Does 2026 Quad Max Suggest There’s Nothing New in 2026 Other than NACS?

[DuoRivians]

As title asks, for the general 2026 model year, are we seeing anything new (from 2025) other than the NACS port?

(For the R1 cars. Not R2.)

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[mpshizzle]

As title asks, for the general 2026 model year, are we seeing anything new (from 2025) other than the NACS port?

(For the R1 cars. Not R2.)

They didn't make any posts about it but the configurator's online are now switched to 2026 for the other models. The only difference I noticed was that they removed some color options and nacs is now on all models

 

[Golfer04]

Honestly, I had higher hopes for the 2026 vehicles. Basically they are using the same 2017-2018 design on their flagship vehicles. I had hoped for 800v architecture, less expensive interiors (bench seat?), glove box, better software and better sound system just to name a few. Really puts the pressure on R2 and bringing that to market timely.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

It doesn't appear as though there is anything new outside of NACS, but there shouldn't have been expectations that there were as they just had a model refresh last year and they don't sell that many units. They have to concentrate on maximizing cash flow.

 

[VandalSibs]

Honestly, I had higher hopes for the 2026 vehicles. Basically they are using the same 2017-2018 design on their flagship vehicles. I had hoped for 800v architecture, less expensive interiors (bench seat?), glove box, better software and better sound system just to name a few. Really puts the pressure on R2 and bringing that to market timely.

Just curious, why were you expecting something? There hasn't been any rumors or announcements. Most vehicles go a least a few years without major changes, and we just got those last year...

 

[Golfer04]

Just curious, why were you expecting something? There hasn't been any rumors or announcements. Most vehicles go a least a few years without major changes, and we just got those last year...

I've owned two QM R1Ts and now own a Tri motor. Inside you can't tell which vehicle it is. This design is from 2017-2018. It isn't like sales have been huge. I love mine, but they have to be disappointed in the sales. Might want to make a substantial change.

 

[SANZC02]

It doesn't appear as though there is anything new outside of NACS, but there shouldn't have been expectations that there were as they just had a model refresh last year and they don't sell that many units. They have to concentrate on maximizing cash flow.

I agree, especially with all of the effort getting the R2 out the door which is really way more critical for Rivian than any new updates to the R1 series.

 

[Tucker74]

I just don’t get all the 800V hoopla, so it would charge a bit faster at a L3 charger. Everyone quotes the Ioniq5 charging in 18min (20-80soc). It’s got a 77kWh battery pack! Sure - long term you should probably design a new vehicle for the future, but to retrofit an existing makes little sense. It’s not that much better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[VSG]

There have been hundreds of small changes in the hardware and the software over the past year.

NACS is the big customer-facing change, and if you think that's only a minor difference then you need to read all the forums for the past two years. How many other EVs have this? Besides Tesla, which has a Telsa outlet (which is forwards-compatible with NACS but not an official NACS outlet AFAIK).

This is certainly far more of a change than most legacy automakers will make in a model year. Unless you were expecting superficial changes like most will do? It's all marketing anyway - makes you feel better about getting a "new" car that is more advanced than the "old models" which were available yesterday. Rivian just made a huge change last year - amounting to a redesign of the model after only 2 years. Most automakers will milk a model for 5-7 years before making that big of a change. It would be silly and wasteful for Rivian to throw out all their sheet metal dies etc. (tens of millions of dollars) just to make the vehicles look slightly different in order to attract customers.

Rivian has been pretty consistent about its drive towards profitability. New trim isn't going to inspire new buyers right now - sales are limited by interest rates and consumer sentiment and by saturation of the market segment.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I've owned two QM R1Ts and now own a Tri motor. Inside you can't tell which vehicle it is. This design is from 2017-2018. It isn't like sales have been huge. I love mine, but they have to be disappointed in the sales. Might want to make a substantial change.

You don't like the Ascend trim? I am not sure what you mean by "inside, you can't tell which vehicle it is." Sales have been relatively strong, considering the cost and the current economic climate.

 

[LaunchGreen]

The Quad "launched" today with just two color options.

What do y'all think - is that all there will be or will there be another non-launch quad in the future? Yesterday Quad was on the site with normal options and it's now gone.

With Rivian only selling 10k units a quarter, 2 models, 4 editions it makes me wonder....

 

[DuoRivian]

Honestly, I had higher hopes for the 2026 vehicles. Basically they are using the same 2017-2018 design on their flagship vehicles. I had hoped for 800v architecture, less expensive interiors (bench seat?), glove box, better software and better sound system just to name a few. Really puts the pressure on R2 and bringing that to market timely.

There was no expectation to have major changes one year after gen 2.

Shame Red Canyon has been dropped now. Does allow new colors to be introduced.

 

[CharonPDX]

Honestly, I had higher hopes for the 2026 vehicles. Basically they are using the same 2017-2018 design on their flagship vehicles. I had hoped for 800v architecture, less expensive interiors (bench seat?), glove box, better software and better sound system just to name a few. Really puts the pressure on R2 and bringing that to market timely.

Yeah, no chance 2026 was going to be 800V, with the Gen 2 only introduced late last year.

MAYBE whenever "Gen3" drops, it has at least a slight chance of being 800V. But I wouldn't even count on that.

The way I see it, no chance of any major update to the R1 line until R2 is in full profitable production. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say 2028 model year is the "Gen 3"; although I'd also think that one would come out *VERY* late 2027 or even during 2028.

That would be three models years of Gen 1, three model years of Gen 2.

I'm still hoping the R2/R3 line gets updated to 800V before launch.

 

[GamoraR1S]

The Quad "launched" today with just two color options.

What do y'all think - is that all there will be or will there be another non-launch quad in the future? Yesterday Quad was on the site with normal options and it's now gone.

With Rivian only selling 10k units a quarter, 2 models, 4 editions it makes me wonder....

They took away canyon red!!!!!!! Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

 

[RivianR1TinSFL]

As title asks, for the general 2026 model year, are we seeing anything new (from 2025) other than the NACS port?

(For the R1 cars. Not R2.)

I suggest dropping your expectations a few notches. Most manufacturers don’t do major updates every model year. But I’m sure you already know that.

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