In an effort to reduce its backlog of orders and get vehicles out of the factory faster, Rivian is developing its own, in-house drive unit, which it plans to introduce to consumer vehicles later this year. The new motor uses fewer semiconductors, which the automaker hopes will help alleviate delays and improve production efficiency.
Despite the widespread appreciation for its vehicles, Rivian’s stock value has plummeted about 90 percent since its record-setting initial public offering. According to Autonews, this decline can be attributed to persistent production issues rather than the quality of the vehicles themselves.
A big part of what is holding up production are the Bosch motors that power the R1T pickup and the R1S SUV. Although they have provided Rivian’s vehicles with oodles of power, they are also complex and contain numerous semiconductor chips.
Persistent supply chain issues have caused Rivian to miss production targets, prompting the company to develop its own simplified motor, dubbed “Enduro,” to alleviate the strain.
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“One of the key mitigation tools that we have at our disposal is the introduction and the ramp of the Enduro drive unit this year, which unlocks a new secondary supply base of our power semiconductors within the plant,” said Claire McDonough, Rivian’s CFO, at an investor event earlier this year.
The motor has already started being put into vehicles at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois plant. Introduced earlier this year in the delivery vehicle it sells to Amazon, McDonough said that the ramp up is going according to schedule, and that its consumer vehicles will start rolling off the line with Enduro motors later this year.
The automaker will offer the motors in two configurations of the R1T and R1S passenger vehicles. Both feature two motors, with the standard model making 600 hp (447 kW/608 PS), and the second providing 700 hp (522 kW/710 PS) thanks to a software upgrade. Later, it will go into the smaller R2 vehicles that the Rivian is developing.
The quad-motor option, with drive units provided by Bosch, will continue to be offered, making 835 hp (622 kW/846 PS). However, the automaker previously announced that the powertrain won’t be available with the max battery pack anymore. Owners who want the most motors will have to settle for 321 miles (517 km) of range. Those who opt for the dual-motor option will be able to go up to 400 miles (644 km), meanwhile.
Just the latest step in Rivian’s attempt to speed up production, it has also switched over to its own audio system, in order to encourage vertical integration. The automaker is targeting production of 50,000 vehicles this year, which is considerably more than it managed in 2022.
