Lincoln Pulls the Plug on Its Rivian-Based EV
Citing “the current environment,” Lincoln Motor Company announced that it has ceased development on its all-new electric vehicle. Lincoln first confirmed its plans to build an electric vehicle based on Rivian’s skateboard platform in late January.
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The luxury brand insists that this does not mean that it is not pursuing adding a fully electric vehicle to the lineup. Though “the current environment” makes it sound as if the vehicle is being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lincoln says that it “determined that it would be better to pivot from the Rivian skateboard platform and focus our development efforts on Lincoln’s own fully-electric vehicle.”
Per Lincoln’s statement: “Our partnership with Rivian is strong and while the Lincoln electric vehicle did not turn out to be the right opportunity, we continue to work closely with Rivian to assess the right opportunities to work together, including the development of a vehicle based on Rivian’s platform. There is also a lot we can learn from Rivian and the clean sheet approach they are taking to electric vehicles.”
Last April, Ford announced that it was investing $500 million in Rivian, maker of the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV. A spokesperson told Automotive News that Lincoln plans to continue working with Rivian on “an alternative vehicle” that will also use the company’s skateboard platform.
According to Rivian SEO RJ Scaringe, the vehicle it was working on with Lincoln would have been different from the company’s R1S though “still in the SUV space.”
Lincoln has already dipped its toes into electrification with its Aviator Grand Touring and Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrids.
Lincoln trademarks Eglide name
While development on the Rivian-based EV has stalled, Ford filed a trademark in April for the name Lincoln Eglide. The trademark covers “electric vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles, sport utility vehicles, and structural parts and fittings,” making it a likely choice for the name of a future Lincoln electric vehicle.
Given that Lincoln now seems to be headed back to the drawing board to create its own clean-sheet electric SUV, it will likely be a good little while before we find out any further details.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.