Final week, the electrical automaker Rivian unveiled the R2, its newest electrical SUV. When the automobile begins rolling off manufacturing traces—within the first half of 2026, Rivian says—the R2 will be a part of the R1S SUV and the R1T pick-up truck within the automaker’s lineup.
Critically, Rivian pledges its latest entry shall be cheaper: At “round” $45,000, in accordance Rivian’s press supplies, the SUV will value some $30,000 lower than its larger SUV cousin, and nonetheless include about 300 miles of vary.
Pulling off the feat of creating its new SUV extra reasonably priced with out sacrificing vary or type shouldn’t solely show important in making Rivian’s newest experience stand out in an more and more crowded discipline of electrical automobiles—it additionally would possibly save the corporate. How did Rivian make it work? “R1 was designed by means of addition. It’s our premium flagship. We bought to say ‘sure’ to a variety of issues,” Jeff Hammoud, the automaker’s chief design officer, mentioned at an R2 unveiling occasion in Laguna Seashore, California, final week. “With R2, we’re actually eager about, to get the value level down, what do we have to say ‘no’ to?”
It’s early, however the math appears to have labored: Rivian reported taking greater than 68,000 reservations within the first 24 hours after the SUV’s unveiling.
For the electrical automaker’s design staff, the trick to creating what executives known as the “extra accessible” R2 was to take care of the unique SUV’s “design language”—the weather that make it clearly a Rivian—whereas snipping manufacturing and supplies prices wherever they may. So the R2 nonetheless has Rivian’s signature entrance, full with smile headlights, and appears like a shrunken model of the R1S. (The brand new automobile seats 5 passengers as an alternative of seven.) Slicing extra prices got here all the way down to good engineering.
After an extended day of displaying off the R2 and its shock crossover counterpart, the R3, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe sat down with WIRED to debate his engineering and design groups’ little compromises that assist make the brand new SUV work.
Suspension System
In a bid to make the R1 line right into a sports activities car-offroader hybrid, Rivian needed to go all-out with its suspension system. As a result of electrical batteries are heavy, the automobile wanted air springs to make sure it might get the bottom clearance required to traverse tough roads, but additionally the soundness to make the experience really feel snug and clean. An electro-hydraulic roll management system helps the R1 navigate tight corners—the sports activities automobile half—take up off-road shocks, and maximize wheel articulation, in order many wheels as attainable can preserve contact with even probably the most treacherous terrain. The flamboyant system additionally enabled some pleasant perks. “Camp mode,” for instance, makes use of the suspension system to stage out the R1’s chassis whereas on uneven floor, making it extra nice to sleep or cook dinner in, or simply grasp contained in the automobile or in its truck mattress.
However that complicated and costly suspension system wouldn’t work for the R2, says Scaringe, Rivian’s CEO. To chop down on manufacturing prices, the SUV has a hard and fast experience peak and stuck roll management. As a substitute of an unbiased, “double wishbone” entrance suspension design—utilizing two arms to attach every wheel to the chassis—the R2 makes use of a strut.
The change “was completely the proper name,” says Scaringe, as a result of it performs effectively in inner security testing, saves the automaker “a whole lot of {dollars},” and comes with the added benefit of giving the R2 extra entrance storage room.
Rear Home windows
For the R2, Rivian designers needed to provide passengers a basic “open air” journey automobile expertise, the type discovered on a safari inside a Toyota Landcruiser. So the staff got down to give the rear passenger home windows full-drop glass. Simpler mentioned than performed. Many automobiles, together with the R1S, have a hard and fast quarter window, separated from the portion that rolls down by a strip of steel and rubber known as a division bar. The configuration is smart for plenty of automobiles as a result of the rear passenger doorways overlap with the entrance of the again wheelbases, that means that the small portion of glass behind the division bar has nowhere to go.
So to drop that window glass, Rivian’s design staff needed to spend a lot of time fidgeting with the dimensions of the R2’s again doorways. “There have been some goofy proportions for some time due to it,” says Scarige. In the long run, the ultimate configuration permits your entire again home windows to drop. It additionally permits Rivian to economize on glass, division bars, and sealants.
Rear Desk
Hammoud, the Rivian design head, says R1S homeowners actually love the SUV’s cut up rear tailgate. It opens up like a clamshell, which permits simpler entry to the trunk by shorter people, and likewise provides folks a spot to take a seat, shielded from the weather. However that setup is fairly expensive. Within the R2, Rivian has nixed the cut up tailgate however added a helpful little rear tray desk, which can be utilized contained in the automobile throughout picnics or tenting jaunts, however can even flip exterior the automobile for use as a seat or altering desk.
Transportable Bluetooth Speaker
The R1 line comes with a built-in, detachable bluetooth speaker, which additionally emits a comfortable, yellow glow—a stunning campsite mood-setter. However temper setting ain’t free. The R2 doesn’t include the speaker. Unhappy, however essential to hold prices down.
Frunk
Rivian likes to speak about its software-first method. Certainly, its automobiles are continuously accumulating knowledge. For that cause, the automaker is aware of that drivers actually use its entrance trunk, or “frunk”—the cupboard space the place a gas-powered automobile’s engine often goes. Scaringe credit the R1 frunk’s recognition to its very easy-to-use open-and-close tech, which permits folks to open up and shut down the factor by double-tapping a button on the important thing fob or miserable a button on the entrance fascia, no pushing or prodding required.
However that system is pricey. For the R2, the frunk nonetheless opens with the faucet of a button, which releases a latch inside. However a small strap dangles from the within lid of the compartment. Drivers solely have to provide the strap a lightweight tug earlier than a cinch takes over, closing the frunk tight. “It’s simply the proper trade-off for a $45,000 automobile,” says Scaringe. Rivian will actually discover out if drivers agree about two years from now when the R2 rolls out of the manufacturing unit and onto American roads.
