Electric vehicle startup Rivian unveiled not one, not two, but three new battery-powered SUVs during a presentation hosted by founder and CEO RJ Scaringe on Thursday.
Although details about one of the models, the R2, were leaked earlier in the week, some of the information proved to be inaccurate, and leakers made no reference to the newly revealed R3 and R3X crossovers.
Previously reported with a minimum price of $47,000, the two-row Rivian R2 will actually retail starting at $45,000. That represents a $30,000 discount from the company’s previous R1 and R1S SUVs, which both start at $74,900.
The R2’s launch date is scheduled for 2026, and it will likely be the first of the three to make it to consumers, as Rivian has yet to announce when it expects to deliver the R3 and R3X or how much they will cost. However, it is possible the trio will be released in quick succession, given that they share many similarities.
For starters, all three models are smaller than the automaker’s previous entries, with the R2 being the biggest of the group, and share an identical midsize platform recently developed by Rivian. They will all feature the same j3400 charging ports capable of DC fast-charging. With the first SUVs launch still two years away, the electric vehicle maker has already confirmed that owners will need an adapter to use Tesla’s NACS-based (North American Charging Standard) Supercharger network, although Rivian committed to adopting the standard last year.
To hasten the delivery of its models, Rivian is pausing construction at its $5 billion manufacturing plant in Georgia, even though the facility was set to be the production home of the R2. Instead, the company will build the R2, and possibly the R3 and R3X, at its factory in Normal, Illinois. The company says the move will save up to $2.25 billion in capital spending and allow it to accelerate its new releases.
