It’s no secret that Rivian is engaged on a extra inexpensive mannequin line primarily based on the so-called R2 platform that can go into manufacturing as early as 2025-2026, because the American EV firm’s Chief Monetary Officer Claire Rauh McDonough revealed again in April.
Nevertheless, we had nothing however phrases to go by, however that modified when Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe hosted a Q&A session on the agency’s Instagram account, the place a coated clay mannequin of the upcoming R2 SUV was proven for the primary time.
The entire video was later printed on the startup’s YouTube channel and you may watch it embedded on the prime of this web page. Within the Q&A session, Scaringe sits subsequent to the corporate’s design group chief, and behind them, there’s the covered-up clay mannequin.
Sadly, none of them provide any details about the upcoming electrical SUV, however by the seems to be of it, the automobile appears to be about 70 inches (1.77 meters) tall and – as some Rivian boards members identified – round 177 inches (4.5 meters) lengthy. That will make it roughly the scale of the ICE-powered Ford Bronco Sport.
We’ll clearly take this with a grain of salt, as we now have no method of realizing precisely what the size of the R2 SUV can be, however it will be smaller than the present flagship R1S, which is 200.8 in (5.1 m) lengthy and 77.3 in (1.96 m).
Moreover, it looks as if Rivian is planning on retaining a number of the R1’s signature options, as revealed in a poster that made its method briefly into the video, which exhibits the identified entrance mild setup of the R1T and R1S, in addition to the transportable flashlight that’s saved within the entrance door.
The Rivian R2 platform is anticipated to underpin a number of extra inexpensive fashions which could have an MSRP of round $40,000 – if rumors are to be believed – a worth level that can open up a complete new marketplace for the American EV maker.
If the agency’s CFO is to be believed, as much as 200,000 R2 automobiles can be inbuilt 2026 and 400,000 models after that, which can be an enormous departure from the virtually 25,000 automobiles it produced final 12 months.
No technical particulars are at present identified concerning the Rivian R2 platform, however seeing the way it will underpin smaller automobiles than the present R1 structure, it’s anticipated that the battery can be smaller. Nevertheless, this received’t essentially translate right into a shorter driving vary, as being smaller additionally means the automobiles can be lighter, so we’d see one thing alongside the strains of 300-400 miles of vary, relying on the configuration.
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