Your Cart is Empty
With production still two years out, many details remain undetermined. How much range or performance will that “around $45,000” version have? Your guess is as good as ours. How much will the fancy version cost? Same. But Rivian did bring a surprise to today’s R2S unveiling—the R3 and R3X, mid-size crossovers that should bring prices even lower.
Both the R2S, and the R3s (that little s is plural) will be built on a new mid-size platform that may also underpin a hypothetical future R2T mid-size pickup.
The company claims that integrated chassis-battery pack, “Consolidates and eliminates parts thanks to intelligent design,including the use of high pressure die castings, a structural battery unit where the top of the pack also serves as the floor, and closure systems that dramatically reduce complexity.”
Away from headline performance figures and the snazzy looks, that’s actually the most exciting about these vehicles, at this early stage in their development. The platforms underpinning the first generation of electric trucks were often rushed to market, and developed with limited budgets, resulting in a combination of both automated manufacture and by-hand processes that increased weight and complexity, adding cost, reducing performance, and decreasing range. Optimizing this new platform will help Rivian continue to compete, even as more established automakers flood the market with $50,000-ish electric SUVs and crossovers between now and 2026.
Built on that same platform, Rivian says both the R2 and R3s will be available with two sizes of battery pack, single-, dual-, and high performance tri-motor configurations, and fast charging systems that will be compatible with both NACS and CCS standards, bringing a 10 to 80 percent recharge under 30 minutes.
It’s not clear which versions or at what price points this will be available, but the company also mentions a self-driving system that uses 11 cameras, five radars, and a new “more powerful” computer platform, which will “dramatically enhanced autonomous capabilities.”
Tech specs aside, you’re likely reading this because all three of these new vehicles look hella sexy. And Rivian plans to continue that appeal with some novel features. On the R2, all four side windows disappear entirely into the doors, and the glass in the rear hatch drops fully away, just like a 4Runner. Unlike the Toyota, the rear quarter windows also pivot open, creating “a unique open-air driving experience.”
Rivian also says rear seat leg room on all three new vehicles should be ample, rear seats fold flat, and frunks add storage space in addition to the rear hatch.
What about off-road capability? With 32-inch tires (it’s unclear whether those will be standard or optional), the R2S returns angles of 25 degrees for approach, and 27 degrees departure. No breakover is available, but the 115.6-inch wheelbase is 5.5 inches shorter than the R1T. That should give it clearance loosely equivalent to that of a basic 4Runner. Dual- and tri-motor versions will feature all-wheel drive. All that’s to say: the R2S should have no problem on forest service roads and similar.
What’s The Best Rooftop Tent For A Rivian R2S?
At today’s event, a rendering on the R2S’s infotainment screen showed a picture of something the company is referring to as the Rivian Treehouse. This appears to be a canvas rooftop tent housed in a polymer shell, mounted on top of a roof rack.
While all that open air might look appealing at first glance, problems are also immediately apparent. Polymer-shell RTTs eat up all available space on roof racks, and don’t feature the ability to mount accessories to their own shells. So, with the Rivian Treehouse in place, you’ll loose the ability to mount lights, awnings, recovery gear, or roof boxes, and won’t be able to use the roof to carry large objects like canoes, bikes, or kayaks. Something that large, mounted so high up on top of a roof rack, is also going to take eat a giant chunk or range at highway speeds, while adding a really undesirable amount of wind noise, which will be especially apparent inside an EV'ss otherwise quiet cabin.
TheGoFastCampers Platform RTT replaces the roof rack with a stronger, more versatile roof rack that’s also a rooftop tent. It’ll sit lower on the vehicle, resulting in lower noise and less lost range, and give you the ability to permanently mount stuff like lights, awnings, and radio antennas, without sacrificing the ability to put a boat or a box on the roof. Oh, and you can mount solar panels underneath its crossbars, so all the above works even while recharging your camp batteries, too.
And, because it opens with up to 75 pounds on the roof, you won’t even need to spend 15 minutes unloading all your gear, then unfurling a complicated canvas contraption every time you're ready to set up or take down camp. Without the need to purchase both a rack, and a tent, the GFC should save you money, weight, and hassle, too.
