Rivian’s R2 will have a heat pump to help efficiency in winter
Rivian’s newly-unveiled R2 will make use of a heat pump to help with efficiency in cold weather, which should be a boon to those in the Northern parts of North America, and in Europe.
We learned a lot about the R2 at its unveiling last week, and learned even more secrets about the car while hanging around after the event. But it turns out that the vehicle still has some secrets to tell.
Today, one twitter user asked Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe whether the R2 would have a heat pump, to which RJ answered a simple “Yes.”
Not only that, but the question said “does the R2 platform have a heat pump?”, which suggests that perhaps this feature may carry over to the R3 as well, which is going to be built on the same platform as the R2.
Rivian’s current vehicles, the R1T and R1S, do not have a heat pump, instead relying on resistive heating to warm the cabin, like many EVs.
Resistive heating runs an electric charge through a highly resistive coil of wire to generate waste heat. While this works well to rapidly heat a cabin (without needing to wait for the engine to warm up to generate heat, as is the case in gas cars), it’s also relatively energy intense.
A heat pump, however, works by moving heat from one place to another. It takes latent heat in outside air and brings it into the cabin, which can be up to 3-4x more efficient than generating that heat through resistive heating.
The net effect of this is that in cold weather you have to use less battery charge to run the heater, and thus get higher winter range in a car with a heat pump than in one with resistive heating.
Heat pumps have been a popular feature for more Europe-focused cars, because Europe tends to get colder weather than the parts of the US where EVs are the most popular (e.g. California). This is particularly relevant since the R2 signals Rivian’s entry into the European market, and the car has already been redesigned in some more EU-focused ways (e.g. moving the charge port to the passenger side, which is better for street charging).
Heat pumps are also of great use in the colder parts of the US, and in Canada.
Rivian’s vehicles have been quite popular among the “adventure” crowd, a reflection of Rivian’s slogan: “Keep the world adventurous forever.” So they’ve seen a lot of use in snow and ice conditions, like this video of a Rivian towing a semi truck out of a ditch in Utah winter.
Due to the R1’s extremely large battery, using a little bit of extra energy on a resistive heater hasn’t been all that bad. But this change makes us wonder if a heat pump might get incorporated into the R1 in the future as well.
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First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.
The factory began production quietly in July, a few months ahead of schedule, and employs more than 700 people. First Solar expects that number to hit 826 by the end of the year. Once it’s fully online, the site will add 3.5 GW of annual manufacturing capacity. That brings the company’s total US footprint to 14 GW in 2026 and 17.7 GW in 2027, when its newly announced South Carolina plant is anticipated to come online.
The Louisiana plant produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using US-made materials — glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel from Mississippi, which is fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
The new factory leans heavily on AI, from computer vision that spots defects on the line to deep learning tools that help technicians make real‑time adjustments.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the investment is already a win for the region, bringing in “hundreds of good-paying jobs and new opportunities for Louisiana workers and businesses.” A new economic impact analysis from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that the factory will boost Iberia Parish’s GDP by 4.4% in its first full year at capacity. The average manufacturing compensation package comes in at around $90,000, more than triple the parish’s per capita income.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar framed the new facility as a major step for US clean energy manufacturing: “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”
This site joins what’s already the largest solar manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere: three factories in Ohio, one in Alabama, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. Just last week, First Solar announced a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore more Series 6 module work. By the end of 2026, the company expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people across the US.
Read more: First Solar pours $330M into a new South Carolina solar factory
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No, it’s not the new Bolt. GM’s design team previewed a new high-riding “sporty Chevrolet EV” that should be brought to life.
Is Chevy launching a new sporty EV?
This is the all-electric vehicle Chevy should sell in the US. General Motors’ design team released a series of sketches previewing a sporty new Chevy EV.
Although it kinda looks like the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV as a higher-sitting compact crossover SUV, the design offers a fresh take on what it should have looked like.
The new Bolt is essentially a modernized version of the outgoing EUV model with a similar compact crossover silhouette. Nissan adopted a similar style with the new 2026 LEAF as buyers continue shifting from smaller sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and SUVs.
Will we see the sporty Chevy EV in real life? It’s not likely. For one, the “exploration sketch” is by GM China Advanced designer Charles Huang.
GM Design posted the sketches on its global social media page, but the caption read “Sporty Chevrolet EV for the China Market.”
It’s too bad. The Bolt could use a sporty sibling like an SS variant. Chevy introduced the Blazer EV SS (check out our review) for the 2026 model year, its fastest “SS” model yet. Packing up to 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Chevy Blazer SS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds when using Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode.
Will the Bolt be next? I wouldn’t get my hopes up. And if GM does bring the sporty Chevy EV to life, it will likely only be sold in China. Like all the fun cars these days.
What do you think of the design? Would you buy one of these in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
While deliveries of the 2027 Bolt are set to begin in early 2026, Chevy is offering some sweet deals on its current EV lineup, including up to $4,000 off in Customer Cash and 0% APR financing for 60 months.
Ready to test drive one? You can use our links below to find Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs at a dealership near you.
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Environment
Podcast: Electricity is the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss electricity becoming the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, the new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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