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A few weeks ago, we talked about the Amazon-backed electric vehicle startup and the company Rivian sounds confident in its product line. Known as Rivian Automotive, the company will be using a refurbished auto plant in Normal, Illinois to produce the first of its lineup - battery-powered pickups, SUVs, and delivery vans. The current lineup is the R1T for the EV pickup trucks, R1S for electric SUVs, and then Amazon’s commercial delivery vehicles. As the vehicles get closer to release, more details are being revealed on social media and the official Rivian website.
Captured in a recent question on Twitter by a consumer to Rivian, the consumer had pre-ordered the R1S SUV and inquired about the glass roof on the model. This feature isn’t too abnormal – most Jeep SUVs come with a panoramic roof these days. An electric SUV with a glass roof wouldn’t be too far fetched, but Rivian responded with some interesting news.
“We will offer multiple roof styles including electrochromic glass (which turns from opaque to transparent on demand), a fixed glass panel, a two-piece removable composite roof, and a standard fixed roof.”
That is quite the selection of options, and seeing as we mentioned them already, the only other automaker with so many roof options is Jeep. Heck, the Jeep Gladiator pickup truck was once advertised as the only pickup truck with a removable top – it was a Jeep Wrangler with a truck bed after all. Not many vehicles come with a removable roof, and that went double for trucks, but Rivian is joining the fray, and not just with a removable top. That electrochromic glass sounds super fancy. What’s more, as stated on the Rivian website, the R1T is available with an all-glass panoramic roof to really enjoy the night sky. That’s insane but will make for some great star gazing away from the city and the mosquitoes.
If an electric truck has your interest piqued, but you’re unsure about going with an unknown automaker, you’re in luck. Speaking of Jeep, the automaker has promised to release a plug-in hybrid or electric variant of each model in the lineup and has so far made good on that with the Jeep Wrangler 4xe, Renegade 4xe, and Compass 4xe. The Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe has also been spied. General Motors is also throwing its hat in the ring with its upcoming GMC Hummer EV, but that thing won’t be on the market for several more years, whereas the Rivian R1T is already being launched.
When we last spoke of RIvian, the company had just ended its second round of investments, opening the company to allow other investors to get in on the ground floor, as it were. Alongside Amazon were T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Coatue, and D1 Capital Partners. To date, Rivian has earned at least $8 billion in funding for its upcoming EV lineup. With production to ensue soon, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has made some lofty claims on a tight schedule.
“This is a critical year for us as we are launching the R1T, the R1S and the Amazon commercial delivery vehicles…The support and confidence of our investors enables us to remain focused on these launches while simultaneously scaling our business for our next stage of growth.”
Most likely being released for the 2022 model year at the end of 2021, we’ll be looking forward to all the Rivian R1T and R1S has to offer. Like learning about new tech popping up in the auto industry? Follow us on NowCar social media for more automotive tech media feeds.