rivian R1T electric pickup truck will feature vehicle-to-vehicle charging

update (07/06/2019): rivian ceo RJ scaringe has confirmed that the startup’s R1T electric pickup truck  startup will feature vehicle-to-vehicle charging, allowing owners of the pickup to share power with one another.

images courtesy of rivian

RJ scaringe, ceo of rivian, made the comment in a new interview with the drive:

‘you’re starting to get into the long tail of use cases, but even there we’ve designed the vehicle so you can have auxiliary battery packs. you can also charge rivian-to-rivian, which is a neat thing. you connect the two vehicles and then i could hand you some electrons. that takes us to the limit, and of course you can always find a corner of the world where it won’t work, just like you can’t find a gas station in antarctica. you won’t be able to find a plug in antarctica, so there are natural limitations.’

EV-startup rivian unveiled its all-electric pickup truck last year with 400-miles of range on a single charge and the power to go from 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds. the R1T comes with four small but powerful electric motors which have 147kW power capacity at the wheel and total output can be configured to between 300kW to 562kW. there are a choice of three battery packs – 105 kWh, 130 kWh and 180 kWh. according to rivian this translates to 230+ miles, 300+ miles and 400+ miles on a full charge and an integrated fast charger.

the five-seater pickup truck will adopt the ’skateboard’ chassis design popular among many electric carmakers. this design comprises a layout with the battery back making up most of the floor with motors and suspension attached at the periphery. rivian has opted for a separate motor for each wheel enabling the pickup to do full torque vectoring with independent control for each corner without having to resort to using the brakes or adding electronic clutch packs.

rivian is packed with technology including a 15.6-inch touchscreen display situated in the middle of the dashboard, another 12.3-inch screen replaces physical dials behind the steering wheel and a third 6.8-inch touchscreen is found at the back of the center console. the R1T will launch with a robust hardware suite with multiple modalities including  camera, lidar, radar, ultrasonic and a high precision GPS coupled with high definition maps. this hardware enables ‘level 3’ (hands-off wheel and eyes off road) autonomy for highway operation. beyond the highway level 3, the vehicle will have a range of self-driving features focused on enabling active lifestyles. the company also promises a fully upgradeable platform with over-the-air software updates.

the pickup truck has variable air suspension which can change the ride height by five inches. in off-road mode, the watertight truck will clear over 14 inches so despite it being an electric car it can wade into water a meter deep. other impressive features include three 110-volt power outlets allowing owners to use the truck’s battery for charging other devices. there’s also  a built-in compressed air source for filling bike tires.

rivian has built in some cool security measures which include cables that can be used to secure objects. these cables link to the truck’s digital architecture setting of an alert if they are tampered with. there are also cameras watching the bed that can be used to alert an owner to potential theft. materials used inside the car will be a combination of premium woods and synthetic materials which are said to be durable and hard wearing. prices for the pickup start at $69,000 but reservations can be made now with a $1,000 deposit. it is not expected to be delivered until late 2020.

product info

manufacturer: rivian