Rivian R1S, R1T Enduro winter testing in NZ

ELECTRIC vehicle manufacturer Rivian has taken to New Zealand’s Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds (SHPG) for important winter testing of its R1S Enduro SUV and R1T pick-up, 

Spotted testing on and around the South Island’s high-altitude test facility outside of Queenstown and Wanaka, the electric models are understood to be in the final stages of cold-weather testing ahead of the start of sales in Europe early next year.

These will be Rivian’s first production models with dual-motor drivetrains developed in-house, in contrast to the first batch of quad-motor models that relied heavily on components and expertise bought in from Bosch.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe shared images of the vehicles being tested in snowy conditions on social media, confirming that the models undergoing winter testing were packing the new Enduro drivetrain.

According to previous statements from Rivian, the R1S and R1T will be offered in both left- and right-hand drive.

The US-based manufacturer’s chief engineer, Brian Gase, said the models’ underpinnings are designed such that moving the steering assembly and primary controls from one side of the all-electric vehicle to the other is easier than with a combustion-powered car.

Mr Gase said that development of both configurations was happening simultaneously, making both a good fit for the Australian market.

“The truck makes sense in the Australian market. We see significant value, particularly with the SUV in right-hand drive markets, and we've commonised everything on the vehicles forward of the B-pillar, so by default, getting a right-hand drive truck is a low barrier, because I've got a right-hand drive,” said Mr Gase.

Rivian says the R1S and R1T can produce up to 588kW from quad electric motors, which should see them capable of accelerating from standstill to 100km/h in less than three seconds – while also being able to tow up to 5000kg. Battery packs range from 105kWH to 180kWh translating to a realistic driving range of between 400km and 650km respectively.

With significant investment from Amazon ($A980m) and Ford Motor Company ($A500m), Rivian was originally meant to launch its R1S and R1t in late 2020, but faced delays familiar to the wide automotive industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The delays caused Rivian to up the asking price of its unrelased models at the start of this year, adding over $US12,000 ($A16,300) to the asking price of entry-grade variants. Rivian reversed its decision to apply a price increase to customers with existing orders shortly after the announcement was made and customers cancelled their orders en masse.

GoAuto understands that Rivian is currently only offering its most expensive quad motor R1S and R1T variants for sale and will offer more affordable dual motor variants in due course.

According to Rivian’s US online configurator, the quad motor all-wheel drive R1T Explore (base derivative) is now priced from $US79,500 ($A107,800) with the 314-mile (505km) long-range battery pack or $US89,500 ($A121,400) with the 400-mile (640km) Max battery pack.

The high-spec R1T Adventure’s pricing now starts at $US73,000 ($A98,990) and increases to $US85,000 ($A115,260) and $US95,000 ($A128,800) with the same respective changes.

As for the R1S electric SUV, the quad motor all-wheel drive Explore entry model is priced from $US84,500 ($A114,600), while the top-grade R1T Adventure jumps to $US90,000 ($US122,045).

Rivian made headlines last November when it listed on the Nasdaq; at the close of the opening day of trading, Rivian was the sixth most valuable carmaker with a valuation of just under $US100 billion ($A135.6 billion).

The company has since been plagued by production delays that have seen its stock price fall by more than 60 per cent.