A Rivian R1S converted into a fire command vehicle has entered service with Eli Lilly’s corporate fire department at the drugmaker’s manufacturing campus under construction in Lebanon, Indiana, the upfitter that built it said on Friday.
The vehicle is the fourth emergency-service Rivian on the public record and the third from an independent converter rather than Rivian itself.
“Another Alta ERV Rivian R1S command vehicle is now in service with the Eli Lilly Fire Department, supporting their new manufacturing campus being built in Lebanon, Indiana,” Jon Krueger, Founder and President of Alta Emergency Response Vehicles, wrote on LinkedIn.
He said he stopped at Rivian’s new service centre in Fishers, Indiana, on the way to the handover so the local team could look the vehicle over, and thanked Seth Parks and Rivian’s fleet team “for their continued support of Alta ERV and our emergency vehicle work.”
The LinkedIn post was first reported by Rivian owner and content creator Chris Hilbert on X.
Photographs shared alongside the LinkedIn post show a red R1S with white fire-service livery, a front push bar and light bar, parked inside the Fishers service bay and outside beside a white R2.
Krueger added that after driving the R2 “there may be an Alta Emergency Response Vehicles R2 prototype in the future.”
Lilly’s Lebanon site, in the LEAP Research and Innovation District northwest of Indianapolis, is one of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing investments announced in the United States, and the company runs its own fire department at its Indiana plants.
What Alta Builds
Alta ERV is a Minnesota emergency-vehicle builder that has shown a Rivian R1S command unit since early 2025: outside Lucas Oil Stadium at FDIC International in Indianapolis in April 2025, alongside an electric pickup inside the hall, and at the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association conference in July 2025.
Its listed configuration is a dual-motor R1S with the large battery, a Gamber-Johnson centre console for radio and lighting controls, a rear command cabinet by Rockland Custom Products with a ratcheting command board and turnout-gear storage, and an ultra-high-pressure extinguishing system on a slide-out tray in the load bay, with the gear tunnel left open as a pass-through.
Alta was not among the six Preferred Upfit Partners Rivian named when it launched its Upfit Program in February 2025 (Ranger Design, Sortimo, Bush Specialty Vehicles, Holman, LEGEND and EV Sportline) and it is not clear whether it holds Rivian’s Authorized Upfitter status or works independently under the R1 upfitting guides Rivian publishes.
The Emergency Rivians
The Lilly R1S joins a short list of Rivian passenger vehicles converted for emergency use.
The first was the Palo Alto Police Department’s R1S, unveiled by Mayor Ed Lauing at his State of the City address in March 2025 and completed by Patrol EV, EV Sportline’s emergency division, in July 2025 with Whelen lighting, siren, radio, a camera system, a Gamber-Johnson console, secure storage and an auxiliary 12-volt power system for the equipment.
The second was Atlanta Fire Rescue’s R1T, delivered by Patrol EV last July as a quick-intervention unit for firefighter-paramedics responding to medical calls without a full engine.
Rivian’s own Special Projects group built a one-off electric ambulance on the Commercial Van for the television series Grey’s Anatomy in February, and a quad-motor R1T aid station for Nike ACG’s Brink 100 trail race, neither of them in service.
