Oh really? That's huge news. Did that email come unsolicited or did you ask?
I posted several times a month or two back that Rivian CS was no longer using "Max" to reference the larger battery pack for the R1S. The preferred term is apparently "Longer Range" which I took to mean that larger battery back for the R1S will not have the same 180 Kwh capacity as that for the R1T Max. Not a surprise given the issues with space in the 7 seat R1S. The Rivian website has been saying for months that there will be more information on the R1S Longer Range "in early 2022." As we are already closing out the first quarter of the new year, "early" must translate as "before the summer solstice."
I asked. Like you, I need the max to tow our travel trailer, especially across country. I was encouraged. Of course - not sure the cost yet. But I am willing to go with the two motor version and the max to save a bit.
I too plan to tow long distances and need the larger capacity battery battery. I'd consider the dual motor version, regardless of any cost saving, if tthere was an increase in range associated with that option. This appears not be the case unfortunately.
A quick look through the Rivian website shows only a trivial increase of 6 miles of range for the Dual Motor LR (320 miles vs 314 for the Quad LR). While we can't know what size battery pack the "Longer Range" R1S will feature, we can say for sure it will not be 180 Kwh. Given that the range differential between the Quad and Dual is trivial (the latter seems to offer less than a 2% range increase), it seems almost certain that we're looking at something less than 400 miles.
of range.
If it turns out that the R1S Longer Range offers under 400 miles of range while costing well north of $85k, I'm out.
