{"podcast":{"title":"The Drivecast","slug":"the-drivecast-7679263","podcast_index_feed_id":7679263,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/thedrivecast","website_url":"https://thedrive.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/d7009d68-c3da-11f0-ab0b-27730799ec2e/image/5e5027867576f73364084f450272a356.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Drive","episode_count":22,"summary":"The Drivecast gives you an inside, behind-the-scenes look at the biggest stories, controversies, and people shaping the car industry from one of the top automotive news sites in the country. Each week, The Drive's editor-in-chief Kyle Cheromcha, director of content Joel Feder, and a rotating cast of expert staffers will break down how automakers are navigating a transformative time. Massive shifts in technology, manufacturing, and consumer demands are changing the ways cars are built and sold quicker than ever, and the way car companies are navigating this moment will shape the way our roads look for the next century. It doesn’t matter if you’re an enthusiast since birth or just curious about why cars are the way they are today—we’ll give you the inside line with our exclusive reporting and break it all down for you. If you like what we're doing, check out The Drive for the latest news, analysis, and in-depth car reviews, sign up for one of our newsletters, and subscribe to us on YouTube. We're also posting all the time on Instagram and Facebook.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-02T06:19:23.382800+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263"},"episode":{"title":"How Rivian Got RAD","slug":"how-rivian-got-rad","published_at":"2026-03-04T17:45:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263/how-rivian-got-rad","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263","url":"https://www.thedrive.com/category/podcast","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RECU1453415528.mp3","summary":"Rivian just green lit its own internal performance division, dubbed the Rivian Adventure Department or RAD for short, to move from skunkworks to something larger than one-off passion projects and software development. The usage of the word \"yes\" landed Rivian here, but now that we have RAD there's a laundry list of questions. This week, Kyle and Joel break down the history of events that formed RAD as a skunkworks operation to where we are today, what it means, what's to come, and what's realistic. The startup automaker is burning through cash as it inches towards launching the smaller, less expensive, more mainstream R2 electric SUV in the coming months. Will it arrive on time and as promised? And what's Rivian doing to tackle its low its reliability score from Consumer Reports and long service wait times? Joel spent time with various executives ranging from founder and CEO RJ Scaringe to VP of Engineering and Quality, Brian Gase, along with R1 Chief Engineer Luke Lynch to get answers to burning questions and decipher the past, present, and future. Stories mentioned in today's episode: BMW Has M, Mercedes Has AMG, and Now Rivian Has RAD Rivian’s RAD Tuner Is Like An Equalizer For Your EV’s Powertrain 2026 Rivian R2 Arrives With 300-Plus Mile Range, Eyes-Off Driving, 0-60 Under 3 Seconds 2026 Rivian R1T Quad First Drive Review: When Too Much Is Just Enough Rivian’s Slick RAD Tuner Could Come To Other Performance Models We’re at Pikes Peak Following the First-Ever Rivian R1T Race Attempt Rivian Adds Soft Sand Mode with Low Regen and High Power Settings Rivian’s Kick Turn Takes the 360-Degree Tank Turn to a Whole New Level: Actually Useful 2025 Rivian R1S First Drive Review: Cutting-Edge Again 00:00 Intro 7:10 How RAD went from skunkworks to official division 11:13 RAD T…","meta_description":"Rivian just green lit its own internal performance division, dubbed the Rivian Adventure Department or RAD for short, to move from skunkworks to something…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3211,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-drivecast-7679263/episodes/how-rivian-got-rad/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-drivecast-7679263/how-rivian-got-rad.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}