We’ve made no secret of our love for the current Lincoln Navigator. After all, we named it the best new car of the year for 2018, when it went on sale. We’ve also been pretty vocal in our excitement about the Rivian R1S and R1T, the purely-electric, all-kinds-of-clever electric pickup truck and SUV pairing set to go on sale next year.
So you can imagine how stoked we were to hear Lincoln and Rivian may be planning on joining forces to create an electric Navigator — or at least a Navigator-like SUV.
That’s the latest from Reuters, which cites several people familiar with a program to use Rivian’s all-electric vehicle platform to build a battery-powered SUV. Considering the R1S is nearly the size of the Navigator, any Lincoln based off its chassis would be around the same size as the gas-powered Navi we know and love.
The electric Lincoln, reportedly being developed under the code name of U787, should hit the streets in mid-2022, according to the story — just in time to take the fight to the full-size electric SUVs and trucks rival General Motors has in the works, including an Escalade-like Cadillac EV and quite possibly a reborn Hummer.
That won’t be the only electric crossover to land in Lincoln dealerships, of course. Two smaller ones are also expected in the next four years, according to Reuters‘s sources, at least one of which will presumably use the architecture of the controversial new Ford Mustang Mach-E. The Lincolns will also join a host of other electric vehicles wearing the Blue Oval badge that are planned to be introduced over the next few years, including an electric F-150 expected in 2021 based on the all-new next-gen version of the best-selling pickup truck.
If it seems odd that Rivian might play a key role in the creation of a direct rival, take a minute to remember that Ford Motor Company is a major investor in the EV start-up. Earlier this year, FoMoCo dropped $500 million into the nascent Michigan-based electric vehicle builder; Ford also plans to help Rivian gear up its production processes in order to get the R1S and R1T rolling off assembly lines and onto streets.
