Rivian has filed a trademark application for the term ‘R4’ with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), adding to a growing trail of signals that the EV maker’s product roadmap extends beyond the already unveiled — but not yet launched — R3 and R3X models.
The filing, first spotted by X user and Rivian owner Chris Hilbert, was submitted on June 10 under US serial number 99877911.
The EV maker filed the application on an intent-to-use basis, suggesting that it has not yet begun using the R4 name in commerce but intends to do so.
The application covers “land vehicles; electrically-powered motor land vehicles; electric land vehicles, namely, SUVs and trucks” under International Class 012.
As of publication, the filing is awaiting assignment to an examining attorney at the USPTO.
Latest R4 Mention
The trademark landed the same day Rivian‘s founder and CEO RJ Scaringe told The Drivecast that a R4 model is in the works.
Questioned about the pipeline beyond the R2 and R3, Scaringe pointed to several EV segments he considers underserved.
“The first that really hasn’t been addressed is the true midsize SUV,” he said, drawing a distinction between midsize crossovers already on sale and a full midsize SUV built for the electric market. “We don’t have a great midsize SUV that consumers can buy today.”
Scaringe also cited smaller trucks and what he called “adventure-oriented crossovers” as opportunities, framing the R3 as the answer to the latter category.
“There’s R4,” Scaringe added, listing the model alongside other unnamed vehicles being evaluated for the midsize platform.
“We also have to recognize on the platform there’s going to be things that come beyond R2 and R3 that we also have to make a tradeoff against in terms of what’s the next set of things that we do,” he noted.
Feder pressed for specifics on the R4’s body style, however, while Scaringe acknowledged the vehicle, he declined to elaborate on what it will be.
“It’s very cool, but not ready to talk about it yet,” he said.
Asked whether the R4 could be a pickup, he replied: “It could be a lot of things.”
Prior R4 Details
Scaringe first confirmed the R4 designation in August 2025, during an appearance on The Tosh Show with US comedian Daniel Tosh.
By then, the Chief Executive stated that Rivian‘s product plan extended to “five or six different vehicles,” with the R4 and R5 following the R2 and R3.
A potential R6 was also under consideration, he added, though no details were given.
Two months later, speaking on InsideEVs’ Plugged-In podcast, Scaringe provided additional detail.
He described the R4 and R5 as a “sibling set” — two vehicles sharing a common platform, similar to the R2 and R3.
He said the pair would be priced lower than even the R2 and R3, positioning them as Rivian‘s most affordable future models.
At the time, however, he cautioned that there were “no engineering teams on those today” and that the vehicles remained “very much conceptual.”
2021 Trademarks
Rivian already holds earlier trademark filings for the names R4S and R4T, submitted in July 2021 as part of a broader batch that also included R3S, R3T, R5S, and R5T.
Those filings followed the naming convention of the first-generation lineup — R1S for the SUV, R1T for the truck — and suggested each future model number would spawn separate SUV and truck variants.
Rivian submitted the 2021 filings when the company had only just begun delivering its first vehicle, the R1T pickup, in September of that year.
The new standalone ‘R4’ filing takes a different approach, grouping SUVs and trucks together under a single mark rather than splitting by body style — which would follow the R2 and R3 name convention instead.
Mid-size Platform
The trademark filing arrives as Rivian navigates its most important product launch to date.
The company began delivering the R2 earlier this month, with production currently running at its Normal, Illinois, plant.
Both the R2 and the forthcoming R3 are built on Rivian‘s midsize platform, which was designed to underpin multiple vehicles.
Scaringe’s repeated references to future models sharing that architecture suggest the R4 could eventually join the same platform family, though Rivian has not confirmed this.
On the podcast, Scaringe acknowledged that decisions about what comes after the R2 and R3 require trade-offs against other potential vehicles on the platform.
During the same interview, Scaringe also touched on Rivian‘s approach to accessories and patents.
“Sometimes we develop something, we decide not to launch it, but we still patent the idea,” he noted.
He exemplified by saying that the company had long considered adding a winch to the R1, however “it really impacts from a regulatory point of view.”
Separately, Rivian also published a patent earlier this year that included previously unseen vehicle silhouettes.
By then, X user Chris Hilbert flagged one of the designs as a potential match for an unannounced Gen 2 platform vehicle shown in shadow form at Rivian‘s 2024 Investor Day.
