For years, Rivian has been promising to make a smaller, more affordable electric SUV that will sit alongside its pricier R1T and R1S vehicles, and that day is finally here. The company revealed the R2 in a livestreamed event from Laguna Beach, California, at 10AM PT (1PM ET) on March 7th, 2024.
Rivian R2, R3, and R3X launch event: the EV company’s more affordable SUVs are here
The more affordable SUV is targeting a launch in the first half of 2026. It will have a starting price of $45,000, an estimated range of 330 miles on a charge, and a 0–60mph time under three seconds. Rivian also showed off another smaller vehicle, the R3 crossover, and a sport-trimmed R3X variant.
It’s a crucial vehicle for Rivian, which has been struggling to reach profitability amid a broader slowdown in EV sales growth. Rivian is what’s known as a “pure EV play,” meaning it only makes EVs and doesn’t have any internal combustion engines, or even hybrids, to fall back on when sales start to dip. The company has gone through several rounds of layoffs in recent years and warned that its sales are likely to stay flat in 2024.
The R2 provides a glimpse into how Rivian will navigate this more uncertain future. Will it be the company’s Tesla Model 3? Only time will tell.
The R2 is nearly here — can Rivian stick the landing?
Image: RivianOn Thursday, Rivian revealed its most important vehicle to date: the R2, a midsize SUV that eventually will start at under $50,000. As a distinctive EV with an attractive sticker price, the R2 is designed to take Rivian to the next level. In fact, the company is banking on it. If they succeed, then Rivian would be well positioned to usurp Tesla’s status as the most important EV company in America. If it doesn’t, the company may simply cease to exist.
I’m not trying to be overly dramatic. The R2 is increasingly looking like the lone survivor in an apocalyptic wasteland, traveling down a path lined with the corpses of EV programs that had their plugs pulled by cash-strapped automakers. Whether it can pull through this harsh environment remains entirely up to Rivian and its marketing department.
Read Article >Rivian R2 prices revealed: you’re going to have to wait longer for that $45,000 version
Image: RivianWhen Rivian first revealed the R2 in 2024, a lot of the excitement was centered on the starting price of $45,000 — placing it slightly below the current average selling price for a new internal combustion vehicle.
Finally, here was a decently sized electric SUV with great design and impressive software that wouldn’t require taking out a 7-8 year auto loan. Of course, we all knew that a $45,000 starting price for the base model was aspirational and would take a while to get here — like other automakers, Rivian is prioritizing its pricier trims — and now we have more details about how long it will actually take.
Read Article >Rivian teases five new vehicles, and I have no idea what they are
Photo by Daniel Golson for The VergeI’ll admit, I was too distracted by Rivian’s surprise announcement of a $5 billion deal with Volkswagen to develop software and electric vehicles to notice that the buzzy California company was also planning an investor day event on June 27th.
So when I woke up on Wednesday to see this shareholder letter — thanks to InsideEVs with an assist from BloombergNEF’s Corey Cantor on Threads — I was pretty surprised to see Rivian was essentially taking a page from Tesla by teasing us with some shroud-covered mystery vehicles.
Read Article >- Rivian joins the 100,000 club.
Its latest quarterly vehicle report left a lot to be desired — 13,980 electric trucks and SUVs produced, down from 17,541 in the fourth quarter of 2023 — but Rivian still cleared a major milestone with the announcement of its 100,000th vehicle. That’s no easy task, when you consider that the company has been delivering EVs to customers for only about 2.5 years. Let’s hope they can stay afloat long enough to deliver another 100,000.
- Rivian’s smaller R3 and R3X electric SUVs look great, but they’re not ready to ship.
Automotive journalist Jason Cammisa got inside Rivian’s “one more thing” surprise vehicles, posting some short clips to show off the hot hatch styling and massive wheels of the R3X, as well as the dual-opening rear setup.
A lack of backseat legroom isn’t that surprising. But the potential bad news is that Cammisa says, “I wouldn’t expect to see the first ones until 2027.”
- Watch Rivian’s R3X and R2 roll around in real life.
It’s unclear where this video (and a couple of others posted to a Rivian forum) originally came from, but we won’t have to wait until 2025 (or beyond) to see either of Rivian’s upcoming electric SUVs on the streets.
Rivian’s CEO has ‘complete certainty’ EVs will win
Getty Images for RivianIn a packed theater in Laguna Beach on Thursday morning, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe opened his presentation to resounding whoops from the audience, well before the company unveiled its three buzzy new vehicles, the Rivian R2, R3, and R3X.
While it’s not uncommon to pack a room with fans for a vehicle launch, it is unusual for the CEO of a car company outside of Elon Musk to get the kind of response that Scaringe did. For a vehicle unveiling to feel upbeat and exciting without feeling cringe is even rarer.
Read Article >Rivian has already received 68,000 reservations for the R2
Image: RivianLess than 24 hours since its launch, the Rivian R2 is already proving to be quite popular. The company’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, said it’s already taken in “more than 68,000 reservations” for the $45,000 midsize electric SUV.
“We are thrilled to see this vehicle resonate so strongly with our community!” Scaringe said in a post on X.
Read Article >- More about that base model Rivian R2.
After today’s R2 event, MKBHD took a closer look at the new SUV and its sibling R3 / R3X with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe for his Auto Focus channel.
In this section of the video, Scaringe notes that while the R2 can have an estimated range that stretches beyond 300 miles, the base RWD version for $45,000 will have a smaller battery with an estimated 270-mile range. We’ll have even more on these new EVs tomorrow.
- Rivian puts its Georgia factory plans on pause.
In the fog of the release of its new R2 (and R3! and R3X!) vehicles, the news just dropped that the company’s massive $5 billion facility east of Atlanta is now officially on pause. That means Rivian will need to find room at its existing factory in Normal, Illinois, for this new EV trio if it hopes to stick to its early 2026 production plans.
BREAKING: Rivian pauses plan to build $5B Georgia factory[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
- Watch Rivian’s R2 reveal event in 5 minutes.
All the highlights from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s presentation of the smaller, cheaper R2 SUV are right here, as well as the surprise debut of an even smaller electric crossover, with the R3 and sport-trim R3X taking the stage.
Rivian surprises with R3 and R3X electric SUVs
Rivian took a page from Steve Jobs and had “one more thing” to show off during its R2 reveal event in California today. And it was a stunner.
The Rivian R3 is a slightly shorter, sportier-looking electric SUV than the R2, and it will come in a performance variant badged as R3X. Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said the R3 “takes the package of R2 platform [and] shrinks it.”
Read Article >- And that’s a wrap!
There’s a lot more to say about the R2, and of course the R3 and R3X. So be sure to keep an eye out for our impressions of Rivian’s first big reveal since the launch of the R1 platform. And thanks for following along! What did you think of the R2 and R3? Leave us a comment and let us know.
- At the same time there’s a little bit of Kia to it, at least in the teal color.
It reminds me a little of a Kia Steltos. People were ready for R2, but R3 was a real surprise. The audience loved it.
- The R3X looks familiar.
It has very Mercedes Maybach dog-dish wheels. Also reminds me a bit of Rolls wheels.
Interestingly I think the charging ports on R2 and R3 are in the rear rather than the front like the R1.
- The R3 even has a performance trim.
The R3X is “just so cool,” RJ says. Wider stance, tri-motor setup, smaller crossover shape.
- Rivian R3 is about ‘making a small car feel really big.’
The rear window pops open making it easier to carry longer items.
1/5 Rivian R2 revealed: a $45,000 electric off-roader for the masses
Rivian revealed its next electric vehicle, the R2, a more affordable SUV that the company is counting on having a much broader appeal than its stylish — and expensive — R1T trucks and R1S SUVs.
The R2 won’t go into production until the first half of 2026, but when it does it will come with an estimated range of over 300 miles, a 0–60mph time of three seconds, and a starting price of $45,000 — placing it slightly below the current average selling price for a new internal combustion vehicle. The price could be even lower if it ends up qualifying for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
Read Article >- ‘We overdelivered and put in two gloveboxes.’
Many people have complained about the R1T and R1S’ lack of glove compartments. So the R2 will have two??
- How roomy is it?
The flat fold seats are huge. I’ve slept in an R1 and at 5’7” I was a little cramped. I bet this will be much more roomy.
- It looks very Land Rover Defender to me in person.
At 6’1, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe towers over the R2.
Image: Abigail Bassett / The Verge - ‘We’re here to talk about what’s next.’
“How we get a lot more people into our products into our into our brand,” he says. “And how do we make it really more accessible to a lot more people.” And now he’s teeing up the R2.
