No way, the name says it all. Even though Rivian produces its electric cars in a place called Normal, pretty much nothing is normal at this American car manufacturer, which no one knows whether to call it a start-up or already part of the new elite. On the one hand, in rural Illinois they build barely more than 50,000 cars a year and supposedly burn $40,000 on each one. And on the other hand, their admittedly extremely volatile market value was at times higher than that of BMW, Daimler or VW. And they are taken so seriously by established competitors that VW, of all companies, is now entering into a billion-dollar partnership with the Americans. While they were still discussing plant closures at home in Wolfsburg, CEO Oliver Blume has now sealed the cooperation planned for the summer in Palo Alto and the budget was even increased by another 15 percent. VW is spending 5.8 billion dollars on the adventure. More like Rivian’s buddy type, she was introduced 15 years ago by the American Robert Joseph (popularly RJ) Scaringe, who grew up in Florida and, despite the rockets in front of his eyes, only had cars in mind. Scarige is now in his early forties and has already made it past Elon Musk, at least in the likeability rating. He is not the choleric and loudspeaker, but the guy type, likes to show off in outdoor clothes and with his distinctive glasses sometimes looks like a nerd and sometimes like Superman as office stud Clark Kent. While he doesn’t want to know anything about space and especially nothing about big politics, Scaringe shares a goal with Musk: to take the internal combustion engine out of circulation. While Musk started with the Roadster more than ten years before Scaringe, Rivian has with its debut Occupied the most important segment of the US market at the end of 2021 and relied on a pickup truck. At least that means he beats Tesla by more than a year. The R1T is also available as an SUV. Manufacturers Except for the electric drive and of course the platform, there is hardly anything in common between Tesla’s Cybertruck and Rivian’s R1T. Since the apocalyptic fighter, which primarily wants to provoke and is not at all practical, is the car for adventure with a clear conscience, which could also be sold in the Apple Store with its charming, cool design and which offers clever gimmicks such as the gear tunnel, a huge storage compartment under the back seat in which the ski equipment fits or a camping kitchen that can be pulled out. However, neither of the two competing models is suitable for mass use in a sprint time of 2.5 seconds. While the Cybertruck currently starts at $82,235, the Rivian is available as a flatbed truck or a seven-seater derived from it for $69,990. But with a range of up to 700 kilometers, after the recent facelift at best 1025 hp and a sprint time of 2.5 seconds, it is less aimed at farmers, oil drillers or cowboys, but rather becomes an outdoor accessory like the softshell jacket or the gravel bike Lifestyle society. But at the steering wheel everything is as usual: While the XXL Cola sloshes in the cup holder on the high center console, the traffic outside is at your feet: like the cattle baron over his herd, the Rivian driver towers over the rest of the traffic and swims calmly through the morning rush hour. The only thing that is completely missing here is the guilty conscience that sometimes comes over you when you’re riding so relaxed on such a high horse. Finally, there is a 135 kWh battery in the floor of the car. Greetings to the Golf: Rivian’s new compact model R3. It also has the characteristic headlights. ManufacturerLeisure instead of farmland, so the flatbed truck from Normal is a model for Volkswagen. With the traditional Scout brand, which has been revived for the US market, VW wants to move in a very similar direction from 2027. Only that, in view of the cooled electric euphoria on the coasts and the unchanged hesitation in the vast areas in between, they are still offering a combustion engine as a range extender. Both series have nothing in common. However, anyone who now believes that the Scout Traveler and Terra are R1S and R1T with a new one Design that is wrong. But when it comes to sheet metal and batteries, structure and drive, then the two series have nothing in common. And as things stand, we won’t have it in the future. Unlike the alliance with Ford, which gave the Cologne-based company access to the modular electrical kit for Explorer and Capri and VW in return a Transit disguised as a new transporter, the deal with the Americans for the Lower Saxony company is not about physical platforms or joint vehicle projects. Palo Alto: Rivian’s electric delivery van in use for Amazon. He also drives packages in Germany. VW wants to free itself from the millstone of the Cariad misery and finally secure the necessary expertise for the software, which, even more than architectures and batteries, should become the all-determining part of the car of tomorrow. Similar to Tesla and unlike the car manufacturers from the old world, Rivian has an electronics architecture that makes do with a few central computers instead of hundreds of control devices and which is now to be further developed for shared use. From 2027 onwards, VW wants to implement automated driving only in the core brand and in the medium term in all subsidiaries, and be able to install new functions more quickly and, above all, online. Rivian is also building a tailor-made panel van for its major shareholder Jeff Bezos, which has already delivered millions of Amazon packages in America has delivered and is slowly getting going for us too. This panel van, unimaginatively known as an “Electric Delivery Van”, is one of the first commercial vehicles in this segment that was developed explicitly and exclusively for electric drive and makes few compromises with the drive integrated in the floor and the spacious cabin. At a good six meters long, they are tailored to European traffic conditions, but still offer 14 cubic meters of loading volume and, with a permissible total weight of 4.2 tons, a payload that is typical for their class. Small engagement gifts By the way, Rivian has already had it – at least almost – with the futuristic parcel carrier a cooperation with a German manufacturer and wanted to open a van factory in Poland together with Mercedes-Benz. But unlike now at VW, the partners couldn’t come to an agreement and broke up again before the marriage was even concluded. More on the topic To make sure things go better this time, Rivian apparently approached the new partner early on. Even if it was perhaps only unconscious and perhaps even a coincidence. Because when the Americans presented their new entry-level model R3 in the spring, a suspicious number of premiere guests were reminded of the first Golf. But maybe such small engagement gifts are, well, normal for a company that has its headquarters in Normal.
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