Rivian R1S buyers will have an additional powertrain option to choose from in late 2023. The company announced that the “Max” battery pack already available on the R1T truck will be offered on the R1S in the fallelec, and it won’t reduce the SUV’s seating capacity.
Posting on Twitter, company founder and CEO RJ Scaringe announced that R1S models equipped with the “Max” pack will begin rolling off the Normal, Illinois, assembly line in the fall. The biggest battery available will exclusively be compatible with the dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, and engineers managed to integrate it into the R1S platform without compromising the seven-seater layout.
Technical specifications haven’t been announced, but Scaringe said his team’s goal is to achieve a maximum driving range rating of at least 390 miles. In comparison, the Standard battery pack delivers 260 miles of range while the Large pack hasn’t been rated by the EPA yet.
Rivian already offers the Max pack in the R1T pickup, where it unlocks 400 miles of range. There’s no word yet on how much the R1S will cost when fitted with the bigger battery. For context, the Large battery is a $6,000 option on both the R1S and the R1T, and the Max pack adds $16,000 to the pickup’s base price. It’s reasonable to assume this figure will also apply to the R1S, though nothing is official.
Buyers who reserved a four-motor R1S or R1T equipped with the Max battery pack will need to wait longer, however. While this setup was previously announced as an option, Rivian delayed it several times and removed it from the list of available powertrains in December 2022.
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