The American manufacturer Rivian has decided to remove the famous Tank Turn from its electric cars and should not offer it on its future models. And the reason is not really what you think. It is ecological.
You’ve probably heard of Rivian before, especially if you’re a regular reader of our lines. It is for the record a young American brand, founded in 2009 and competing head-on with Tesla. Today, the manufacturer offers two models, the R1S and R1T, a large SUV and a pick-up, both electric.
An unexpected announcement
The latter share a similar technical sheet and hunt on the lands of the Ford F-150 Lightning and other Tesla Cybertrucks, but especially the GMC Hummer EV, which also comes in two versions. But where the models designed by Rivian stand out is an unusual feature, which has already caused a lot of ink.
This is the “Tank Turn”. What is it exactly ? This technology simply allows the vehicle to turn on itself, turning the wheels in different directions. This makes it easier to maneuver on narrow roads in particular or in certain off-road driving situations. Not necessarily essential, but it at least has the merit of talking.
Except that this feature will never see the light of day and will not be offered to customers, much to their chagrin. A surprising decision, announced by the CEO of the brand himself during a question-and-answer session on instagram. RJ Scaringe, also founder of the company confirms that this technology will never be integrated on the R1T and R1S. And the reason is not really what one might think.
Indeed, the boss points out that it’s not because of finances, quite fragile for the moment, that the brand has made this decision. Nor is it due to technical constraints, since the manufacturer has been working on this technology for several years now and it was shown on a prototype video. In fact, the reason is quite different and concerns rather the environment and more particularly its protection.
A decision linked to ecology
The manager asserts that the power generated by the wheels of the vehicle could damage the tracks on which it rolls when they are in a perpendicular position. He points out that ” people could easily abuse it, and it’s too hard for us to make sure we don’t destroy paths“. Thus, the manufacturer has made the decision to no longer offer this technology.
An unexpected announcement from the brand, for whom this feature was one of its main assets. A few months earlier, she had even decided to make some changes. Especially since other models will also offer a more or less similar system, such as the Tesla Cybertruck. The latter could indeed move like a crab, as a previous video had already shown.
But the crab mode is not completely identical, since the car does not really turn on itself. Its turning circle is greatly reduced, but not as much as with a tank turn.
This decision does not only affect current Rivian vehicles but all future ones, including the future R1X which should arrive at the end of the year as well as the next R2 and R3. We do not know if other manufacturers will make a similar choice or if they will take advantage of the announcement of the American company to highlight this technology at home and make an argument.
For its part, the future electric Mercedes EQG will also have its own tank turn. Finally, Hyundai unveiled a similar system on its Ioniq 5, but nothing has been announced regarding mass production yet.
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