Move over Quad-Motor, the Dual-Motor Rivian R1 EVs have the makings to be something special
Since Rivian began R1T pickup production in 2021, I’ve been trying to get behind the doors of its facility in my native Illinois and only managed to get arrested for trespassing once (kidding). Last week, I finally got a chance to tour the revamped EV plant and test drive the new Dual-Motor R1 vehicles featuring Rivian’s new Enduro drive unit and I’ve gotta say – it begs the question, “Do you really need the Quad-Motor?”
The R1T pickup kicked off Rivian’s official venture into passenger vehicles before being joined by an SUV sibling called the R1S. Combined with the Amazon EDV and Rivian Service Van (RSV), the young American EV automaker has plenty to keep its assembly lines humming.
After some growing pains, Rivian appears to have finally hit its stride in Normal, Illinois with the help of its Enduro drive unit – designed and engineered in house specifically for Dual-Motor Vehicles. Enduro consists of a 3-in-1 fully-integrated system of rotor, stator, and inverter all-in-one housing (see explosion image below). It also has a dynamic disconnect feature within the drive unit that can automatically switch to Single-Motor mode to maximize range.
By May, we were reporting that Enduro had begun being implemented in R1T and R1S Dual-Motor reservations. Because Rivian outsourced its motors for the Quad configurations from Bosch, which rolled out to customer first, the Dual-Motor came with a lot of hype because of its lower cost and the automaker’s promise it “does everything for most customers.” I won’t disagree.
Rivian began inviting customers to begin ordering the Dual-Motor configuration in July, and last week, we got the invite to take a Dual-Motor R1T out on the the automaker’s First Mile Adventure Test Track (see map below) to test out its speed on the road and its capabilities on rough terrain.
Rivian’s Dual-Motor R1 EVs sacrifice very little
Rivian is onto something with the Dual-Motor options powered by Enduro, and it knows it. Before I took my full tour of the Normal facility, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe spoke to our group about some of the technology we would see and experience during our visit, including the Dual-Motors.
When we got to Rivian’s delivery experience center, when reservations can visit in Normal and pick up their EV in person, I was the lucky first to go out on the track. The trip was short and simple – two laps around the loop, then a trip around the adventure path complete with rough road, a dry creek bed, two tilted turns and a pretty intimidating uphill climb.
The first pass was decent, I took the turn a bit timid but then saw the 70 mph signs on the straightaway and opened it up – what a rush. 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds (Performance OTA upgrade) is quite impressive for an EV on this size, but I immediately got comfortable and hit the second turn quite a bit faster with zero issues of not keeping the shiny side upright.
Once I got to the second straightaway, it was time for a complete stop and a launch. I was not disappointed. The higher gear ratio in the rear motor (13.7:1) compared to 11:1 up front helped distribute torque continuously yet biased rearward for better performance.
When it came to the adventure park, I am not the most seasoned off-roader, but I’d imagine most Rivian customers aren’t. Switching drive modes into All-Terrain mode, the R1T took everything I threw at it. I even got an A+ rating on my hill climb skills. Here’s what it looks like from the bottom:
… and here’s a video of one of the Dual-Motors coming down the other side of the hill after the climb.
For comparison, I then got to take the same route in a Quad-Motor R1T. To be honest, the acceleration was indeed slightly better, but I’d argue it would not be noticeable to the average consumer. The Quad version also handled the terrain better, especially the hill climb since it can rely on motors in each wheel to propel forward instead of the brakes like in the Dual-Motor.
Still, unless you’re attempting to scale Rubicon, the Dual-Motor Rivians should do just fine for you. At the end of the day, I think most people are going to gravitate toward the Dual-Motor option and Rivian knows it. I think everyone wins. Consumers save money and still get the performance they want plus the range desire depending on waht battery pack they choose, and Rivian sells more cars. It has plenty of space to scale in Normal, not to mention that giant new planty being erected in Georgia.
I think the Quad-Motor R1 EVs will go to those truly into off-roading and carving their own path in the outdoors, that’s the only reason you’d really need a motor in each wheel in my opinion. I think we’ll also see people springing for the Quad-Motor simply since its top of the line and enables bragging rights. Nothing wrong with that if you’ve got the extra cheddar, I just don’t think that way personally – the Dual Motor feels like the sweet spot now that I’ve driven both.
Enduro was exciting to learn about as well, especially since it’s essentially the heart of Rivian’s future platforms that will power the R2 models in a few years.
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Environment
Tesla’s Robyn Denholm made 5x more than next best-paid chair, a role Musk said was usefuless
Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s chairwoman, made five times more money than the next best-paid board chair, a role Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said was useless.
In 2018, Musk settled with the SEC for falsely claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 a share, he was forced to resign as chair of Tesla’s board.
Musk basically handpicked Robyn Denholm to become the new chair, which he then called a useless “honorific” titled:
“Chairman’ is an honorific, not executive role, which means it’s not needed to run Tesla. Will retire that title at Tesla in 3 years.”
Denholm made a lot of money in this useless honorific role.
She has made over $530 million, almost entirely through stock option compensation, since becoming Tesla’s chairperson.
Most of her stock sales happened over the last year:
The New York Times released a new report looking into Denholm’s compensation and found that she was paid about 5 times more than the next best-paid nonexecutive chair.
Tesla paid its chair about 5 times more than UnitedHealth’s:
The nonexecutive chair with the next-highest profit from selling shares in the company he oversees was Stephen Hemsley of UnitedHealth Group. Mr. Hemsley has earned more than $100 million from the sale of UnitedHealth shares since November 2018, though he received all of that stock while he was chief executive of the health care company.
To Musk’s point about the role being honorific, it’s not clear what Denholm accomplished during her time as chair.
She and the rest of Tesla’s board oversee Tesla’s executive management, led by Musk, but Musk has been allowed to do whatever he wants for years.
They have backed his every move, granted him a $55 billion CEO compensation package, and remained silent when he threatened Tesla shareholders that he would not develop AI products at Tesla unless given a larger, more controlling share of the company, or decided to fire Tesla’s entire charging team to make an example out of the head of the team.
Most recently, they have not addressed the protests at Tesla stores and product boycotts, which are attributed to Musk’s involvement in politics, angering a significant portion of the population and Tesla’s consumer base.
Only recently was there a report suggesting the board floated the idea of replacing Musk to gain leverage in forcing him to spend more time at Tesla. Even then, the board quickly denied the report, which only claimed that they were doing their jobs in planning the CEO succession.
Electrek’s Take
Based on Musk’s comment, Denholm was paid half a billion dollars to do nothing. That’s literally all that was required of her after replacing Musk as chair of the board: nothing.
Musk is in charge. She is just an “honorific” figurehead that is required to back his every move.
Just as Tesla’s then-third-largest individual shareholder, after Musk, Leo KoGuan, told Electrek last year, when he couldn’t get his concerns about Musk heard by the board, Tesla is “a family business masquerading as a public company.”
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Environment
UrbanLink nearly doubles order of REGENT electric seagliders to transport over 4M passengers a year
Less than a year after announcing an order for 27 electric seaglider planes from REGENT Craft, advanced air mobility (AAM) specialist UrbanLink has nearly doubled that order size to support plans for high-frequency commercial flights around the southeastern United States.
While advanced air mobility may be a nascent industry, companies around the globe are continuously gearing up to establish commercial networks that support air taxi travel and other sustainable commercial operations. In the US, particularly Southern Florida, UrbanLink has been making tons of moves to establish itself as a major player in that space when it happens.
UrbanLink has already been working for years to enable zero-emission, end-to-end travel within a 500-mile range by 2028 before expanding that range to 1,000 miles by 2030, beginning with its hub cities of Miami, Los Angeles, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The company believes its actions have adequately positioned it to become the first airline in the US to integrate electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft into its fleet. Fellow eVTOL network Archer Aviation is also in the race, so it’s exciting times for commercial air taxi development.
UrbanLink has committed to purchasing from several eVTOL and electric plane developers, including Artemis Sea Crafts, Eviation Aircraft, and Lilium, as we reported back in June 2024. Last fall, the AAM operator announced it was adding more vessels to its growing fleet in South Florida, committing to purchase 27 electric seagliders from REGENT Craft.
Today, UrbanLink and REGENT announced an expansion of their existing partnership in which the former has upped its purchase order to 47 electric seagliders.
UrbanLink ups seaglider order to support FL, Puerto Rico
REGENT Craft and UrbanLink shared details of the expanded partnership this morning, in hopes of establishing Florida as the bona fide leader in sustainable coastal aerial mobility.
Per the company, the nearly doubling of the existing order for REGENT’s Viceroy electric seagliders will support a more rapid rollout of UrbanLink’s aerial operations between the southern Florida and Puerto Rico regions. REGENT co-founder and CEO Billy Thalheimer spoke about the expanded seaglider order:
UrbanLink’s expanded order is a clear vote of confidence in REGENT’s seaglider technology and is testament to our continued timely execution certification and product development milestones. Together, we’re building a more convenient and connected future for coastal communities.
As the map above shows, electric sea glider travel can cut the travel time from Miami to West Palm Beach by nearly 75%. This single route represents a growing demand for convenient and more sustainable alternatives for short-haul travel in the US, and UrbanLink hopes to provide that to Florida visitors and beyond.
For example, the company shared that it anticipates that its seaglider operations in Miami alone could provide more sustainable travel options to up to 4.3 million passengers per year when commercial operations begin. UrbanLink founder and chairman Ed Wegel also spoke:
We’re proud to expand our partnership with REGENT and bring this revolutionary technology to more passengers traveling high-demand routes across Florida and Puerto Rico. This partnership propels Florida to the forefront of global innovation in advanced, all-electric mobility.
REGENT’s full-scale Viceroy electric seaglider prototype is currently in the process of successful sea trials en route to certification from the US Coast Guard. These 12-passenger vessels can reach up to 180 mph and travel up to 180 miles on a single charge.
First deliveries of the Viceroy seagliders to UrbanLink are expected to begin sometime in 2027.
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It’s official. Toyota is finally launching a new EV in the US. The C-HR will return in what’s expected to be an affordable electric SUV. Here’s our first look at the 2026 Toyota C-HR, a surprisingly stylish EV with nearly 300 miles of range.
Meet the 2026 Toyota C-HR electric SUV for the US
Who could forget the original Toyota C-HR? The funky-looking compact SUV was priced under $25,000 but was discontinued in 2022 to make way for the more efficient Corolla Cross hybrid.
The C-HR will make a comeback in the US as a fully electric SUV with nearly 300 miles of range. After revealing the electric SUV in Europe earlier this year, Toyota confirmed on Wednesday that the C-HR will, in fact, arrive in the US.
Outside of a “+” added at the end of the name (C-HR+), the US and European versions look nearly identical. The electric version is a drastic upgrade over the retired gas-powered model.
Toyota gave it a stylish new look with an updated design closer to its new Corolla and Crown. The smaller SUV features Toyota’s “hammerhead front end” with slim LED headlights and distinct character lines.
The C-HR EV is 177.9″ long, 73.6″ wide, and 63.8″ tall, or about the size of the Kia Niro EV (174″ long, 72″ wide, and 62″ tall). It’s also a bit smaller than the bZ4X SUV, Toyota’s first EV, at 185″ long, 73″ wide, and 65″ tall.
Powered by a 74.7 kWh battery, Toyota expects the 2026 C-HR will get up to 290 miles of driving range. It will also be equipped with an NACS port to access Tesla’s Supercharger network. Using DC fast charging, the electric SUV can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 30 minutes.
The 2026 C-HR will come with standard AWD with up to 338 hp. Toyota said the added power is good for a 0 to 60 mph sprint in around 5 seconds.
Stylish new design inside and out
Toyota’s new EV will be available in SE and XSE trim with “great interior features.” These include a 14″ touchscreen infotainment system with Toyota Audio Multimedia system (with Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support), a digital driver display, wireless phone chargers, and the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 system.
Other standard features include a power liftgate, low-profile roof rails, and rain-sensing wipers. You can also choose from 18″ or 20″ wheels and several different paint colors.
The XSE model gains 20″ gun metal finished wheels, SofTex and synthetic suede-trimmed seats, a Digital Rearview Mirror with HomeLink, a Panoramic view Monitor, and more.
Toyota will offer the 2026 C-HR in fully electric (EV), Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV), and Fuel Cell powertrain options. The new electric SUV is expected to arrive at dealerships across the US in 2026.
The new C-HR debut comes just a day after Toyota revealed its new bZ electric SUV for the US. Toyota is dropping the “bZ4X” name and giving it some significant upgrades, including more range (now up to 314 miles), a built-in NACS port, and more.
Although Toyota has yet to reveal prices, since the C-HR is smaller than the bZ4X, it’s expected to start at around $35,000.
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