Key Takeaways
- Rivian has filed a trademark for the R1X, a potential high-performance electric off-roader.
- Previously rumored to be a 1,200-horsepower tri-motor model, this trademark follows the recent reveal of the R3X.
- Other potential models like R3S, R4S, R5S, R4T, and R5T, among others, have also been trademarked by Rivian, suggesting the protection of a naming convention, not necessarily production models.
Fresh from revealing the electric vehicles that will carry the brand through the second half of the decade, it’s come to light that Rivian has filed a trademark for another new vehicle: the R1X. The trademark was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and was first discovered by a user of the Rivian Forums website.
Before we get too excited, it’s worth noting that the trademark was filed in 2021. That being said, just because we’re only learning about this potential new model now doesn’t mean that it isn’t coming. After all, Rivian has previously announced its intention to launch at least six new models.
Potential Applications For The R1X Name
The reveal of the smaller R3 model earlier this month introduced us to a new trim level that sees a regular model’s name suffixed with the letter X. As far as we can tell, X-badged models will be Rivian’s high-performance answer to Tesla’s Performance-branded models, gaining sportier styling and more extreme specifications.
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Very few details have yet been provided, but given that the R3X looks like a rally hero and will have the all-wheel traction to make such a vehicle proud, it’s safe to assume that the R1X (if it becomes a production model) will be an even more powerful truck or SUV. This was previously hypothesized by leaked insider details, with the R1X touted to have 1,200 horsepower and an off-road focus.
Several Other Models Could Arrive First
If this is high-performance R1S or R1T is coming to production, it would make sense to arrive with Rivian’s most capable hardware configuration, a quad-motor setup with a huge battery called the Max Pack. Unfortunately, this configuration has been delayed since inception, and the discovery of a new trademark means little. In fact, Rivian has trademarked several other names. Besides R3S (a name that may be redundant following the reveal of the R2), R4S, R5S, R4T, and R5T, names like R1A, R1C, R1V, R2A, R2C, R2R, 1C, 1T, 1S, 2A, 2R, and several similar nomenclatures have also been protected by Rivian trademark applications.
We’re not saying that the R1X won’t happen, but if it does, it would likely only appear toward the end of the decade, after newer products have helped to bolster production volumes and sales figures.
