Rivian's New R2 SUV Starts At $45,000: What You Need To Know

Rivian has revealed its next-generation electric car, with the new Rivian R2 promising more than 300 miles of range from a two-row, five seat SUV. Priced from $45,000, the R2 debuts a whole new platform for Rivian.

Like many electric car startups, Rivian began at the top. Its first production models, the R1T pickup and R1S SUV, promised sports car rivaling performance from four motors, one dedicated to each wheel, along with lengthy range. More affordable versions followed on later, but it was only in recent months that Rivian began production of its dual-motor R1T and R1S configurations.

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Even then, they're not cheap trucks. The current R1T Dual-Motor Adventure package starts at $69,000 (plus destination) with the 270 mile Standard-size battery. Figure on over $19k more if you want the 410 mile range from the largest Max battery.

Arguably the biggest change for the dual-motor versions can't be seen from the outside, or from behind the wheel. They debuted Rivian's own Enduro in-house electric motor design, smaller and more efficient than the initial motors, and — more importantly — cheaper. That's particularly important for the R2S, with which Rivian hopes to break into a far more mass-market sales category.

The R2 will start at an estimated $45,000, with reservations open from today. It'll be offered in single, dual, and tri-motor configurations; the most potent of them will do 0-60 mph in under 3.0 seconds, the company says. All three motor configurations will support over 300 miles of range.

The R2 will be 185.6 inches long, 75 inches wide, and 66.9 inches tall. That's more than a foot shorter than the R1S, half a foot narrower, and 10 inches lower. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these figures leave the R2S markedly similar in scale to one of the most popular EVs on the market currently, Tesla's Model Y.

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It'll look a whole lot like the existing R1S, too. That includes the distinctive fascia and trunk-spanning LED light bars, as well as the upright, pill-shaped lamp clusters at the front. Under the hood there'll be a front trunk, or "frunk," for storage. The trunk has a drop-down rear glass window, while the rear quarter windows pop out on hinges to help improve airflow.

Inside, Rivian's familiar touchscreen-centric aesthetic will carry over too. There's a sizable landscape-orientation screen in the middle of the dashboard, and a second screen ahead of the driver for the essentials. A new steering wheel design includes a revamped set of multifunction controls.

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Not only does the second row of seats drop down to make a flat floor, but the front seats fold flat too. That, Rivian suggests, makes it ideal for camping with an air mattress. The R2 also gets not one but two gloveboxes. That includes one ahead of the front seat passenger, and another in the center under the dash. You still get a pop-out flashlight in the driver's door, too, and space in the door pocket for a full-size water bottle.

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For safety and driver-assistance, there'll be 11 exterior cameras and 5 radars. They'll feed data in a new compute platform with much more processing power than used in the current Rivian R1 series. That, Rivian claims, will allow for a much greater degree of autonomous driving.

For charging, there's the usual array of third-party stations, but the automaker is also in the process of rolling out its own. The Rivian Adventure Network is a work-in-progress in the U.S., open not only to Rivian drivers but to any EV with the appropriate port. This month, meanwhile, Rivian EVs will get access to the Tesla Supercharger network, with a NACS to CCS adapter.

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R2, though, isn't just a vehicle for Rivian, the automaker's CEO R.J. Scaringe points out. There'll also be a Rivian R3, a smaller crossover version based on the same platform.

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Reservations of the Rivian R2 open from today. R2 deliveries should begin in the first half of 2026, the automaker says, building the SUV at its Normal, IL production facility. Though that might seem a long way off, it's actually earlier than Rivian said it initially intended to build the car.