Nigh-on every electric vehicle startup will need to scale to survive, and a more mainstream product than the Rivian R1T pickup truck and R1S three-row SUV could be the foundation Rivian is looking for. Details of the Rivian R2 have allegedly been leaked through Rivian’s own website just days before the public debut of the startup’s make-or-break mainstream two-row crossover.
X/Twitter user Chris Hilbert claims to have used Web Inspector on the landing page for the R2 to find hidden details on the new electric crossover. According to a tweet from Hilbert, the “Website is fixed. Notified a contact I have with Rivian about it. Nothing to see here now.” However, a screenshot in Web Inspector has been preserved, so here’s what we’re allegedly looking at.
Let’s start with the reportedly leaked price, $47,000. That’s roughly Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium eAWD or Hyundai Ioniq 5 SE money, a strong place to be in the two-row electric crossover segment. Depending on assembly location and battery sourcing, the Rivian R2 may also qualify for federal EV incentives, which could have the potential to drive the price even lower. However, it’s unclear whether the leaked price is before or after incentives, so hold the line for now.
These are taken from the Rivian R2 website. Using web inspector. Numbers are legit, look it up yourself. pic.twitter.com/YiPf9hLBrj
— Chris Hilbert (@Hilbe) March 5, 2024
According to the leak, maximum range is estimated at 330 miles, although expect that to be dependent on options. It’s the same deal with a claimed zero-to-60 mph time of three seconds, as that may be option-dependent. While no battery or charging capacity specs have been leaked, the Web Inspector window claims the presence of both NACS and CCS charging ports, which could mean that R2 owners won’t need an adapter no matter where they’d like to plug into DC fast charging.
As for amenities, this leak claims the Rivian R2 will have powered rear glass like a Toyota 4Runner, along with rear quarter windows that “pop out.” Keep in mind, that could mean minivan-like vents or full-on removable windows, so we’ll have to wait for the reveal to find out. Something we’re more confident on is the presence of a frunk — Rivian has a precedent of under-hood storage, so there isn’t reason to doubt this leak’s claim that the R2 will have a frunk.
Another interesting feature is a snap-in bicycle rack that supposedly mounts without any tools. While this could simply be describing a receiver hitch mount, it seems right in line with Rivian’s adventurous image. Less adventurous are alleged approach and departure angles of 25 degrees and 27 degrees respectively. If those numbers are accurate, the Rivian R2 should be fine on mild trails, but might not be ideal for the tough stuff.
Of course, this is a leak, the R2 hasn’t officially been unveiled yet, and so these details may or may not change. We’ll know for sure tomorrow when Rivian officially unveils the R2. If this information is accurate, the R2 holds some serious promise as an electric two-row crossover that could go toe-to-toe with the Tesla Model Y.
(Photo credits: Rivian)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
-
Rivian Bricks Infotainment Systems Thanks To “Fat Finger” Mistake
-
You Can Now Buy A Rivian Van Just Like The One Amazon Uses. Here’s How Much It Costs
-
Tesla’s Charging Network Takeover Continues With Rivian
-
How I’d Make A Camper Out Of The Rivian Van Now That It’s No Longer An Amazon Exclusive
-
Is The Tesla Model Y Really The Best-Selling Car In The World?
Got a hot tip? Send it to us here. Or check out the stories on our homepage.
I really want Rivian to do well.
Might be awesome if Rivian and Lucid joined forces?
Kinda like JLR – but all EV all the time.
“wheelbase 15.6 inches”? So, almost a unicycle? must be missing a 1 in front.
What would be nice to see is “Curb Weight < 4000 lbs”, wheels 15″, but I’m sure that is about as probable as a 15″ wheelbase
Well they wanted to have the BEST turning circle…
Rivian needs to keep offering cool colors. It would be nice if they brought back yellow, and allowed the green interior with any exterior color (like they did until 2023)
Yeah, there actually is at least 1 yellow-on-green R1T out there, and they used to offer red-on-green too.
Yellow is not a cool colour… it’s a warm colour!
:-p
Yellow makes me look sallow.
Can we have International Orange instead?
Nah… only domestic Orange or Clockwork Orange is allowed!
Orange is awesome too! Yeah, Rivian needs to add orange to the palette 😀
And purple too!
Intriguing.
Any word on Rivian service experience? There’s a Rivian repair shop not far away from me. It could be an option if the service experience for warranty stuff is okay.
Owner and service center visitor here: it’s gotten pretty good. Wait times to get in are still too long for non-critical repairs, but the experience has improved so much as to be better than anything I’ve gotten at an established dealer. Communication is solid and they over-rotate to fix it correctly. It’s not 100%, but it’s not something I’d consider a limitation anymore.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
My experience has been good at my local service center. Their time estimates have been accurate and the process of getting scheduled, dropping off, and picking up has been smooth. Granted, I haven’t had major bodywork done, which I think has much longer lead times. They are also able to do some repairs where they’ll come to you using their mobile service vans, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try that yet.
“Leak” of a vaporware SUV by a company whose stock is in freefall? I am not getting my hopes up.
Stock isn’t everything. I’ll give Rivian a fair amount of leeway, as their consumer vehicles have absurdly good quality materials and workmanship, along with clever touches and features; their commercial vehicles are decently regarded, though apparently there’s been some birthing pains with the Amazon parcel truck (but is no longer exclusive to Amazon, which seems to be a step in the right direction).
With Tesla and all the wannabe tech startup EV companies, I think we’re putting too much stock in stock prices (pun intended). Tesla is all about juicing the stock price to raise short term capital and drive Elon’s net worth. Rivian, on the other hand, has significant backing from large scale investors. The IPO was a fundraising exercise and a way for shareholders to capitalize wealth, but it’s fates are not so intrinsically tied to stock price in the same way a Nikola or Lordstown is/was.
As an owner of a Rivian, they are objectively excellent vehicles. Fit and finish are superb, materials are top notch, and it’s absurd in how it can be a quiet highway cruiser, then a twisty mountain road carver, then a rock crawler. I’ve done all 3 in a day and it’s just astonishing how well it does these things.
Will they survive? I certainly hope so, but time will tell. If their inaugural effort is any indication, people shouldn’t write them off, especially now that they’ve ironed out most of the initial QA and service issues.
Oh the trucks are awesome, no doubt. I’m not a hater. I just don’t think they can roll out a new model when they can barely keep up with their current lines. And I can’t take any leak seriously, there’s no way Rivian accidentally let this slip out onto the webs.
There’s a fun story here, actually.
Early in the delivery process, someone figured out we can look at the HTML and determine if we were ready to take delivery, without a notification from Rivian.
While I have no idea if this “leak” was deliberate or not, it’s exactly the same method that we used early on to find out when our trucks were coming.
Maybe Rivian was on to us and left it as an easter egg, or maybe it was a mistake. But my money is also on easter egg.
Is it really vaporware? Rivian may not be as big as the legacy automakers or Tesla, but they sold 50k vehicles last year. The three models they’ve launched so far pretty well meet the promised criteria and there’s no reason to believe this one won’t.
Fair enough, but considering their growing pains with the existing fleet I don’t see how they can start producing another model.
Rivian is arguably doing as well or better than larger automakers launching similar products. If they can get their Georgia factory built without major delay and we don’t have any more Once in a LifetimeTM industry-wide supply chain meltdowns, there’s no reason to suspect any unusual difficulty in getting an R2 product to market.
I hope so, their cars are freaking cool
I agree! If I had the money and didn’t need to tow anything, some kind of Rivian would be my EV of choice. I think Rivian has been quite the unsung success. They are more conservative than Tesla but way more functional than Lucid or any of the many non-starter startups like Canoo. Plus, I live like an hour from the factory, so I see their trucks and SUVs all the time.
I’m gonna eat crow on this one, it’s not vaporware after all
Cost of minor rear-end collision: priceless.
It’s a clever ploy to drive higher sales. Now every time a Rivian gets a Camry dent it will be totalled and they get to sell you another one.
The 47k starting price and maximum range make me nervous. I’d be interested in that range/price combination, but I suspect we’re looking at a tradeoff of a lot more money or a lot less range. I’ll be interested to see what we end up with.
I am afraid it’s gonna be all screen controls, though. I don’t want that, even at the right price/range combination.
Hopefully this crossover is the R2S and the R2T Electric Minitruck will be along shortly :crossed-fingers:
I suspect/hope they’re using R2 deliberately broadly to encompass at least 2 vehicles smaller than the 1-series.
However it’d be a fun opportunity to maybe partner with Lucasfilm and have a dual-motor (D2) version that only comes in silver with blue accents, and can make appropriate droid noises.
You had me at “can make appropriate droid noises“. Who do I need to throw my money at?!?
I adore the green-on-green Rivian R1-series, but if they actually did an R2-D2 I might just have to get one in that spec, if done right.
Less Nissan Rogue “Rogue One” edition (mats and a cup holder liner, oooh) or Modern Warfare Wranglers, and more like a Range Rover Holland & Holland by Overfinch, where the visuals and touch surfaces are upgraded without losing overall appeal and function, or the Ford Bronco X Filson FireCrew concept that echoed the old Forestry Service trucks (but still at appearance package prices).
I was able to change the cursors and sounds of my Windows 98 machine via the Theme function, there’s little reason OEMs can’t have preloaded wallpapers and sound effects for special models to go along with the cosmetic additions.
Hell yeah green-on-green is awesome 😀
Rivian even made a yellow-on-green R1T, and they also used to offer blue-on-green and even red-on-green!
But sadly, no more yellow, and you can’t the green interior with blue or red anymore 🙁
I also want it to have appendages that pop out with torches and tasers and probes so it can interface with strange computers.
As long as it knows the difference between a computer terminal and a power socket.
I’m very curious about the size.
I’m really hoping for midsize (which seems to match the released images) similar to a Ford Edge/Lincoln Nautilus, Lexus RX350, BMW X5, etc. Given Rivian’s (well-earned) pricing premium, though, I expect it to be closer to a Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-50, Honda CR-V/Acura rdx, etc.
Given the gauntlet that Volvo has thrown down with the EX30’s price and overall execution, and Tesla’s price drops, I’m half-expecting the R2S to be midsize, but I’m not holding my breath for it.
According to the specs it’s 3″ longer and 3″ wider than a new Forester.