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In order to put its own electric vans on the market, Rivian has installed its electric powertrain in several F-150 under-the-hood electric vans as test mules in its development program.
In an interview with Detroit Free Press, Rivian General Manager RJ Scaringe said they had no connection with Ford and they simply used the F-150 because the wheelbase was the right size for their truck.
He said that they were driving in the Detroit subway:
"We need something to keep the weather down while we have traveled a lot of kilometers on our skateboard, so they are currently driving in Detroit. They are everywhere, but nobody knows it. We are very quiet about it, "
They use the F-150 to test their skateboard-like modular electric platform, which we examined closely last year at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
It is equipped with 4 electric motors, with a power of 147 kW each on the wheel, while the total power can be configured at levels ranging from 300 kW to 562 kW (input of the gearbox).
The different power levels correspond to different battery choices, which is another impressive feature, as they have the highest capacity of any other electric tourism vehicle: 105 kWh, 135 kWh and 180 kWh.
Rivian says that this will result in "more than 230km, over 300km and over 400km" on a full charge.
We are talking about a charge rate up to 160 kW in fast charging stations and an onboard charger of 11 kW for a level 2 charge.
The entire powertrain is installed on a modular and smooth skateboard platform suitable for different battery capacities:
Earlier this month, Rivian confirmed it raised $ 700 million through a new round of funding led by Amazon.
They will use the money to bring their trucks to the market as early as next year.
Electrek's Take
For the test mules, all this is hidden under a Ford F-150 body, giving birth to the first 100% electric vans.
Interestingly, a prototype Ford F-150 electric was recently spotted and it was presumed it was Ford after the automaker confirmed that an all-electric F Series truck coming soon
Now, I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe it was a Rivian test mule.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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