Rivian has a little cinematic shock tucked in its new “treehouse” rooftop tent, one of many many equipment the automaker plans to promote alongside its next-generation R2 SUV and future R3 EVs.
The rooftop tent, which Rivian calls the treehouse, is provided with a movie projector, which is run utilizing energy from the Rivian, Brian Gase, Rivian’s senior director of prototype and particular tasks, advised TechCrunch throughout a buyer occasion in Laguna Beach, California. The buyer occasion was held Thursday night, a number of hours after Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe unveiled the all-electric R2 SUV and the sporty R3 and R3x hatchback autos.
The treehouse, as Rivian has branded it, is completely different from the white-labeled Yakima tent designed for its flagship R1T truck.
Image Credits: Rivian
This new treehouse product is contained in a hardshell, which then opens up into a massive rooftop tent. Opposite the opening is a massive window, the place the roll-down display is situated, Gase stated. The projector will be related to a energy supply from the car, he added. The treehouse additionally comes with an inside fan and lighting.
Gase stated the treehouse design will largely stay the identical as soon as it goes on sale. Right now, he stated, the main focus is about preserving the standard excessive with out making it too costly.
“It’s about the fee as a result of you may have a look at it and say ‘that’s superior,’ however you then’re placing an costly tent on a product that you just’re attempting to get to an introductory stage worth,” Gase stated, referring to the R2, which is predicted to have a beginning worth of $45,000.
Image Credits: Kirsten Korosec
The treehouse-that-turns-into-a-movie-theater is only one of a number of adventure-minded equipment revealed Thursday alongside Rivian’s next-generation of smaller extra inexpensive EVs. Rivian plans to promote a cargo field that mounts to a hitch on the again of the car and that may be paired with a new journey kitchen. The kitchen contains a water tank, cooler and cookware set.
On Thursday, Rivian revealed the R2, a five-seat, all-electric midsized SUV that may have greater than 300 miles of vary and a base worth of $45,000. In a shock twist, Scaringe additionally unveiled the smaller R3 and the R3x efficiency, a compact hatchback-style EV with sporty vibes. Rivian hasn’t given a manufacturing timeline for the R3 autos.
The R2, which can now be made on the firm’s Normal, Illinois manufacturing facility, is predicted to enter manufacturing within the first half of 2024. The firm stated it is going to save about $2.25 billion by shifting manufacturing of the R2 from its deliberate Georgia manufacturing facility to its present manufacturing facility in Normal.
