Rivian has started its career in the best way possible. It only went public when it really had something to show. It got the backup of companies such as Amazon and Ford. Finally, it will start selling flagship vehicles to make money for developing smaller vehicles with a more inviting price tag. When it does that, could it ever sell an R2S? This is what the rendering artist @Theottle thinks it could look like.
The name is derived from Rivian’s current
naming strategy. The R seems to stand for Rivian, the numbers may refer to the
size of the vehicles (or their position in the lineup from top to bottom), and
the final letters refer to the body type: S stands for SUV and T, for truck. So
it would make sense to have an R2S in the near future.
The smaller SUV would ride on the same
platform as the R1S. Rivian never said if it is scalable, but that is probably
the case. As we can see in the image below, the architecture seems to either
have room for a larger battery pack or be reduced for smaller vehicles.RJ
Scaringe already said he has plans to sell Rivian vehicles in China and Europe.
SUVs are very popular in both these markets, which turns the R2S into the most
likely vehicle to make these introductions when the time comes.
Considering Rivian’s vocation for
off-road, we would not expect this future SUV to be powered just by its rear or
front wheels. The independent air suspension would probably give room for a
conventional one, which is much cheaper to produce. When it comes to making a
profit with cars, every penny counts. Now that we know how the smaller Rivian
could look like, we may only wonder when the company will decide to take a step
toward developing and selling it.
