Third Rivian vehicle to be rally-like with bananas performance

Discussion in 'Rivian' started by Domenick, Dec 5, 2018.

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  1. Looks like Rivian has a 3rd vehicle on its drawing boards. Apparently, this will be their interpretation of a rally car. Lifted, with crazy performance.

    Sounds very (very!) interesting. :)
     
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  3. Chuck in Boston

    Chuck in Boston New Member

    When are you coming out with a compact version for us weekend warriors
     
  4. To be clear, we are not affiliated with Rivian, so "we" won't be coming out with a vehicle. :)

    Rivian, though, has said it would do this "rally-like" car after it produces the pickup truck and SUV. There's still so much that has to happen before we get to that stage that any guess now is likely to be wrong. But, I'm used to being wrong, so I say 2022. :D
     
  5. Chuck in Boston

    Chuck in Boston New Member

    I certainly hope you are correct. Anything we can do to push the compact version?
     
  6. Outside of investing a few hundred million in the company, I think they'll probably try to stick to their production schedule as it stands. While the car is definitely an attractive proposition (to me, at least), the highest sales and margins will be found in the two lead vehicles. So, to properly ground the company financially, it makes sense to start there.

    Of course, it sure wouldn't hurt to voice your opinion about the car to them on their social channels -- Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Hopefully, we won't have to wait long to see what they have in mind.
     
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  8. Max Solo

    Max Solo New Member

    Betting on cars for an active lifestyle, in my opinion, is not the best idea. I would prefer a small sedan to advance in the global market. But this is not so easy to do. Giant companies are throwing tremendous effort into basic products. Companies need originality, competitive price, and aggressive marketing.
     
  9. The thing trying to build a company around a small sedan is there's not a lot of profit in them. So, to be successful, you would need a huge amount of scale right out of the box. And, because of the current cost of batteries, it's extremely difficult to build a small sedan that can compete price-wise with what's on the market already. Then, there is the matter of the market shifting away from sedans.

    I had reservations about the "adventure" niche, but have come around to think it's a pretty smart play. If the vehicles live up to the expectations of the first bunch of owners, it creates a halo around the brand that will help it command premium pricing. Their orders with Amazon and Ford help them build scale for battery cell contracts and shared components. I think they can be making healthy margins in a relatively short time.

    And just to bring this around to the original topic, this helps prepare the ground for the 3rd Rivian vehicle: a rally-type car with bananas performance. This would be, one would imagine, more affordable than the truck and SUV, which would help with overall market penetration.

    Really looking forward to seeing the design of this thing.
     
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  10. Max Solo

    Max Solo New Member

    Together with the van - this will be the fourth model from the company. Perhaps the company is finding a niche where it will be comfortable. I did not mean that this is a mistake. But it would be great if the company had a basic sedan model for a great battle with other corporations.
     
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  11. EyeOnEVs

    EyeOnEVs New Member

    FWIW, RJ and others at Rivian have said they plan on coming out with 5 EVs by 2025. We know two of them, R1T and R1S. Then there was some rumblings of a rally car but I have not heard anything about that in quite some time (at least a year) but I could have easily missed anything more recent. While talking to a Rivian team lead at the Normal, IL event last October I had asked if they had any plans for a larger bed size version of the R1T (not for me but I read people commenting all the time about how the R1T bed size is too small). The response was not only ''no" but actually in the other direction - smaller versions of the R1T and R1S. Whether that pans out, who knows.

    Considering Rivan's preference to work in stealth mode regarding new vehicles, it will probably be quite a while before we hear any official announcements from Rivian. However, keep in mind, Rivian really doesn't make announcements of "concept" vehicles (straight from RJ's mouth) but instead reveal a fully functioning prototype like they did with the R1T and R1S at the LA Auto Show back in Nov of 2018.
    Here's a recent example I could find (video link should take you to 13:15 mark into the video)

     
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  13. Thanks for sharing this. The 5-vehicle thing had somehow escaped me, and I don't recall hearing about a smaller truck and SUV.
    A smaller crossover makes sense, since it could be more affordable/achievable for buyers. A smaller pickup is riskier unless the price delta to the large one is significant. Truck makers stopped making smaller trucks at one point becaue of low margins and it wasn't much of a stretch for most buyers to just go full-size. They've, of course, started with mid-sizes again, but I think they're a bit disappointed in the sales numbers.
     

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