Tag Archives: upstart

Motorsport

The Rivian R3 Is An Even Smaller Electric SUV

At the reveal occasion for the new Rivian R2 SUV, the upstart automaker shocked us with an excellent smaller, cheaper crossover, the R3. “We’re so excited about what this delivers beyond what we’ve seen [with] R2,” mentioned Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe on the reveal occasion. “It takes the package of R2, the platform of R2, it shrinks it, it puts it into our take on ‘What is a crossover?'”

Rivian R3

While the R2 is considerably smaller than Rivian’s first SUV, the R1S, the R3 is even slighter nonetheless. Scaringe says that the R3 sits on a wheelbase 5 inches shorter than that of the R2. Both R2 and R3 trip on the identical platform, and the smaller SUV may also be out there with single-, dual-, and tri-motor powertrains.

The R3 appears to be like far more like a lifted hatchback than the R2, however not like most hatchbacks, the R3 has lift-up rear glass. It additionally has a entrance trunk, and excitingly, two gloveboxes. There may also be a sporty model referred to as the R3X. It’s one thing of a small rally automotive, with a tri-motor drivetrain, larger wheels, and barely elevated floor clearance.


Motorsport

The USPS Ordered Six Vans From EV Startup Canoo For “Exploratory” Reasons

Canoo nonetheless hasn’t delivered a single automotive to shoppers, but the upstart EV firm is inking offers left and proper with authorities companies. First, they teamed up with NASA for shuttle transport automobiles, then the Oklahoma state authorities – even the US Army evaluated Canoo’s capabilities. Now the United States Postal Service (USPS) is pinging Canoo for a pint-sized fleet of mail supply vans.

The USPS positioned an order for six right-hand-drive variations of the Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle 190 – an prolonged variant of its electrical van with an enclosed rear cargo maintain. Yes, simply six automobiles.

The USPS ought to have the ability to get round 200 miles of vary with the Canoo LDV 190, which has a 79.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack with DC quick charging capabilities, and 200 horsepower on the bottom model (or as much as 350 hp on sure specs). The cargo maintain can carry as much as 172.0 cubic toes and haul as much as 1,624 kilos of mail. Converting the Canoos to right-hand drive was a comparatively easy course of, notes Canoo CEO Tony Aquila.

Canoo Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle 190
Canoo Lifestyle Delivery Vehicle 190

“The multi-purpose platform with steer-by-wire technology and a unique low-profile suspension system allows for a readily configurable right-hand drive system,” says Aquila.

The electrical vans play a small position within the Postal Service’s bigger $40 billion funding towards upgrading and enhancing its fleet. In 2022, the federal government introduced Oshkosh Defense would construct a brand new fleet of mail vehicles for the USPS, however after delays surrounding powertrain points, these upgraded mail vehicles have been put on hold till later this yr.

The six Canoo vans shall be delivered to the USPS early this yr, and by the tip of 2024, we might see these USPS EVs and Oshkosh mail vehicles on the street concurrently.

In an announcement from the USPS to Motor1, the group mentioned that’s persevering with to “explore commercial-off-the-shelf electric delivery vehicles that have the potential to meet the unique requirements of our delivery mission.” So if it likes the Canoo’s efficiency, we might be seeing an entire lot extra Government-owned startup electrical vans sooner or later.