Rivian, electric truck and SUV maker, has a $500 million strategic partnership deal with Ford.
A few months ago, Rivian revealed an all-electric pickup and SUV with about 400 mile range. The new vehicles look competitive for electric car maker Tesla and the Model X SUV and Model Y Crossover vehicles. Rivian has been taking $1,000 deposits for the R1T pickup and R1S SUV that will start selling in the fall of 2020.
Rivian has not starting selling their new vehicles. In February, Rivian received $700 million in investment from Amazon. Rivian was talking to GM about partnering but Rivian turned down GM when they required an exclusive arrangement.
Ford will develop a new vehicle using Rivian’s skateboard platform which has batteries and the electric engine. Ford will still develop its own separate electric vehicles.
The Rivian electric drive delivers power and torque through four independent motors — with 200 horsepower available at each wheel. This precise torque control enables active torque vectoring and maximized performance in every situation, from high-speed cornering to low-speed rock crawling.
The Rivian vehicles will have up to 180-kilowatt hours of batteries.
Rivian has six new vehicles that will be ready by 2025. They will all be pickup trucks or SUVs.
The Tesla Model X currently has 75 kwh, 90 kwh and 100 kwh versions. Telsa Model X has ranges from 250 miles to 325 miles.
SOURCES- Rivian, Ford, Tesla
Written by Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com