Rivian Max Pack, R2 details, STLA drive modules, greenest and meanest: Today’s Car News

Rivian will deliver a three-row SUV with nearly 400 miles of range later this year. Drive modules for upcoming Ram, Dodge, and Jeep EVs may be made in Indiana. And the Mini Cooper SE tops an annual list of the greenest. What’s the meanest? This and more, here at EV kind of cars.

Rivian has confirmed that a 390-mile Max Pack version of its R1S electric SUV will be delivered starting this fall. The Max Pack versions will only come in Dual Motor form, with the company’s latest, in-house Enduro drive units. Further, Rivian released updated range numbers for the trucks in Dual Motor form, and emphasized that its mass-market R2 lineup to come in 2026 will be much easier to build.

The latest annual analysis of the greenest and meanest new vehicles for the environment from the ACEEE helps underscore that, taking into account tailpipe emissions, manufacturing, and the production of fuel, lighter EVs are the greenest picks, while heavy gasoline trucks are the meanest. The 2023 list was topped by the Mini Cooper SE, Nissan Leaf, and Toyota bZ4X.

And the same day it announced that it idled an Illinois plant assembling gasoline vehicles, Stellantis boasted of its plan to make electric drive modules in Indiana for future EVs—including the Ram 1500 REV pickup and a Dodge electric muscle car.

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