Rivian’s super secret e-bike startup keeps dropping strange, cryptic teasers
We’ve been following Rivian’s quest to develop an in-house electric two-wheeler for years now, dating back to 2022 when we spotted them poaching top electric bicycle talent from companies like Specialized. But despite years of development work, no one on the outside really knows what the company’s micromobility startup ALSO is truly working on. And thanks to several strange teaser videos shared by the apparent skunkworks program, we still don’t know.
We had a pretty good idea that the company has its sights set on an honest-to-goodness electric bicycle, at least based on what Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said back in 2023.
Rivian spun out a startup called ALSO to focus its micromobility work, and they’ve been hard at work both on and offline. ALSO’s social media team has kept up a steady drip of eclectic teasers, often showcasing a single component without any explanation or background. And it appears they’ve spent big ad money on getting those teasers in front of a large audience.
For example, one post showcases the copper windings of two different motor stators, showcasing what appears to be two different sizes of relatively small-diameter hub motors, though perhaps one is the stator of a mid-drive motor. Two motors would be surprising on an electric bicycle. While it’s been done many times, dual motors are usually found on out-of-class e-bikes that are essentially small electric motorcycles skirting motorcycle laws. A single motor is plenty powerful for street-legal e-bikes, and thus dual motors would only seem necessary on something intended for more power than a typical electric bicycle.
Another clip shows a control board that has a surprisingly large footprint for something that would conceivably be stored in the frame or body of a conventional electric bicycle. It also looks to have connections for two different motor phase wires, implying driving a pair of motors from the single board. Back in 2010, I headed up an electric bicycle startup developing a model with a completely enclosed front triangle, which could be a solution that would support housing such large-format electronic components within ALSO’s presumed e-bike.
A window in the large circuit board also gives us a partial view of a pair of wheels that seem roughly bicycle-sized, also revealing a conventional fork and disc brake rotor on the wheel.
The potential for dual motors and some large fairing to conceal that circuit board would imply the possibility of something larger than a typical e-bike, perhaps even a moped or light electric motorcycle. The same clip also appears to reveal an engineer working on a gray metal component that looks suspiciously like a rear swing arm, which would lead us to believe that the bike would feature rear suspension.
Despite some of those clues that would imply something bigger or more powerful than a typical e-bike, other teasers show people “riding” along a sidewalk on invisible bikes, miming pedaling actions, which would imply functional pedals. And another teaser displays a belt pulley of what could be a belt drive on the pedal drivetrain, though it could also be a final drive coming from a centrally mounted motor.
In yet another strange post, the bike is completely blurred out, but we can see a rider holding what are likely a set of handlebars awkwardly close to his waist, which would be a position more commonly seen on a standing electric scooter than on an e-bike or e-motorcycle. However, he may also be straddling the bike and simply standing closer to the bars.
He also appears to be wearing a jacket with back armor, something rarely seen among e-bike riders but much more common in the motorcycling world (though I’ve advocated for it on e-bikes, too).
On the other hand, the bike or skate helmet worn by the rider still implies that we’re back in the bike world, not the moto-world.
Keeping the hype train rolling, another short video shows a partial view of the battery in various stages of assembly. The cylindrical cells look like 18650 or 21700 cells, used in many electric vehicles, but most commonly light electric motorbikes and e-bikes. While the camera is too zoomed in to determine the size of the battery, it looks like the cells are arranged in a fairly tightly packed configuration with frequent and close-spaced reversing of the cells. This is done to weld the cells in series – a necessary step for increasing the voltage of the pack.
But the fairly small number of cells grouped together in a single orientation, perhaps as few as six (though it could be more due to the limited framing of the shot), would imply a somewhat small battery by motorcycle standards, potentially around 20Ah or less, if using relatively common 3.5Ah 18650 cells arranged in a 6p configuration. That puts us back in electric bicycle territory (or an underspec’d electric moped), though there could be multiple battery packs to increase the overall capacity.
But pushing back towards something larger is the sophisticated LED lighting setup, which uses two powerful LED segments to create what might be a high/low beam configuration. We rarely see such powerful lighting on electric bikes and find this setup more often on seated electric scooters and motorbikes. But then again, ALSO is part of Rivian and thus would easily benefit from Rivian’s automotive-level components and supply chain.
Then there’s a censored shot of two people on the bike in question, with a child strapped into a kid’s safety seat, implying a utility or cargo bike configuration that can allow for a passenger on the rear rack.
Plus, to make things even more interesting, these shots are all interspersed with artistic designs, strange kinetic wind art, penguin furries, crystal prisms, nature themes, and other seemingly random motifs that either point to the artistic whims of ALSO’s social media folks or are just random red herrings to confuse us further.
Basically, there are many clues, some of them seemingly contradictory, none of which really tell us that much more than we already knew, which is that ALSO is building personal electric vehicles of some unknown type.
The company says all will be revealed on October 22, so we’re on the edge of our seats waiting for that reveal. It could be a major shakeup in the industry, or the company could go the route of basically every other automotive company that tried to build an e-bike and failed miserably. Time will tell.
But there’s one thing I can say for sure. I’ve covered e-bikes longer than just about anyone else in this industry, and this is the weirdest freaking launch lead-up I’ve ever seen.
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![Classic Jeep Grand Wagoneer gets a battery electric makeover [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/grand-wagoneer_EV_2.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Texas-based tuning firm Vigilante 4×4 is known for its wild, high-horsepower Jeep SJ Hemi restomods – but they’re more than just a hot rod shop. To prove it, they’ve developed a bespoke, all-electric skateboard chassis designed to turn the classic Jeep Grand Wagoneer into a modern, desirable electric SUV.
The scope of the Vigilante 4×4 electric chassis project is truly impressive. More than just a Jeep SJ frame with an electric drive train bolted in, the chassis is a completely fresh design that utilizes precise 3D scans of the original SJ Wagoneers, Grand Wagoneers, and J-Trucks to establish hard points, then fitted with low-slung battery packs to give the electric restomods superior weight balance, a lower center of gravity, and objectively improved ride and handling compared to its classic, ICE-powered forefathers.
The result is a purpose-built platform that delivers power to the wheels through a dual-motor system – one mounted in the front, and one at the rear – to provide a permanent, infinitely variable four-wheel drive system that offers both on-road performance and the kind of off-road capability that made the Grand Wagoneer famous in the first place.
Vigilante 4×4 electric Jeep SJ
“This isn’t a replacement for our Vigilante HEMI offerings,” reads the official copy. “It’s a total revisit of the Vigilante platform under electric power.”
The company emphasizes that its new chassis is still in the prototype stages. As such, there are no specs, there is no pricing, there are no range estimates. Despite it all, the response from Jeep enthusiasts has already been strong. “Keep in mind this is our first prototype,” a spokesperson said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done – but the journey has begun.”
Electrek’s Take
Retro done wrong – think the Dodge Charger Daytona EV or VW ID.Buzz – is a disaster. Always. If that nostalgic tone is just a little bit off, the song doesn’t work. The heartstrings don’t pull. Done right, however, the siren song of nostalgia will have you putting a second mortgage on your house to put a Singer Porsche or ICON Bronco in your garage.
It’s too soon to tell what side of that line the Vigilante 4×4 Jeep SJ will eventually fall, but one thing (at least) is certain: it’s closer to the mark than that Wagoneer S.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Vigilante 4×4, via Mopar Insiders.
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EQORE, a distributed battery storage startup based in Somerville, Massachusetts, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding to help industrial buildings tackle rising electricity costs. The round was oversubscribed and includes backing from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Henry Ford III of Ford Motor Company, and Jonathan Kraft of The Kraft Group.
The timing couldn’t be more relevant. Data centers are booming, and that demand is slamming an already stressed grid. Big, utility-scale batteries help at the grid level, but they can’t fix the bottlenecks happening on local distribution networks. That’s where onsite storage steps in — storing energy when demand is low and discharging it when demand spikes, which helps stabilize costs for both the grid and the businesses using it.
MassCEC’s head of investments, Susan Stewart, said, “What excites us the most about EQORE’s technology is the dual impact: grid support and customer savings.” She noted that commercial and industrial buildings are ideal hosts for battery storage, but haven’t gotten much attention until now. “EQORE is closing that gap.”
Investor Randolph Mann highlighted what makes the company stand out: “By uniting advanced controls with high‑resolution metering and true end‑to‑end service, EQORE finally makes commercial behind-the-meter storage effortless and financially compelling for businesses.”
EQORE comes out of MIT’s Sandbox program and delta v accelerator and is currently part of the Harvard Climate Entrepreneurs Circle incubator. CEO and cofounder Valeriia Tyshchenko, a third‑generation engineer from Ukraine and MIT graduate, said the new funding will help the company scale alongside its existing revenue.
With the seed round closed, EQORE plans to grow its team and ramp up battery deployments at energy-intensive manufacturing facilities. The company doesn’t just install batteries; it operates them. Its autonomous software shifts when a facility uses power based on market conditions and utility incentives, reshaping load in real-time without disrupting operations.
Read more: Battery boom: 5.6 GW of US energy storage added in Q2
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![Check out Hyundai's cool new off-road electric SUV concept [Images]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/Hyundai-off-road-SUV.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Hyundai took the sheets of its new off-road electric SUV, the Crater Concept, at the LA Auto Show. Here’s our first look at the compact off-roader.
Meet Hyundai’s new off-road SUV, the Crater Concept
We knew it was coming after Hyundai teased the off-road SUV earlier this week, hidden under a drape. Hyundai took the sheets off the Crater Concept at the LA Auto Show on Thursday, giving us our first real look at the rugged off-roader.
Hyundai refers to it as a compact off-road SUV that’s inspired by extreme events. The concept was brought to life at the Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, California.
The off-road SUV draws design elements from Hyundai’s Extra Rugged Terrain (XRT) models, such as the IONIQ 5 XRT, Santa Cruz XRT, and the new Pallisade XRT Pro.
Although it’s a concept, Hyundai said the Crater Concept is a testament to its commitment to designing future XRT vehicles that are more functional, more capable, and more emotional.
“CRATER began with a question: ‘What does freedom look like?’ This vehicle stands as our answer,” Hyundai’s global design boss, SangYup Lee said.
The off-road SUV features Hyundai’s new Art of Steel design theme, first showcased on the THREE concept at the Munich Motor Show in September.
Hyundai said the design team was guided by one clear goal: To create a rugged and capable vehicle that’s designed to go anywhere. The Crater Concept embodies that vision with added wide skid plates, 33″ off-road tires, limb risers, rocker panels, and a roof platform.
Hyundai designed the interior for “tech-savvy adventure seekers,” with a singular design centered around a high-brow crash pad that stretches across the dashboard.
The concept also swaps the traditional infotainment setup for a head-up display that spans the entire front window, which Hyundai said includes a live rearview camera.
Hyundai’s off-roader includes a new Off-Road Controller for front and rear locking differentials, as well as a terrain selector with modes including Sand, Snow, and Mud. Other off-road features include downhill brake control, trailer brake control, a compass, and an altimeter.
Although Hyundai said it was electric, it didn’t reveal any further details about the powertrain. The off-road SUV could be a battery-electric or fuel-cell-electric vehicle.
Like the new Nexo, Hyundai’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the concept features “HTWO” lamps exclusive to its FCEVs.
Earlier this week, the design team at Hyundai Design North America also introduced its new design and ideation studio codenamed “The Sandbox.” The creative design studio is set to serve as a global hub for future XRT vehicles and gear.
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