Rivian Begins Production of R2 SUV, Opens Orders to Reservation Holders

Rivian opened orders this week for its midsize R2 battery-electric SUV to existing reservation holders. Production of the vehicle began in late April.

U.S. Annually, totaling more than 3 million units. U.S. vehicle sales. RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and CEO, told Newsweek that the company considered the R2 before it launched the R1.

“R2 was contemplated before we even launched R1,” he said. ” Scaringe said the R2 launch completes planning that predates the R1. “The launch of R2 is really the culmination of what we thought about well before launching R1, and in fact, a lot of the R1, a lot of R1 designs were influenced by early R2 sketches, which is sort of counterintuitive,” he said.

Scaringe described design details that become visible only at close range. He cited the rear windshield wiper as an example: “From a distance, by design, you don't see it, it's hidden. As you get closer, you're like, ‘Wait a second, is there a pocket?

’” Scaringe said the R2 represents Rivian at full strength rather than a scaled-down version of the R1. “R2 is a really good expression of Rivian. It's not a lesser expression of Rivian than R1. R2 will be the mass market handshake with the world,” he said.