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The Rivian lineup is more than doubling, as the electric-auto maker announced three new models during an event in Laguna Beach, California, today.
The R2, Rivian’s newest, smallest, and most affordable option thus far, will be released first. And though the truck may be more diminutive than Rivian’s other offerings, it’s got a big part to play in the company’s future, as the automaker strives to prove it can make it work amidst a global EV downturn and its own production struggles.
The company also introduced two other vehicles: the R3, a crossover; and the R3X, a high-performance variant. Those releases will come after the R2, though their timelines aren’t immediately clear. Each will be released internationally shortly following their US debuts, the company says.
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The R2 base model will cost “around” $45,000, according to the automaker, and will be capable of 300 miles of range. Rivian is starting to take reservations today, and it says the vehicle will be available in the first half of 2026. The R2 is still a sizable vehicle, about 16 inches shorter and 5 inches less tall than Rivian’s previous SUV, the R1S. It will come in three variants—with single motor, dual motor, and tri-motor options—with the fastest able to go from zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds. It comes with 11 cameras and five radars, enabling what CEO R. J. Scaringe called a “very high level of self-driving,” or driving on a highway without one’s hands on the wheel.
The success of the new SUV will be critical to the future of Rivian, which is not yet producing enough vehicles at scale to keep its production costs down. Like many of its electric competitors, including Lucid Group, Fisker, and Polestar, the American automaker has struggled to translate investor interest into a profitable venture. The business of building not just a new car, but the factories that produce them, has been rocky. The R2 could determine whether Rivian can pull it off.
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Yes, things sure have changed—for Rivian and for the world—since the automaker debuted in the US in 2021 and recorded the largest IPO the stock market had seen in seven years. One big change is that interest rates are higher, which makes large purchases more expensive to finance, and makes buyers cagier about purchasing anything, new cars included.
The conventional wisdom on electric vehicles has shifted too. Sales data suggests electric-auto makers have made strides among higher-income early adopters, who tend to get excited about any sort of new technology. Indeed, these are the sort of drivers right in Rivian’s crosshairs: weekend warriors with change to spare. But now, automakers must reach normal drivers, who will be less patient, and less forgiving, in adapting to a new kind of car—much less paying a premium for the privilege. As Scaringe put it on a recent call with investors: “How do we get the 93 percent of the market that’s not buying an EV to get excited about the product?”
Rivian hopes that a more affordable option will do some of that work. At $45,000, the new vehicle is more comparable to middle-of-the-road EVs, including the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and 6, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, and the Tesla Model 3. It’s also closer to last month’s average US vehicle transaction price—for vehicles with any powertrain—of $47,400, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Still, there should be plenty of more affordable competition by the time the R2 starts rolling off the production line in two years. A compact “urban” truck from the California startup Telo Trucks—designed by Yves Béhar’s Fuseproject—could arrive by then. So might Kia’s EV3, now only a concept. Ford is planning production of a new electric Explorer. Meanwhile, Tesla has said it will refresh its platform in 2025 with a new, “next-gen” vehicle that may finally carry the company’s mythical $25,000 price point.
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Even in a smaller form, Rivian has wisely tried to hang on to some of the unique features that made its flagship vehicle stand out in a crowded field. The R2 still has a flashlight embedded in its driver side door, which drivers can pop out and take into their tent when camping. It also has some new surprises: Its passenger and rear windows drop fully, for an “open-air” experience. After feedback from drivers, the automaker has included not one but two gloveboxes. Rivian’s proposition has always been ambitious—so ambitious it almost seems impossible: What if an electric off-roader was also a sports car? Said another way: What if this electric vehicle was awesome just as a vehicle?
It’s a fun idea—until reality kicks in. In 2024, the automaker faces financial whitewater. Rivian reported net losses of more than $5 billion last year, and the company has just about double that on hand. It has tried to trim expenses, laying off 10 percent of its salaried workforce last month, and said it has used the R2 to renegotiate burdensome supplier contracts.
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To that end, the company is due to shut down its Normal, Illinois, plant later this year to implement new manufacturing processes that Rivian promises will bring down the building costs of its vehicles in the long term.
But this has made Wall Street grumpy in the short term: Analysts were disappointed last month when Rivian said it would produce the same number of vehicles in 2024 as it did last year. For now, all eyes are on 2026. Rivian has been working to open a second plant in Georgia, but Scaringe, the CEO, announced today that the company would halt work there, and the first R2s would be built in Illinois. The company says the decision will both bring up the production timeline for the vehicle and make it less costly to produce. Now the automaker has two more autos to churn out. It will have to ensure that it’s around to make them.
