Rivian should make an R1V camper van

[Tony de Veyra]

My wife and I have been living in our R1S while traveling across the US for the past three months or so. It’s been a really fun and awesome adventure, but after all of the experience we’ve gained, the main thought that keeps coming up again and again is how we wish we had more room. I think Rivian could make the best camper van on the market if they put some of the core features of the R1S (adjustable air suspension, 140kWh max pack, AWD, inverter outlets, cameras and highway assist) into something the size of a mid-top ford transit. 20’ overall length, 6’ interior height). As far as I can tell, the offerings for electric vans are pretty sparse, none of them have adjustable air suspension for quick leveling and I don’t think any of them have robust highway assist features, either. Maybe the bright drop? But GM just discontinued it, lol.

Sponsored

 

[mikehmb]

I adore this idea, but have a hard time finding a profitable path for it.

A boy can dream, though. I'd love one.

 

[CosmicRivian]

I agree with @mikehmb on this, a wonderful dream, but it's not at all in Rivian's focus target towards profitability for the foreseeable future.

When the R1 Gen 4 is out? The R2? The R3X? And the whispered about R4 (and beyond)? I could see it, but not for many years and not until Rivian becomes the full-fledged tech company they seem to be trying to build themselves into.

I love the dream though, so keep dreaming and maybe someday it will come true.

I want this in Launch Green please ...

 

[Dark-Fx]

Buy an R1T and convert it into a Class C.

 

[ksumnole]

They already make a delivery vehicle. Just throw in a larger battery, an on-board has generator so you can be off the grid as long as you have gas,, charge $95,000. It's very much a Sprinter van with a battery.

 

[BigSkies]

The challenge with this form factor is the immense size of the batteries needed.

The EDV has roughly half the range of an R1 with a comparable size battery (large pack). I forget the exact numbers, but it's roughly in this range of magnitude.

You're talking about a sizeable increase in battery size (maybe 50%-100% increase?) to get the ~300 mile range customers are looking for.

Battery prices would have to drop dramatically for this to pencil out.

Also notice that even in the gas-van space, the market is dominated by general-purpose vans that are converted to various uses. The market is small enough that there isn't much room for niche-purpose vehicles.

 

[Rivdog]

Would be very, very cool, but hard to justify. There’s still some great R1T camper builds available that keep most of the range and also the off-road capability.

 

[Honey]

Omg I would love it

 

[mkg3]

Since GM has decided to cancel BrightDrop vans, there are already two companies (Grounded EV and Coachman) that were /are planning to making campers, there is no reason why they cannot do the same with RCV//EDV.



I too would love to see RCV converted into a camper.

 

[13yroldtechie]

My wife and I have been living in our R1S while traveling across the US for the past three months or so. It’s been a really fun and awesome adventure, but after all of the experience we’ve gained, the main thought that keeps coming up again and again is how we wish we had more room. I think Rivian could make the best camper van on the market if they put some of the core features of the R1S (adjustable air suspension, 140kWh max pack, AWD, inverter outlets, cameras and highway assist) into something the size of a mid-top ford transit. 20’ overall length, 6’ interior height). As far as I can tell, the offerings for electric vans are pretty sparse, none of them have adjustable air suspension for quick leveling and I don’t think any of them have robust highway assist features, either. Maybe the bright drop? But GM just discontinued it, lol.

I totally agree. A full sized RV would be stellar.

 

[Thedude]

The need to make money so they last long enough to make my R3X, not offer a $200k electric camper van with very limited market appeal.

Sponsored