Rivian is working to get an all-electric pickup truck into production, and it’s getting help from the company that makes the best-selling pickup truck of all time: the F-150. Ford will invest $500 million in Rivian, and will use the company’s “skateboard” platform for a future electric vehicle. As part of the deal, Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of automotive, will join Rivian’s board.
Rivian turned heads at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show with its R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV. Both will be offered with multiple battery-pack options, but the biggest, 180-kilowatt-hour pack will offer 400 miles of range and 700 horsepower, according to Rivian. The company plans to build both vehicles at a former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois, and deliver the first ones to customers in 2020. Pricing will start at $69,000 for the R1T, and $72,500 for the R1S.
Both vehicles are built on a so-called “skateboard” chassis, with all mechanical components housed within the chassis so that different bodies can be easily dropped on top to create new vehicles. General Motors coined the term for its early 2000s hydrogen fuel-cell concept cars. Because no mechanical components protrude above the floor, the skateboard setup frees up more space for passengers and cargo. The R1T and R1S feature large front trunks (as in a Tesla) where an engine would normally go, and the R1T has a pass-through built into the body.
Ford said it will use Rivian’s skateboard chassis for a new electric vehicle, but did not offer any other details. The automaker previously confirmed plans for two all-electric models: a “Mustang-inspired” crossover, and an all-electric version of the F-150 pickup truck.
Rivian has taken a different approach to other electric-car startups, which tend to focus on luxury sedans or sports cars in an attempt to emulate Tesla. That was originally Rivian’s plan as well, CEO R.J. Scaringe told Digital Trends at the 2018 reveal of the R1T and R1S, but the company changed course because Scaringe felt more rugged vehicles would make a greater impact. Rivian was founded in 2009, and development of the pickup truck and SUV started in 2011.
Investors seem to like Rivian’s focus on off-road vehicles. In addition to Ford, Amazon announced earlier this year that it would invest $700 million in Rivian. General Motors was also considering an investment, and wanted to use Rivian’s chassis for its own electric truck, reports Bloomberg, but negotiations between GM and Rivian broke down.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.