Rivian took a page from Steve Jobs and had “one more thing” to show off during its R2 reveal event in California today. And it was a stunner. The Rivian R3 is a slightly shorter, sportier-looking electric SUV than the R2, and it will come in a performance variant badged as R3X. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said the R3 “takes the package of R2 platform shrinks it.
Like the R2, the R3 and R3X will feature Rivian’s new 4695 cylindrical battery cells, which is 15 mm taller than Tesla’s 4680 cells. And it will have a native version of Tesla’s NACS charging port built directly into the vehicle. DC fast charging will take the R3 from 10 to 80 percent in about 30 minutes, Rivian said. The company is also promising a more powerful computer, complimented by a sensor suite that includes 11 cameras and five radars.