When Ford first formed a strategic partnership with Rivian this past April, specifying that Ford would build a new electric vehicle using RIvian’s skateboard platform, it was widely anticipated that such an upscale product would be offered by Ford’s Lincoln luxury brand. 

Now we have some level of confirmation of that according to Reuters, and what it cites as “several people familiar with the program.”

Rivian R1S

The all-electric SUV would arrive in 2022, according to the sources, and be one of the results of Ford’s investment and partnership with Detroit-area upstart Rivian. 

Ford has already announced that Lincoln will get a fully electric vehicle based on the recently introduced 2021 Mustang Mach-E. With the Mach-E in the mid-size category, with a price starting well below $50,000, a Lincoln version could start closer to $60,000. That would leave room for the Rivian-based model, likely to be more of a larger SUV that aims for more traditional truck attributes, to be priced higher. Rivian says that the R1S SUV on which it’s to be based will start at $72,500 before the potential $7,500 federal EV tax credit. 

Rivian R1T, R1S chassis

The Rivian R1T is due in late 2020, with the R1S SUV set to follow in 2021, so the timing for the Lincoln product would help assure that Rivian can first ramp up on production and deliveries to its own customers, from its former Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Illinois. 

Ford’s investment in RIvian is just $500 million of an $11 billion push toward the electrification of its products, including a fully electric version of the Ford F-150 that could arrive as soon as 2021.