a good way to get the company off the ground without enormous capital outlay. In addition, these chassis could be used for commercial delivery vehicles, utility vehicles, or as RVs with other companies finishing the body.
Their website shows then working on a buck – that was up a couple months ago.
It seems that they will build the whole vehicle but want to share the platform to recoup investment / take advantage of economies of scale
Interesting they choose to use an IRS on their truck. I’m curious to see what the hauling and towing numbers look like.
It just a joy to see them quietly going about their business of development.
Wishing this group the best going forward. That area of Illinois could definitely use the jobs their manufacturing will create.
If they don’t kill them with taxes first.
Good luck to them.
These pickups scream of the Ford Blue Oval.
😛
Makes you wonder whether Rivian is building something from the ground up or buying gliders from Ford.
Body on frame is incredibly easy to put any body on, so it might simply be a way to test Rivian’s frame. Rivian is making the “glider” (frame) here, but possible they could work with someone else for the cab.
I still say it would be cheaper to buy slightly used F150s and gut them for use as mules, rather than pay Ford for new gliders. Especially cheap if they can find a few in salvage yards which have ruined engines.
Unless you’re looking at old trucks you’re not going to find many in salvage yards with just ruined engines. They’re pretty reliable anyway and the cost of a new engine is a few thousand. You’re not going to be writing off many perfectly good $40k+ truck because the engine went pop.
Almost all 2015+ vehicles will be in salvage yards because of major structural/body issues or things like flooding. All of which would make they useless for this application.
Test mule. You can look at the battery underneath
They at least black out the logo before getting sued
.
Yeah, the “Ford” logo wasn’t blacked out on the last spy photos IEVs ran, altho I question that anybody would get sued over leaving the original badge on a test mule, so long as the company (Rivian in this case) doesn’t use the mule in publicity photos.
And the fact that the logo is blacked out here… makes me question that these are actually “spy photos”. Possibly these are deliberately leaked photos from Rivian’s publicity department?
Nice
Sweet! Congratulations to IEVs on this scoop! And how wonderful to see more Rivian news, despite the company being in stealth mode! (Or at least it was… are these photos part of a sign that it’s emerging?)
Quad motors? Well, that’s interesting to see in a prototype, but I’ll be surprised if the production pickup has that configuration. Several EV makers in the past have made prototypes with 4 in-wheel motors, but nearly always the production version had normal inboard motors. My guess is that we’ll see the same from Rivian, altho of course it’s possible that Rivian has different ideas! 🙂
Put the motor inboard and you may have to place it lower in the body (i.e. where the differentials normally are). Do that and you lose that 14″ of ground clearance they are claiming – the standard 4×4 F150 is just under 10″ at the diff, and around 12-14″ elsewhere. May as well go for a solid rear axle if you’re going with just one motor at the back too, less good for comfort, but better off road and for load carrying.
Looks like they put a Ford F150 body on a Rivian chassis:
https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/