The Rivian R2 is 2 years away, however with the debut of an R2 in prototype kind on Thursday, it’s clear this electrical SUV will arrive with a proposition in contrast to any EV but: A boxy silhouette, rugged off-road chops, a spread simply topping 300 miles, and a goal value successfully beneath immediately’s common new-vehicle value, whatever the gas.
Rivian is concentrating on an entry value of $45,000 for the R2, which with potential qualification for the EV tax credit score, would imply it will price lower than $40,000 for a lot of American households.
Rivian R2S
The R2 is 185.6 inches lengthy, 75.0 inches huge, and 66.9 inches tall, which implies it takes up about the identical parking footprint because the Tesla Mannequin Y however is three inches taller with a really totally different, boxier kind.
By the essential specs, the R2 seems aggressive in efficiency, vary, and effectivity versus different electrical crossovers that make tradeoffs for a silhouette that’s extra aero-informed. Rivian guarantees a spread of greater than 300 miles from a battery constituted of 4695-style cells. It is going to be accessible with a single rear motor, a dual-motor setup, or a tri-motor powertrain with an electrical motor on the entrance axle and two on the rear. A Tesla NACS cost port will enable entry each to Tesla Superchargers and Rivian’s personal Journey Community. It’s additionally concentrating on 0-60 mph acceleration in lower than 3.0 seconds.
On the skin, the R2 seems like a Rivian. Which means carrying over a lot of its look—together with the model id of its distinctive vertical headlights—from the R1S, however sharpening the look a bit by emphasizing the squared-off corners and chamfers that look like the state of style for SUVs within the mid-2020s.
The R2 has 9.8 inches of floor clearance—way over any crossover SUVs you may evaluate it to—and method and departure angles are exceptionally good, at 25 and 27 levels, respectively. That hints of off-road skill that would make this EV a stable rival to electrical off-roaders additionally on the best way from Jeep. These fashions are constructed round a structural battery pack with 4695-format cylindrical cells.
Rivian R2S
If the R2 is not game-changing on the skin, it’s inside the place the innovation occurs. Each the primary and second row of seats fold flat, and it has two gloveboxes. The cargo ground slides again to help tailgating—and the load of a pair folks.
The R2 rides on a platform that can leverage economies of scale in a means the R1 lineup hasn’t The R2 is sized to permit international market entrance for Rivian, because the R1S and R1T are just too massive for markets similar to Europe.
Rivian plans to construct as much as 400,000 automobiles yearly off the R2’s platform out of its upcoming Georgia plant, along with the 150,000-vehicle most it has at its present Illinois plant. Initially, the R2 can be produced in Rivian’s present plant in Regular, Illinois.
At face worth, the R2 seems like an try and seize a fantastic market alternative. Household SUVs with a rugged tack, just like the Jeep Grand Cherokee and even Ford Explorer, used to promote within the a whole bunch of hundreds yearly. With the gross sales of these fashions usurped partly by the Mannequin Y, possibly it’s time for a brand new household mainstay.
Will the R2 be Rivian’s Mannequin 3 second? We’ll quickly see after immediately, when reservations are on account of open.