Rivian invited us to come back up and drive its new tri-motor “R1 Tri” spec car by way of the hills of Malibu. Right here’s what we thought concerning the drive.
The occasion was out of Rivian’s Venice Area, which was exhibiting off the R2 and R3X as a part of its R2 tour. But it surely additionally hosted auto journalists for a drive of the R1 Tri up PCH and thru the famously snaky roads within the hills above Malibu, CA, and a roundtable dialogue with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe (which we’ve posted some insights from, concerning the VW/Rivian partnership and Rivian’s soon-to-be-open Journey Community).
The brand new tri-motor Rivian, which Rivian is solely calling the R1 Tri, is a mid-spec addition to its post-refresh product line. It sits between the bottom mannequin twin motor and the higher-spec quad motor (Rivian has had a quad-motor earlier than, however lower that choice when it introduced motor improvement in-house, although it can return in 2025), occupying what one engineer advised us is a “Goldilocks” place – not an excessive amount of, not too little.
Though “not an excessive amount of” is relative right here, as a result of the Tri nonetheless gives a whopping 850 horsepower – which is greater than, properly, absolutely anything. It is probably not as a lot because the 1,025hp Quad Max, coming in 2025, which shattered information at Pike’s Peak, however 850 remains to be loads of go-go-go.
That’s sufficient to deliver you from 0-60 in 2.9 seconds, together with the debut of Launch Mode to assist drivers coax most efficiency out of their car. Launch mode will monitor your occasions, prime velocity, g-forces, and even seize your launch with the car’s cameras (since we have been on public roads shared with site visitors and cyclists, we didn’t take a look at this). It additionally makes use of Rivian’s cute “Gear Guard” mascot for a enjoyable animation.
The Tri works with 1 motor in entrance and a pair of within the rear, which suggests you might have extra management on the rear with two motors which are capable of work independently of one another. This might come up in off-road conditions with troublesome traction, and likewise gives efficiency advantages when it comes to torque vectoring on the axle that does a lot of the work throughout acceleration.
We drove the R1T truck, and in our drive on these slim roads above Malibu, there wasn’t a variety of alternative to actually stretch out that 850hp, at the very least not in a authorized or secure method. However we by no means felt even the slightest bit starved for energy, zipping up hills and carrying the ~7,000lb curb weight together with us.
For such a big and heavy truck, the R1T was however impressively nimble. When the truck was in my co-driver’s fingers, the rear finish did really feel jumpy a couple of occasions when going over barely bumpy components of the street – maybe a special suspension mode might need helped with this.
Whereas we tried a number of of the modes out there, there are such a lot of permutations of drive mode, suspension stiffness, journey top, steering response, regen mode and so forth that it might in all probability take a while to actually dial within the automobile to make it really feel precisely such as you need. I’m typically not an enormous fan of various drive modes, although for some issues like suspension and journey top it is sensible.
By way of battery, the Tri comes outfitted with Rivian’s Max dimension battery pack, which provides it 371 miles of vary. Rivian says you possibly can push this to 405 miles in “preserve” mode, however as common, your mileage could range.
These vary numbers are each predicated on utilizing street tires. Rivian additionally gives all-terrain tires with extra off-road versatility, however these include a penalty to effectivity, reducing vary to 329 miles.
The Tri comes alongside the debut of Rivian’s new “Ascend” trim degree, an inside with premium supplies all through and a few extra new options, over and above the tons of of adjustments that Rivian made alongside this yr’s Gen 2 refresh.
For now all Tris will are available Ascend trim, which incorporates Rivian Premium Audio, an upgraded 960 watt Dolby Atmos sound system, a darkout package deal that replaces chrome badges with darker-colored ones, a 150PSI air compressor with a hose that may attain all 4 tires, and Rivian’s dynamic glass roof which turns into electrochromically opaque on the faucet of a button if you wish to block the solar.
The inside felt lots snug and clearly spacious for on a regular basis we have been in it, although it’s not as immediately comfort-oriented as a number of the different giant EVs we’ve tried, just like the Volvo EX90 and the Hyundai Ioniq 9 (the latter was an idea inside, although).
The Rivian nonetheless will get factors for being exceptionally utilitarian although, with loads of pockets and storage areas all through. That is one motive why Rivian excels in buyer satisfaction, as a result of it’s simply such a simple car to use.
Ultimately, the R1 Tri doesn’t revolutionize something about what Rivian was already doing, however simply provides an alternative choice for house owners who need extra energy and functionality… and are prepared to pay further for it.
The brand new R1 Tri-Motor is on the market now, with R1T beginning at $99,900 and R1S beginning at $105,900 at Rivian.com. Deliveries of stock automobiles look to have a 1-6 week lead time at present, so needs to be out there by the tip of the yr – however customized configurations are quoted with a 8-12 week lead time, and thus appear unlikely that they’ll ship by the tip of the yr.
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