Rivian announces its plans for new tech developments. It includes everything from a heat pump to LPF batteries, also bi-directional charging system, and many more. Rivian announces this as a part of financial reports for Q4, 2021. Stating that it continues with its significant investments in its next-generation platforms.
One of the biggest topics appears to be a proprietary 800-volt architecture (compared to 400 V used currently). It means that the new battery systems will have a nominal voltage of about 800 V (the value depends on the state of charge and might vary by 100-200 V). This new architecture will bring two aspects. One is, “a new in-house family of drive units for both Dual and Quad-Motor configurations.” And the other would be “an integrated onboard charger, DC to DC converter, and DC to AC converter, where the power stages of the DC-AC and AC-DC are bi-directional and share semiconductors, magnetics, and the controller.”
In other words, Rivian is going all-in in terms of vertical integration. It is already well known that the upcoming new, dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Rivian electric vehicles. They will be offered at a similar price to the existing quad-motor versions because the quad-motor versions became more expensive (for new customers). The currently used quad-motor system is based on the Bosch-sourced electric motors, although the drive units were engineered and are manufactured by Rivian.
The upcoming Rivian single-motor drive units can be used for two-wheel-drive applications, as well as for all-wheel-drive applications (dual-motor with one motor per axle). Rivian announced that as of March 8, 2022, it has built over 100 pre-production units of the new drive units. The company expects that series production of the new single-motor drive units will begin later this year and, at first, will be used in the Rivian EDV vans by the end of 2022. “As of March 8, 2022, we have built over 100 pre-production units of our new drive units on our pilot manufacturing line and are executing validation testing for both consumer and commercial vehicle applications. The construction of the full production line for this new family of drive units is currently underway.”
Furthermore, the plan includes – Rivian EDV and Rivian R1T/R1S with single motor front-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive respectively. The upcoming new Standard battery pack will utilize LFP battery cells (compared to high-nickel chemistry used currently in the Large battery pack).
“In addition to our Dual-Motor, we announced the Standard battery pack, which we plan to utilize in the RCV platform beginning in 2022 and R1 platform in 2024. We developed this new pack architecture to utilize LFP cells. Expanding our cell and pack technology roadmaps to include both high nickel cells as well as LFP cells will expand our available supply while reducing cost.”
Credits- InsideEVs
