The upcoming EV starts at a reasonable $45,000.
By Ryan Whitwam March 8, 2024
https://www.extremetech.com/cars/rivian ... n-24-hours
Electric vehicle startup Rivain made some waves with its first two releases, the R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV. However, the just-unveiled R2 might be the company's first real hit. Since announcing the compact R2 SUV, Rivain says it has secured more than 68,000 reservations. Rivian is optimistic, but it could be a few years before any buyers get behind the wheel.
Rivian revealed the R2 on Thursday (March 7) alongside the even more compact R3 and R3X. The R2 might be the sweet spot, though. It's a five-seat SUV, and the body measurements are within an inch or two of the Toyota Rav4 and Honda CR-V, the most popular compact SUVs on the market. It's a touch larger than the Tesla Model Y and substantially smaller than the chunky Model X. The R2 will come in single, dual, and tri-motor variants, with the cheapest models starting at $45,000. That's getting awfully close to the price of traditional gas-powered SUVs and crossovers.
Rivian hasn't clarified the final pricing on all variants, but we can take some cues from the vehicles it sells. The R1S and R1T are much more expensive, starting at $70,000 and $74,000, respectively. Stepping up from the base dual-motor design to the performance version is $5,000 extra, and the quad-motor is $8,000. So, you can probably expect closer to $50,000 for the dual-motor R2 and a few thousand on top for the tri-motor.
