Rivian’s engineering teams have been hard at work on the R2 for quite some time now. One of their primary goals - to reduce per-unit cost of the drive units.
The new Maximus drive unit uses some interesting techniques to help reduce costs and build on lessons learned from the R1 Series Enduro units.
Improvements All Around
The first improvement is in the stator windings. The stators are a critical component of an electric motor, and reducing the number of welds inside the stator is a key to reducing overall cost. The new Maximus drive unit uses a new continuous winding technology, reducing the total welds per stator from 264 on the Enduro to just 24 on the Maximus.
Rivian has also worked to consolidate and reduce the number of physical parts in the R2. Their second development on this front is integrating the rotor shaft and the gear into a single forged component, which is CNC milled. Of course, that’s not all - they also reduced the number of bearings.
Overall, that’s a fantastic set of improvements to help reduce the cost - and weight - of the upcoming R2’s new Maximus drive unit. The R2’s launch will be Rivian’s Model 3 moment - it will be the mass-adoptable mid-size vehicle that many are interested in. As such, driving down costs per unit is key.
Coming to R1S & R1T?
The next question is: Will these improvements make their way to the R1S and R1T? It seems likely in the future—but not immediately. These improvements are set to greatly reduce Rivian’s per-vehicle costs, which will also help increase profit margins.
While Rivian did—for the first time—have a profitable quarter in Q4 2024, they’re still teetering on the edge of profitability. Sharing as many parts between the R2 and R1 vehicles makes a lot of sense, and you can bet Rivian will take advantage of that if they can.
Rivian’s focus is on the R2 launch, so it may take some time before they shift attention back to the R1 series and implement these cost-saving improvements. When Rivian finally introduces Gen 2.5 of the R1S and R1T, we may see other improvements taken from the R2 besides this improved drive unit.
