The Rivian R2 Squeezed Out Six Further Miles Of Vary With This Revolutionary Design

• No, the Rivian R2 is not lacking a rear wiper. The automaker truly hid the wiper proper contained in the tailgate.
• That may look like a boring reality, however there’s rather a lot to nerd out on when contemplating how the engineers selected that spot.
• EVs do not at all times have rear wipers to maximise aerodynamics, a lot to the consternation of householders.

There are two forms of electrical automobile firms on the earth: ones that slap elements wherever they match, and others that apparently run computational fluid-dynamics simulations over essentially the most mundane options to squeeze each final ounce of vary out of their automobiles. Guess which one Rivian determined to be when designing the upcoming R2 SUV.

One of many tiny options that Rivian’s engineers obsessed over when designing the truck was the rear wiper. Finally, it was determined that the R2 completely wanted one, however it additionally wanted to have a rear window that would roll down and could not sacrifice miles for higher visibility within the rain. Many EVs, just like the Toyota bZ4X and unique Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, did with out rear wipers for varied causes—and this was not at all times a preferred alternative with car-buyers.

So Rivian engineers did one thing unconventional and created a tiny recessed pocket that the rear wiper calls house when not in use.

2026 Rivian R2 Prototype Drive

Picture by: Patrick George

On the R2 prototype drive occasion attended by InsideEVs’ Editor-in-Chief Patrick George, Rivian’s design chief Jeff Hammoud defined why. The rear window rolls down, and folks could to retailer gear out of it, like surfboards. “(We could not) bundle a rear wiper in a spoiler like another autos, as a result of there’s simply no packaging house for it,” Hammoud stated. “So your different possibility is to connect it to the physique, one that does not look nice, however then additionally causes points should you’re pulling issues out and in.”

The patent for the Rivian R2 rear wiper exhibits it tucked into the tailgate.

Picture by: USPTO

The second purpose is the place issues begin to get deliciously nerdy. Regardless that the R2 appears prefer it has the aerodynamics of a cinderblockits lovely boxiness has a refined teardrop form to the roofline that will get tucked beneath of the rear spoiler. Put a wiper and motor up there, and you have ruined the form that enables for clean-flowing air. So the wiper could not reside up prime, both.

“Regardless that we had this very nice two-box silhouette, aerodynamic effectivity was nonetheless one thing that was crucial,” Hammoud stated.

Engineers validated that by testing out the results of mounting the wiper on the prime in each CFD simulations and in reside wind tunnels—however by no means on a validation truck that hit the street, particularly when Rivian checked the maths.

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Supply: Patrick George

In actual fact, the automaker advised InsideEVs that by transferring the elements into the pocket and out of the way in which of the wind, it was in a position so as to add six miles to the R2’s total vary. Six miles, simply from the location of a windshield wiper.

And, sure, Rivian thought of water and winter. The automaker says that the small pocket features a hidden drain that lets water movement out from under the taillight so you are not driving round with a transportable chicken tub after a storm. It has a heating component to maintain the realm away from ice and snow, plus Rivian tells me that it additionally has just a few software program methods up its sleeve to boost the wiper out of its house to place when inclement climate is inbound.

It is a tiny element. To most folk, a wiper is a wiper that serves one single function. However to Rivian and the R2’s workforce, the wiper was only a piece of the massively vital puzzle that’s the R2.