The 2025 Rivian R1S is leading the EV pack with some sweet updates

The new 2025 Rivian R1S looks a lot like the midsize SUV the electric car specialist launched in 2022, but “new” goes way more than skin deep in today’s auto industry.
The R1S’s sheet metal is unchanged, but a host of software and mechanical upgrades make the midsize three-row SUV worth your attention, despite the fact that the R1S went on sale just two years ago.
R1S — the name indicates brand: Rivian; size: Part of the automaker’s midsize family; and body style: S for SUV — has standard all-wheel drive and comes with a choice of two, three or four electric motors. The R1S Dual Motor is on sale now. More powerful Tri- and Quad-Motor models will follow in the next few months.
The R1S can go up to 420 miles on a charge, making it a leader among current EVs. Its features, performance and price are all competitive.
I enjoyed a week driving a 665-horsepower Performance Dual Motor with the long-range battery.
Source: Rivian. Prices exclude $1,800 destination charge.
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The exterior lights got a couple of tweaks, most noticeably multicolor LED light bars that show charging progress. An upcoming over that air update (OTA) will allow the headlights’ matrix beams to direct high beams away from the eyes of oncoming drivers, allowing the more powerful lights to remain on all the time.
Despite the SUV’s familiar profile, Rivian says more than half its physical hardware got updates, including the body, suspension, battery and electrical system. The automaker shut down its Illinois assembly plant for a month this year for the upgrades, which Rivian says reduce manufacturing cost and complexity.
The new electrical architecture allowed Rivian to get rid of 1.6 miles of wires, shed 44 pounds and go from 17 onboard computers to a mere seven.
That’s the kind of reduction in complexity and parts count most automakers drool over when they introduce an entirely new vehicle, much less an update to a 2-year-old SUV.
The electrical architecture — an automotive term of art that includes wiring, controllers and sundry other parts — already got a major vote of confidence: After months of secret engineering tests and high-level meetings, VW agreed to pay Rivian $5 billion for access to the technology and help deploying it in upcoming vehicles from VW, Audi and the German automaker’s other brands.
Rivian promises that automated lane changes and other assist features for highway driving are coming via another OTA.
2025 Rivian R1S top new features:
R1S prices start at $75,900.
Two electric motors and all-wheel drive are standard. The base model’s motors produce 533 hp and 610 pound-feet of torque. It accelerates to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, not bad for a three-row SUV nearly the size of a Jeep Grand Cherokee L.
The Performance Dual-Motor Max range I tested can go 410 miles on a full charge. Range estimates for the whole lineup aren’t available yet, but Rivian says they go from 258 miles to 420.
The Performance Dual Motor develops 665 hp, 829 pound-feet of torque and accelerates to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. It’s available now.
The Tri-Motor and Quad-Motor get a new engine pack. The Tri, as you’ve undoubtedly figured out, has one motor for each rear wheel, one for the front axle. You can do the math for the Quad: Each wheel gets its own motor.
Power, prices, acceleration and ETA:
Rivian builds all the motors in-house. It bought motors from a supplier when the R1S and T originally went on sale.
The motors are oil-cooled, which helps manage heat when rock crawling and improves range in highway driving.
The R1S can charge at either a Tesla-style NACS terminal or the CCS connectors other fast-charging companies use. Rivian also has a few of its own chargers. They tend to be near trailheads, a nod to the R1S and T’s off-road capability. Rivian says charging from 10% to 80% will take 30 to 41 minutes, depending on battery size.
Selected competitors:
The updated air suspension delivers a smoother ride and better handling than the previous setup. The Performance Dual-Motor accelerates powerfully and seemed likely to deliver its projected range in a mix of surface street and highway driving. The touch screen that manages most systems is big, clear and surprisingly intuitive. Combined with new high-res cameras, it presented 360 views and graphics beautifully.
I’m a die-hard fan of physical controls for things like temperature, fan speed and volume, but I got used to Rivian’s system pretty quickly.
To my great surprise, I particularly liked the touch screen-controlled vents, which remembered my settings along with the R1S’s seats, mirrors and steering wheel.
I look forward to testing Rivian’s advanced highway driving assistant on a long drive when it’s ready.
The R1S is fast, sophisticated and unlike anything else on the market. The front and second rows of seats provide good comfort, the rear seat is serviceable.
The 2025 updates make the R1S simultaneously one of the fastest and longest-range EVs. Add that to what appears to be legitimate off-road capability — I didn’t get to test that — and you’ve got a uniquely appealing EV.
All-wheel drive three-row midsize electric SUV.
Base price: $75,900 (All prices exclude $1,800 destination charge)
Model tested: Performance Dual-Motor
Price as tested: $89,900
Powertrain: One electric motor on each axle
Transmission: Single-speed direct drive
Output: 665 hp; 829 pound-feet of torque @ 3,000-5,500 rpm
Estimated range: 410 miles
Battery: 149 kWh
Charging time: DCFC 10-80% in 30-40 minutes depending on battery; 140 miles in 20 minutes
Wheelbase: 121.1 inches
Length: 200.8 inches
Width: 82 inches. Without mirrors, 87.1 inches with mirrors
Height: 77.3 inches maximum with air
Cargo room: 9.9 cubic feet in front trunk; 48.6 cubic feet behind second-row seat; 105.8 cubic feet behind front seat
0-60 mph: 3.4 seconds
Towing capacity: 7,700 pounds
Assembled in Normal, Illinois
Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.