Rivian has trademarked the “R1X” name, leading some to believe that a flagship performance EV is in the works, much like the R3X that debuted earlier this month will be a souped-up version of the upcoming R3 crossover.
A user of the Rivian Owners forum stumbled upon the trademark filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but a closer look at the document reveals that the R1X name isn’t something that came out of the blue.
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What's with the R1X?
Rivian applied for a trademark on the "R1X" name back in 2021, and in October of last year, it received a Notice of Allowance. This means that the company's sights were set on the moniker long before the surprise appearance of the R3X earlier this month.
The trademark request was filed in November 2021 by a company called Rivian IP Holdings, which is a subsidiary of Rivian Automotive, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Then, in October of 2023, the trademark was awarded to the company that filed the request.
In other words, Rivian had the R1X name in mind for the last three years. However, even with the recent debut of the R3X high-riding crossover that will probably go into production in 2027, there’s no guarantee that the R1X will see the light of day as a real vehicle.
It wouldn’t be the first or the last time a manufacturer secured a trademark or patent that got stuck in the back corner of the archives, never to become anything more than a document collecting dust.
In any case, would an even more powerful R1S or R1T make sense? Currently, the quad-motor version of these EVs makes 835 horsepower and 908 pound-feet of torque, enabling a 0-60 miles per hour time of 3 seconds in a vehicle that weighs roughly 7,000 pounds.
By comparison, the most powerful version of the Tesla Cybertruck, the Cyberbeast, makes 845 hp and can accelerate to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, while the 1,000 hp tri-motor GMC Hummer EV can get to 60 in about 3 seconds.
There’s also the unconfirmed possibility that the R1X might just be a more off-road-focused version of either the R1T or R1S, but would anyone buy it? Rivian’s R1 vehicles are not exactly cheap, to begin with–starting at around $70,000 and topping out at roughly $90,000–so an even more expensive model would do little to widen the appeal of the brand to an audience that is seeking more affordable offerings like the upcoming R2 and R3 models.
But what’s your take on this? Let us know in the comments below.
