Is An Electric Rally Car Next For Rivian? It Will Be 'Bananas' CEO Says

While it is known that Rivian is working on delivering its new all-electric R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV for 2020, the automaker may have another vehicle in the works.

Rivian may be coming to market with an electrified rally car, which Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told Autocar at the Los Angeles International Auto Show would be “bananas” in the way it performed.

The next vehicle that could come down the assembly line for Rivian may be a rally-raid style performance car, which would align with with the adventure theme of its R1T and R1S models, Electrek said.

Scaringe added that “The third vehicle will have a smaller wheelbase [than the R1S SUV] and will be the Rivian interpretation of a rally car with a lot of ground clearance.”

The electric rally car may have already been developed as Rivian Forums believes they spotted the vehicle in its early form at Rivian’s factory. The news outlet said the spotted vehicle had an arching roofline, which was car-like in nature, flared front fenders, and high ground clearance.

Rivian has received plenty of backing from investors like Ford ($500 million) and Amazon ($700 million), with the latter ordering 100,000 electric vans from the company for delivery in 2021. The company has also secured a manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, that was previously a Mitsubishi plant for production.