The Rivian R2 is a huge product for Rivian, an EV startup that builds excellent products (despite some reliability concerns noted by Consumer Reports). The R2 is meant to be the company’s first “affordable” machine, with a starting price of $48,490 – near America’s average vehicle transaction price and well below the $70K+ asking price of the company’s first two vehicles, the R1T and R1S. Today the R2’s configurator launched (HERE), and I discovered that the cheapest one I’d want costs $57,245.
Do you get a lot for your money at $48,490? I’ll know when I drive the car early next month, but let’s just look at the numbers and features.
This is the base R2:
At that base price, you have one color option, Esker Silver. And you have one interior option, Black Crater:
As you can see, the interior looks decent and minimalistic, with a center stack that appears to be a big screen on the dash with no physical switches. The dash vents, like on other Rivians, are operated through the screen, though mercifully, the gloveboxes (there are two!) are opened manually.
This base R2 is rear-wheel drive only, offers a decent 345 mile range, and its 350 horsepower launches the midsize SUV to 60mph in 5.9 seconds, per Rivian.
It’s a good looking vehicle that’s entering an increasingly crowded segment, but if the R2 can offer some off-road capability, it can carve out a nice niche, as there are few off-road-y midsize EVs available in the $52,000 range ($52,000 is the cheapest all-wheel drive R2).
If it were me, I’d skip the Standard trim and jump for the Premium. Yes, I’m cheap and don’t like spending money, but I hate dark interiors, and I want all-wheel drive, which comes standard on Premium models. Here’s a look at the Premium’s available ($1000) Coastal Cloud Signature cabin:
I dig that! Also awesome is the cheapest (tied with Half Moon Gray) color that isn’t silver or white, Forest Green:
If I want all-wheel drive, that nice interior, that $1500 non-white-or-silver paint, and a donut spare tire, the total is going to run me:
$57,245.
For that I get a 450 horsepower, handsome SUV with a minimalist center stack, an otherwise elegant cabin, 330 miles of range, and all-wheel drive. Not cheap, but Rivian has built a nice brand for itself, so I could see the appeal. I’m excited to drive one of these next month to see if those $57 grand would be well-spent.
Top graphic images: DepositPhotos.com; Rivian
$2000 for Black?! and that green being the sole option for color?!
truly the worst of times.
There’s a nice bright blue and a purple.
I wouldn’t even consider spending that kind of money on a vehicle that doesn’t even have Android Auto.
Interesting, I too wonder how much of a deal killer that’d be for me. Two of three cars in our fleet have it.
“This base R2 is rear-wheel drive only, offers a decent 345 mile range, and its 350 horsepower launches the midsize SUV to 60mph in 5.9 seconds,”
That’s the one I’d get… and I’d get it in Forest Green.
Agreed.
I can get some really nice custom seat reupholstery and door panel inserts for the difference in price.
Apparently it’s not available in any color other than silver
Silver is the only color without an upcharge. Color options:
$1,000 – White
$1,500 – Grey
$1,500 – Green
$2,000 – Black
I stand corrected then, but $1500+ for paint is dumb
Yes, it is. Especially for white and black.
Nah… You can get the green if you’re willing to pay
I’m so curious if bad behavior will come from the silver R2s shortly. I want to say no but I’m not sure I saw the white model 3 and y coming. Or will they replace the black and band aid beige Audi q5. Sort of always around not really causing issues but maybe not paying attention.
I wish they made the free one an actual color like the yellow they had for a bit or a blue or green. We don’t need more silver cars in the road. Silver does hide all the dings well. Maybe even better then white. So there is that the white model y driver can bang in to things with the silver r2 and maybe it will show even less.
i’d rather have a certified lucid air touring with under 20k miles for the same money. AWD and more range
Every color except primer gray costs money, we truly live in hell. Anyway the prices on these have already crept up a bit, haven’t they? I remember initially we were promised $45,000 and the first configurator made it seem like the premium was $53,000…alas, trimflation reared its ugly head. End stage capitalism gonna end stage capitalism, I suppose.
I’m still going to seriously consider buying on in a few years, but the $60,000 threshold is still a number I’m never crossing. I know that inflation’s a thing but for some reason hitting that mark breaks my brain and is when it becomes a vanity/luxury purchase.
That being said this is still priced right to potentially woo people shopping in the 4Runner/Bronco/Passport realm and that’s really all that matters.
Agree the free color option is totally blah. I think the price is fair given avg new vehicle transaction prices. When they announced it a standard bag of groceries didn’t cost eleventy billion dollars.
Indeed. I was playing on the new Charger configruator and lo: every color except black is a $700 upcharge. Made me sad since Dodge/Jeep tend to have some really fun colors in their lineup. Best Charger color I’ve seen, though, was a dealer-custom – a white Daytona with a sky/baby-blue wrap that left the roof and pillars white and evoked a cross between a convertible and the old ’69 big-wing Daytona in the same color.
Do it Mr. Tracy. Own at least one new car in your life.
He’s a Scout disciple now.
He will be able to run out a 3 year lease on an R2 and still need another car to bridge the gap to a Scout.
I’d say this if he were in literally any other line of work but auto journos get to drive brand-new cars all the time and dailying a shitbox keeps them grounded (even if the i3 doesn’t qualify as a “shitbox”).
Besides, he just did (axles aside), and he built it himself, a 2026 Willys Jeep MB. It’s Elise’s turn next.
That being said, I suggest when and if they pull the trigger, selling the Lexus to Torch for one dollar more than the dealer offered on trade. He deserves not having to put up with the crap the Tiguan gives from a transportation pod and Sally deserves the upgrade.
That’s about how I’d want one, too. I have a fantasy that I might be able to afford a used R2 in five-ish years. I’ve never been in a Rivian, but I like the looks and reviews and anecdotal owner feedback from the internet.
Look, I don’t want to sound like some sort of nutty conspiracy theorist, but I’m still dubious on CR’s rankings. I get it; it’s hard to evaluate new car reliability and some effort is better than none. Some of the stuff they give equal weight to when reducing scores is not of equal importance. A poorly designed sunroof drain destroying a $3000 transmission computer should hurt a reliability score far more than a voluntary recall for floormats not seating perfectly.
I’m suspicious that Rivian got a poor reliability rating for a combination of teething issues and a willingness to address customer problems that someone like Jeep would have swept under the rug with a software update and some hand-waving.
Agreed on the CR thing. It’s weird that they’re using a bunch of issues that crop up in the first year of ownership to determine “reliability.” I guess they don’t have much else to go on for new cars, but just say you can’t really assess reliability if that’s the case, instead of putting out a failing reliability score for a car that might go 300k miles without issue just because the owner had to go have three software updates in the first three months or something.
I put more weight on customer satisfaction, which is through the roof with Rivian.
You can always say current Rivian owners are early adopters who have more tolerance for issues, but they have now sold more than enough to get a good enough sample – they’re still #1. That should tell you enough.
Yay you can get it in purple 😀
And it’s a real purple, not purple that looks like some other color most of the time.
Not bad actually. I mean, a no options 4runner TRD Off-Road will run you $53k
Yes very true, The 4runner would have a roof rack.
I’d prefer an R2 from Studebaker.
The only real question is when will they come out with the ‘D2’ ?! I’ll see myself out…
https://carbuzz.com/rivian-r2-d2-prototype/
This is the way.
R3 or bust!
Doug DeMuro just reviewed it on YouTube. It looks fantastic.
Just can’t get over the Mr. Krabs’ eyeballs lights.
I actually like the outside of all the Rivian varieties so far. And the colors are great. I just can’t get over the Tesla-like interior that is controlled from the touchscreen. Anytime I’m in one, I feel like the car doesn’t want me there. So while I think this might be the correct configuration and I’m not even sure it’s a bad price, I just can’t get behind it.
This is my exact sentiment towards Rivians. I love the R3 concept, but the interior is a non-starter for me. Having to use a touch screen just to control the air vents is lunacy, and that alone is why I could never own one.
It’s a lot, but you seem to get a lot. A Limited 4Runner and top trim Passport are about the same price.
Just slap a Lexus badge and ridiculous grille on it and maybe Elise won’t notice.
Lexus (Not Its Real Name)…
Gold!
[Looks at Consumer Reports reliability numbers]
Oh, she’ll notice.
Living on the opposite coast, with about a 2 hour drive to nearest service shop, I just wonder about owning one of these and teething pains on a new model that might get bricked due to a software issue. Sigh… Will see what’s happening in a couple of years…
And, yes to 4moremazdas reasoning for the extras included above the base trim.
EVs in general require so much less service though. True bricking from a software update is extremely rare, and OTA updates make everything else quite easy.
Thanks.
My current car doesn’t require much maintenance, but I get saving $ on oil/filter changes. Though, what I’ve read, auto insurance is usually much higher on BEVs. I’d love to see an article which compares a typical ICE to BEV (similar size, manufacturer, etc.) for total cost of ownership.
Fortunately, I don’t need to replace my current ICE car for another year or two. I like the idea of having a big battery for camping… Will see how things go when I begin seriously looking for a BEV (and I’ll review total cost including maintenance, insurance, etc.)
EDIT: Calculation of total cost includes fuel, obviously. I’d like to get a BEV, and the R2 has been on my short list. Just my happily single life in a mostly rural setting and going without a second vehicle (other than motorcycle) or very limited access to alternative transportation options gives me pause.
EDIT2: Maybe software won’t brick my car. I have heard of some unusual cases where a BEV is not drivable when a part is backordered. Thinking of the Ioniq 5 and their ICCU.
Yeah, I’ve got some questions to answer in the next year or two, though love the idea of fueling my car in the garage overnight.
Good luck trying to sell those in this economy, especially when some of the “boring” automakers now have 300-350 mile range EV’s for a lot less.
There are a LOT of Tesla Model Y owners out there that have had theirs for 2-5 years now and will be ready for a change, don’t want to deal with Elon anymore, don’t want to really spend more than they did on their Tesla and definitely don’t want to step foot into a Chevy or Hyundai dealership or really any “dealership”. The only thing that will hold the R2 back is people wondering if they might just want to wait for the R3 to at least check it out before deciding for sure.
One of my friends is leasing a Rivian R1T. The interior and fit and finish are much better than Tesla but they’ve had a lot of problems. The weirdest part is a lot of the body panels are glued together. And its an insane amount of money to fix it too. I probably wouldn’t want to outright “own” one as I imagine they’ll be pretty expensive to fix. We are leasing a Chevy Equinox EV. Is it boring? Eh, its like every other crossover thing. Its comfortable. 50,000 miles so far, no issues. The infotainment system is highly annoying though.
Yeah, that is how I’d spec mine too. Maybe used in 2030. Not going to lie, that would make for a nice two EV garage.
Half Moon Gray is so perfect a paint name that I am surprised no one thought of it before. For those who don’t know, Half Moon Bay is a coastal town usually blanketed in fog near Rivian HQ in Northern California.
Say what you will about the tenets of Rivian, at least they have nice colors.
For a price. I can’t believe it’s $2k for black.
I wouldn’t go with the Premium trim to get the interior color, since I’m not a fan of white or off-white interiors. You can get AWD on the standard, so I don’t need it for that. But the Premium also has the roll down rear window, tow hooks, and the option of a factory tow hitch, plus the niceties of heated/cooled seats and an upgraded stereo.
I’m not sure if that adds up to being worth $2k, but the rear window and tow hitch for a bike rack would be must haves for me, so Premium it is.
You had me at roll down rear window.
And this one doesn’t pull exhaust into the cabin like the 4Runner’s!
But is there a physical switch to roll it down?
Can we interest you in a virtual physical switch? We’ll even give you an extra dose of skewmorphism.
I think it does actually, and I think there is a physical button that pulls down all the windows in the car at once.
I’m sure the aftermarket will step in. Look at Enhance Auto for adding buttons to Teslas.
Yea that is about what I got on the configurator. I kept the dark interior.
It really needs a roof rack option.
Rivians have a cleat like system on the roof for attaching bars. No real rack, probably for aero reasons.
I was hoping they’d give us some physical controls. The color I’d like most (Borealis purple) is locked to the Performance trim. But, yeah, I’d probably configure it pretty much identical to yours if I were buying one. The Performance with the purple I like would be more expensive; I’d probably opt to save the money instead.
Unless something changes, clicking on this configurator is about as realistic as seeing how ugly I can configure a RR with their custom interior options. I’ll likely just pick whatever one has a clean title history and no signs of an accident when it is time, regardless of package or color.