Rivian’s New RAD Division Is Here. But What Is It Really?

• Rivian’s new RAD team puts a public face on its in-house performance skunkworks.
• It introduced the RAD Tuner, which gives quad-motor R1 owners deep control over 10 vehicle settings.
• The real mystery is whether RAD will stay software-focused or spawn special Rivian models.

If you buy the most powerful quad-motor version of a new Rivian R1 model, you’re not going to be left wanting for extreme performance. They are already fantastically capable vehicles that blend great on-road performance with remarkable off-road capability. Now Rivian is channeling that into an official in-house performance division, similar to Mercedes-AMG and BMW Motorsport, and it’s calling it RAD.

It stands for Rivian Adventure Department, and its goal is to explore the limits of Rivian vehicles and how to push them to become even more capable. The manufacturer already has a skunkworks team focused on performance, but it’s presenting RAD as the public-facing version of what it already has going on in that department.

Automakers invest in performance and motorsport-style divisions as extreme use cases break hardware and software faster than normal driving ever will. This also helps with innovation that may later trickle down into mass-market vehicles.

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Source: Rivian

Quad-motor Rivians already have the RAD Tuner, an entire screen packed with sliders that lets you tweak every possible setting to tailor the way the vehicle drives to your requirements. It lets drivers tweak 10 variables, from front-rear torque split to damping, roll stiffness, and brake assistance.

It allows you to create and save custom presets for various scenarios, which you can access later without having to fiddle with the sliders again. Rivian is hinting that RAD may grow beyond software features like RAD Tuner and Kick Turn, potentially into more specialized products or experiences, but it hasn’t said exactly what form that will take.

The real news here is not that Rivian has created its own performance division—it already existed. It’s that it has given it a name and identity as a more enthusiast-friendly part of the company that’s willing to do more extreme things, hinting at where it will go next, but without actually telling us what special projects it has in store.

“RAD is where we maximize the capability of our vehicles,” R1 chief engineer Luke Lynch said in an official blog post. “Subjecting them to extreme conditions—from the 14,000-foot ascent of Pikes Peak to the barren deserts of the Rebelle Rally. For us, the competition is only one element. Vigorously validating every system, component, and algorithm is the other.”

He makes an important point there. While EVs have become more reliable over the years, the technology is still in its early stages compared to the century-old combustion engine. Extreme testing could push motors, thermal systems, suspension, and software to their limits, making future Rivians more durable and capable.

Lynch went on to say that “The greatest outcome of developing the vehicles in these extreme environments is a beautifully well-rounded vehicle. The cherry on top is translating those hard-won lessons into features, like the new RAD Tuner, that deliver next-level fun to our owners.”

For now, RAD looks less like a full-blown performance sub-brand and more like Rivian putting a badge on the team behind its most enthusiast-friendly ideas. Whether that eventually leads to dedicated variants, special projects, or just more sophisticated software remains to be seen.