For those who are closely following the news about electric vehicles, today they have a manufacturer in their sights: Rivian, who received the nickname “the Tesla of pickups” due to its approach and strategy that reminds much of what Elon Musk has done.

During this 2019, Rivian became one of the manufacturers of electric vehicles with greater financial support in the industry, this after raising 1.3 billion dollars from T. Rowe Price Associates, a company that became the second-largest investor of Tesla. An investment that adds to the capital injections by Amazon, Ford and Cox Automotive, where the most impressive thing is that today, Rivian has not sold a single car.

And to celebrate this new milestone, and as a Christmas gift, Rivian wanted to present a new feature that will have its R1T and R1S, its electric pickup and SUV, when they go on sale. It is called ‘Tank Turn’ and as the name implies, it is a “tank turn” that allows the vehicle to skid over the same axis at 360 degrees.

Tank Turn. Available on the R1T and R1S 🙂 pic.twitter.com/AsRKnFJGWr

— Rivian (@Rivian) December 25, 2019

The “magic” of four independent electric motors

As explained by Amy Mast, Rivian spokesman, ‘Tank Turn’ will be an exclusive feature for its electric vehicles, which will arrive initially with the R1T and R1S, but the idea is that their future cars include it. But the most interesting thing is to know how they make it possible:

“The four engines of the vehicle independently control the torque on each wheel, allowing the torque to be applied in opposite directions on each side of the vehicle. The vehicle estimates how much friction exists between the wheels and the surface beneath them and apply the torque to each wheel to produce a controlled rotation.”

And of course, to understand this it is best to watch it on video:

It should be noted that ‘Tank Turn’ should only be done on surfaces with mud or gravel and not on pavement or any high grip surface since the vehicle components would be subject to excessive stress that could damage them.

When using all four engines, this feature will only be available for the Quad Motor configuration of vehicles, that is, the most expensive. And, according to Rivian, it is a sample of what they are preparing under their promise to make off-road cars ready for almost any situation.

Rivian is scheduled to sell its R1S electric SUV first, which would begin production during the last quarter of 2020 starting at $ 72,000. While his R1T electric pickup would arrive in early 2021 with a price that would start at $ 69,000.