There are a lot of upcoming or potential all-electric SUVs in the works at the moment. BMW has the iX3, Audi has the e-tron, Mercedes-Benz has the EQC and Tesla is even working on a Model Y, apparently. So there’s certainly a market for these cars. However, there’s one that might shake up the entire segment that’s making its debut at the LA Auto Show — the Rivian R1S.
If you haven’t heard of Rivian, we don’t blame you. Rivian is a very small American startup that’s currently developing two different vehicles; the Rivian R1T and the R1S. The former is an all-electric pickup truck which, while incredibly impressive, doesn’t actually compete with any BMW (BMW won’t even make a gasoline or diesel-powered pickup). Instead, we’re here to talk about the latter, the Rivian R1S SUV.
On paper, the Rivian R1S is extremely impressive. It’s based on what seems to be a ladder frame chassis, similar to that of a regular pickup truck or pickup-based SUV. However, the flat floor is comprised of batteries. Those batteries feed four electric motors that combine to make 750 hp and can rocket the large, seven-seat SUV from 0-60 mph in just three seconds. Holy smokes.
Even more impressive is that Rivian claims the highest-range model to get up to 400 miles of range. And even the smallest-range model packs 260-plus miles. That’s very impressive.
But wait, there’s more. It can also off-road, with impressive approach and breakover angles and a wading depth of up to three feet. So it can genuinely been used as a proper work truck or SUV.
Inside, the Rivian R1S is very nice looking, with a high-tech cabin and tons of practicality. It’s also surprisingly luxurious, making it more of a premium SUV, something to contend with the BMW X5 or even X7, due to its size.
Prices for the Rivian R1S start at $65,000, which isn’t bad considering the Audi e-tron starts at around $75,000, while being much smaller, and the Tesla Model X is even slightly more than the Audi, while being literally too ugly to buy.
Now, Rivian is a very young upstart electric car company. Not many of those succeed. In fact, virtually none of them succeed. Tesla is an exception, not the rule. However, it does have a ton of funding, an MIT graduate owner and a lot of potential. If it can get off the ground, the R1S could threaten the entire industry and completely shake up the SUV segment, not just the electric SUV segment.
The article The Rivian R1S can shake up the all-electric SUV segment appeared first on BMW BLOG
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