It’s easy to forget that sometimes, the voice of the consumer can be a very powerful tool in its own right. In the case of Rivian, thanks to an inquiry by a curious customer, the company has revealed that its R1T pickup and R1S SUV will be available with not one, not two, but four different roof styles.
It all started when a gentleman on Twitter asked the upstart EV maker whether the glass roof he saw on the R1S auto show model will be a sliding or fixed roof design. Rivian responded to this question with a bombshell answer, revealing “We will offer multiple roof styles including electrochromic glass (a type of sunroof that turns opaque to transparent at the touch of a button), a fixed glass panel, a two piece removable composite roof, and a standard roof. For now, it appears that the two glass options will be fixed since the firm did not mention whether it will be movable or not, but this would make sense since the production feasibility as well as the additional money needed to make the glass movable would have been cost prohibitive for a young company like Rivian to absorb.
The removable composite roof steals a page from the Jeep Wrangler/Gladiator, and we are curious to see if Rivian’s roof removal solution can match the relative ease and easy storage ability of the fore-mentioned Jeep. While the other three options have not been publicly displayed yet, the electrochromic glass is a familiar entity, with the company recently demonstrating the roof technology on the R1T when it made its debut at the New York Auto Show. The controls for this feature appear to be in the infotainment system versus a physical button on the dashboard. Separate Rivian images suggest that the R1S SUV will have a two panel scheme for its roof design, though it is unknown whether one or both panels will be able to be controlled with this feature.
Electrochromic glass is still a relatively new feature, but Rivian is not the first company to offer this technology, with Mercedes Benz beating them to the punch via its Magic Sky control system. Magic Sky has been a staple on the SL and SLK-Class, with the technology also being used in the S-Class flagship sedan. Separate rumors on the Rivian Owners Forum appears to suggest that the R1T will take this technology up a notch, and allow owners to pick from 20 different shades and colors. This would be a very exotic feature, and Rivian would possibly be the first company to offer multiple hues of electrochromic glass for its customers.
As for the rest of the roof selections, the fixed roof option could very well be just a simple sheet metal unit, while the glass panel would be permanently tinted unit with a sunshade which is a move borrowed from the Jaguar I-Pace, and its own distinctively massive glass panel. With Rivian scheduled to officially begin production of its models later this year, the upcoming auto show season could help fill in the blanks, and also answer some more unanswered questions, especially in regards to final driving range numbers, official pricing information, as well as the full options list for both the R1T and R1S. In the meantime, we have posted a link to the original Twitter exchange which can be seen below.
Hi Steven! We will offer multiple roof styles including electrochromic glass (which turns from opaque to transparent on demand), a fixed glass panel, a two-piece removable composite roof and a standard fixed roof.
— Rivian (@Rivian) August 13, 2019