Nissan Ariya: lifeless. Volvo EX30: lifeless. Volkswagen ID.4: lifeless. Chevrolet Bolt: lifeless… once more.
Within the seven years that the Tesla Mannequin Y has been on sale within the US, about half a dozen so-called “Tesla Killers” have come and gone. Legacy automakers regularly strive—and fail—to match the success that makes the Mannequin Y not simply some of the fashionable EVs in America, however, at one level, the best-selling car on the entire rattling planet.
But when anybody can take the struggle to Tesla, it’s a fellow pioneer. The brand new Rivian R2 is aimed squarely on the Mannequin Y because the smaller, thriftier sibling to the profitable R1S. It arrives with a lot of the identical expertise and off-road prowess that make that mannequin so fashionable within the first place, and it even shares its rugged styling—one thing patrons crave lately.
Whether or not the Rivian R2 may even come midway near matching the Mannequin Y’s success relies on a number of components—rollout, advertising and marketing, and so on. However after I drove Rivian’s new compact SUV in Utah, the R2 is seemingly arrange for achievement on this ultra-competitive house, arguably higher than Tesla ever could possibly be.
Bounce To: Design | Interior | Tech | On Road | Off-Road | Verdict
Photograph by: Jeff Perez / Motor1
Rivian’s Rugged Good Appears to be like
The rise of ruggedization throughout the business offers Rivian a definite benefit from a design standpoint. For higher or worse, the R2 largely resembles a shrunken-down model of the R1S. But it surely’s the refined particulars that assist the R2 stand out—stuff you won’t discover at first look. Even I had a tough time telling the 2 aside at instances.
From its aspect profile—arguably the R2’s finest view—one thing’s lacking. On the R1S, there’s a clumsy piece of plastic separating the rear window from a bit of mounted glass. On the R2, there isn’t. And that was intentional.
Chief Design Officer at Rivian, Jeff Hammoud, tells me that the corporate’s purpose was to have totally retracting glass on the R1S, however attributable to sure packaging constraints and the rear seat configuration, it merely wasn’t doable—thus the mounted glass.
On the R2, although, each single piece of glass—together with the rear window—totally retracts into the physique. Not solely does it yield a cleaner look from the aspect view, however it additionally helps minimize prices and offers house owners that totally open-air feeling they’re actually after.
After which there are the extra refined particulars. Quite than logos, aspect markers, and badges littering the aspect profile, like on the R1S, the R2 simplifies issues. There’s a single, cleverly branded, illuminated marker simply behind the entrance tires.
Relying on the way you spec it, the R2 comes with 20- and 21-inch wheel choices, and even the bottom sneakers don’t really feel like a lot of a downgrade. On this case, they’re paired to chunkier rubber particularly for off-roading, which suggests they nonetheless fill out the wheel wells higher than you’d anticipate. The larger tires on thinner rubber look nice, too.
New colours, like a refined Esker Silver and a stunning Catalina Cove, be a part of the already spectacular Rivian palette. The Compass Yellow brake calipers and exterior accents add a pleasant further pop of colour.
Photograph by: Jeff Perez / Motor1
A Pretty Place To Sit
The R2’s inside is basically a copy-and-paste job from the R1S—once more, not a criticism. The structure is beautiful, the supplies are distinctive, and the 15.6-inch touchscreen on the coronary heart of it sits neatly throughout the dashboard. However, very similar to on the outside, it’s the main points that separate the 2.
The R2 has a trendy piece of wooden trim that stretches the size of the sprint. Until you additionally had an R1S parked in your driveway, you’d by no means know that this was merely half of what you get on the three-row. It nonetheless seems nice, however to maintain prices down, it doesn’t get the total wraparound therapy.
Cheaper supplies, like injection-molded plastic inserts, change the R1S’s extra premium particulars. By Rivian’s rule (and mine, too), so long as these supplies reside beneath the belt line, it’s very acceptable to assist hold prices down. Most all the things above the belt line—just like the wooden trim on the sprint and the leather-based armrests on the door panels—nonetheless seems and feels premium.
At 185.6 inches lengthy, the Rivian R2 falls firmly within the premium compact class. The Mannequin Y, for comparability, is 188.6 inches lengthy. Different newer EVs, just like the BMW iX3 (188.3 inches), the Porsche Macan Electrical (188.3 inches), and the upcoming Mercedes-Benz GLC (185.7 inches) are all about the identical dimension.
However its diminutive dimension doesn’t maintain it again. Though it’s a whopping 15.0 inches shorter than the R1S, the R2 truly has more room within the second row—40.4 inches in comparison with simply 36.6. Rear cargo house is on the marginally smaller aspect at 28.7 cubic ft, however fold the second row, and that quantity swells to 79.4 cubes.
Photograph by: Rivian
Ahead-Considering, However Flawed
As you’ve in all probability already heard, Rivian has doubled, tripled, and, I suppose on this case, quadrupled down on not offering Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in its automobiles. The brand new R2 is not any exception. As a substitute, it runs the most recent model of Rivian’s Android-based infotainment system, with a couple of intelligent AI options baked in for good measure (and, after all, to have the ability to splatter these two letters in all places in your advertising and marketing supplies).
The UI definitely seems fairly; the graphics are crisp, the structure is clear, and all the things is exceptionally easy. And but, it’s all nonetheless a bit too convoluted.
Two on-screen menus afford entry to a handful of options: one on the left aspect of the display screen and one on the base of the display screen. Relying on how you could have it arrange, there are even choices you may dig into from the middle portion of the display screen.
The UI definitely seems fairly… And but, it’s all nonetheless a bit too convoluted.
To Rivian’s credit score, most elementary features are only a click on or two away; press the axle icon on the underside menu bar to regulate the drive mode, or press the arrow icon to rapidly toggle maps. However another choices require one too many pokes.
Fortunately, Rivian listened to prospects clamoring for actual buttons. Kind of.
Two metallic rings occupy both aspect of the R2’s steering wheel—Rivian calls these “Haptic Halo” controls. Quite than a hard and fast quantity knob or local weather dials, these two cleverly engineered rings do a lot of the heavy lifting. They usually’re nice… in principle.
The Halos provide a couple of completely different features. When organising your private driver profile, the Halo controls modify the mirrors and steering wheel. And also you higher guarantee that the steering wheel is strictly the place you need it earlier than setting off, as a result of there is no such thing as a adjusting on the fly.
When you’re totally prepped, the left Halo management manages audio—scroll up and down to vary the amount, click on proper and left to change the track, or press down on it to place the audio on mute. The proper halo is for temperature management, drive modes, and adaptive cruise. Rivian says prospects can customise these controls as they please.
Scrolling up and down on these Halo controls is very nice; there’s even some resistance if you scroll far sufficient in a single path to let you understand how excessive or low you’re getting. However oftentimes, even when attempting to show up the amount, the management is so delicate that it’s simple to unintentionally mute a track. The identical goes when attempting to toggle left and proper between songs.
Photograph by: Rivian
Driving The R2 On Street
As a result of the R2 is a smaller, cheaper mannequin, Rivian needed to minimize a couple of issues from the R1S to maintain prices down. One of many largest cuts was the air suspension—however that’s truly not a penalty on this case.
The R2 makes do with conventional McPherson struts up entrance and a multi-link setup within the rear, with semi-adaptive dampers designed for off-road use. It’s paired with a superbly tuned, direct steering rack and with far much less physique roll than you would possibly suppose.
Dare I say, by means of the twisting mountain roads close to Park Metropolis, Utah, the R2 felt… sporty? Not precisely what I used to be anticipating of Rivian’s shrunken SUV, however I’m fortunately shocked. The R2 is definitely enjoyable to fling round, not practically as sloshy or sloppy as the larger R1.
Photograph by: Jeff Perez / Motor1
The R2’s conventional unibody building definitely helps right here. The development alone helps shed 385 kilos over the R1S’s setup, whereas the low-mounted, 87.9 kilowatt-hour battery pack acts as a type of brace to assist quell physique roll.
The R2 is nearly 2,000 kilos lighter than the R1S all instructed. Not simply because it’s smaller, however the firm additionally launched an entire host of consolidation strategies to additional convey that weight down—and simplify all the car as an entire.
In comparison with the R1S, the R2 sheds 2.3 miles of wiring. The wiring harnesses themselves are additionally considerably smaller, and even lots of the modules—now totally developed in-house moderately than pieced collectively from suppliers—all contribute to the decrease weight.
The primary variations to indicate up in 2026 may have two electrical motors, one on every axle. The Premium mannequin (which matches on sale later this 12 months) comes with 350 horsepower and 355 pound-feet of torque. I drove the Efficiency mannequin, which packs a whopping 656 hp and 609 lb-ft of torque by comparability.
The R2 is definitely enjoyable to fling round, not practically as sloshy or sloppy as the larger R1.
These figures on the Efficiency trim are sufficient to ship the SUV to 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds and on to 1 / 4 mile in about 11.6 seconds. Rivian is proud to level out that each of these figures make it about as fast as a Ferrari Enzo. Neat.
That dual-motor setup boasts a 40/60 rear bias as normal, with variable splits relying on issues like selectable drive modes and situations. When you’re cruising on the freeway in Preserve mode, for instance, the entrance axle is totally disconnected, with energy touring straight to the rear wheels.
That rear bias is noticeable when flicking the R2 by means of tight turns, with little proof of torque steer, and virtually no indication that the entrance axle is doing any heavy lifting. Energy supply is to be anticipated from an electrical crossover—it’s flat, linear, and never all that attention-grabbing. Not less than it’s fast hell within the Efficiency spec.
If you don’t really feel like driving, each R2 comes normal with a number of lively security options, together with a hands-free driving help that’s largely for freeway use however will also be used on sure neighborhood streets.
After all, you may’t neglect about charging. The R2 juices up at a most of 230 kilowatts, reaching 10 to 80 % in underneath half-hour. Each dual-motor fashions stand up to 330 miles of EPA-estimated vary.
Photograph by: Jeff Perez / Motor1
Driving The R2 Off Street
Extra so than on-road prowess, the measure of a superb Rivian is how effectively it will probably sort out the robust stuff. Even with unibody building and some key items of apparatus lacking, the R2 proves its functionality on the paths of Utah.
What’s lacking? For one, there’s no hydraulic suspension. That’s an expensive piece of apparatus sometimes reserved for higher-end automobiles—just like the R1S—so it’s no shock that it’s not included right here. Even Rivian execs admit it wasn’t one thing they felt prospects wished or wanted at this value level.
Extra controversially, although, the R2 lacks locking differentials—similar to the R1S. When you’re trying purely at opponents on this class, that’s not unusual. But when somebody of their R2 needs to problem, say, a Ford Bronco or Jeep Wrangler on slippier terrain, it in all probability has no shot of maintaining. Even with out locking diffs, the R1S is best for that type of obligation.
Maintain issues reasonable, although, and the R2 is completely spectacular. It barely shrugs at obstacles like steep hill climbs, deep ruts, and sizable rocks. The moment torque from the electrical motors makes it extraordinarily simple to modulate over difficult terrain, and the communicative steering tells you precisely the place the tires are always.
The R2 boasts a beneficiant 25-degree strategy angle and a 26-degree departure angle, with 9.6 inches of floor clearance. The subsequent-best Subaru Forester Wilderness will get 9.3 inches of floor clearance by comparability—so the Rivian ought to handily beat the Subaru on most trails.
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Supply: Jeff Perez / Motor1
Verdict: Tesla’s First Actual Rival
The Rivian R2 is a wonderful SUV from prime to backside—and it’s not even that costly. Rivian will debut the R2 with the dual-motor Efficiency Launch Version trim first, which begins at $59,485. The twin-motor Premium mannequin will present up later this 12 months at $55,485.
By early 2027, Rivian ought to be rolling out the primary single-motor, rear-drive fashions, which can minimize prices considerably. The Normal RWD mannequin is predicted to start out at simply $46,485 with vacation spot, whereas the long-range model will begin at $49,985. That model may have one of the best vary of the group, too, with as much as 345 miles.
Even with a single motor, although, I doubt it can really feel like a lot of a downgrade. All the pieces in regards to the R2 simply works—it’s trendy, it’s comfy, it’s enjoyable to drive, and like several good Rivian, it’s massively succesful for its class. A couple of quibbles with the infotainment and lack of CarPlay or Android Auto are annoying, however it shouldn’t cease you from contemplating this in any other case wildly spectacular electrical car.
The Tesla Mannequin Y lastly has a real competitor on its palms.
2027 Rivian R2 Efficiency
Motor
Twin Everlasting-Magnet Synchronous
Battery
87.9 Kilowatt-Hours
Output
656 Horsepower / 609 Pound-Toes
Drive Sort
All-Wheel Drive
Pace 0-60 MPH
3.6 Seconds
Weight
4,998 Kilos
EV Vary
330 Miles
Cost Time
10-80 P.c In 29 Minutes
Cost Sort
230-Kilowatt DC Quick Charging
Seating Capability
5
Towing
4,400 Kilos (Max)
Cargo Quantity
28.7 / 79.4 Cubic Toes
Base Worth
$49,985
As-Examined Worth
$59,485
On Sale
Summer season (Twin-Motor) / 2027 (Single Motor)
