Rivian’s Skateboard Platform Could Underpin Pininfarina’s Electric SUV

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Pininfarina recently gave us a glimpse of its upcoming electric hypercar. Sporting a new moniker, the company decided to ditch the nameplate of PF0 for ‘Battista’. In a follow-up act, the company is also planning for electric SUV.

However, what amused us was a recent Autocar India report, citing internal sources of the company, which stated that the SUV will be based on the skateboard platform that underpins the Rivian R1S. During its launch at the LA Auto Show this year, Rivian had confirmed that its platform was open for licensing to other automakers.

Post this, when Motor Authority extended the conversation with the spokesperson of Rivian, he said “while it is in discussion with several potential partners to leverage its technologies, it has not yet announced any formal business agreements.”

Rivian’s skateboard platform features a skateboard-like design with the battery pack on the floor of the passengers with electric motors at each axle. In its surprisingly potent high-seated twins, Rivian said that the powertrain should provide 750 horsepower and a staggering 1111Nm of torque.

Codenamed as the PF1 in Pininfarina’s registries, the SUV will reportedly get close to 1089bhp of power along with a kerb weight of less than 2404kg. Other purported details on the PF1 electric SUV include 24-inch wheels, the company’s “Pura” design language with a thin LED strip of lights across the front fascia and a starting price of $200,000.

It has not been long that the company teased us with some more images of the Battista that is currently taking its shape as we type this.

The new name pays homage to the company’s founder Battista Pininfarina (born Battista Farina). It was the lifelong dream of the founder to launch a car brand under his own name. This dream could, however, not be realised before his passing in 1966. Today the company he founded is run by his grandson Paolo Pininfarina.

“My grandfather always had the vision that one day there would be a standalone range of Pininfarina-branded cars,” Pininfarina said in a statement. “For me, we simply had to call [the hypercar] Battista; his dream becomes reality today as we link our glorious past with the future of motoring.”