A camouflaged Rivian R2 has been photographed in British Columbia, the first publicly reported sighting of the midsize electric SUV in Canada, where it is not due to reach customers until 2027.
A Rivian enthusiast posting as ‘Brian4591’ on X shared images on Wednesday of a disguised R2 parked at a Wendy’s in South Surrey, in Metro Vancouver, wearing a British Columbia manufacturer plate.
He wrote that it was the “first one I have seen or heard of up here.”
A Camouflaged Test Unit
The car wore the swirled camouflage wrap Rivian uses on pre-production and validation vehicles, with a British Columbia manufacturer plate visible in the photos.
Such plates are issued to automakers for testing and demonstration.
A British Columbia plate, rather than a US one, indicates a vehicle registered in the province for that purpose, not a car driven up from the US.
Automakers commonly run such vehicles to confirm a model meets local certification and cold-weather requirements before sale.
Rivian‘s only British Columbia service-and-demo center is in nearby Richmond, also in Metro Vancouver, a short distance from where the car was photographed.
Still Years From Customers
Rivian opened R2 pre-orders to Canadians in 2024 but has not yet delivered one in the country.
First shown in March 2024, the R2 will have kept its earliest Canadian reservation holders waiting about three years by the time deliveries begin.
In February, as reported by EV that Rivian had changed its website to show the R2 “Coming 2027” for Canada, replacing an earlier 2026 plan, and had removed a previously listed C$66,500 starting price.
Rivian confirmed the 2027 Canadian window when it revealed full US specifications and pricing on March 12.
Deliveries in the US are already under way.
Rivian began US customer deliveries on June 9, starting with the $57,990 Performance trim, and is on track to hand over more than 1,100 R2s before the second quarter ends on June 30.
US VIN assignments have climbed toward 2,000 within weeks of the first customer orders.
Rivian has also said about half of early R2 buyers chose to lease in the opening days.
Built at the company’s plant in Normal, Illinois, the R2 is a five-seat midsize SUV that Rivian has called its highest-volume future product.
US prices run from $48,490 for the rear-wheel-drive Standard model to $57,990 for the Performance version, with a longer-term target near $45,000.
The dual-motor prototype produced 656 horsepower and reached 60 miles per hour in under four seconds, with more than 300 miles of range from an 87.4 kWh battery.
Rivian has said the R2 is shorter and lighter than the R1S, the larger SUV it already sells in Canada.
A Limited Canadian Footprint
Rivian‘s Canadian presence is small.
The company runs four service-and-demo centers — in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal — with the Montreal site temporary and a permanent location under construction in Laval.
Rivian announced the expansion earlier this year as it prepared for the R2.
Charging is more limited.
Rivian operates no Adventure Network stations in Canada, leaving Canadian owners to use partner networks and, through the R2’s NACS port, Tesla Superchargers.
Metro Vancouver is among the better-served areas, with the Richmond center and a denser public-charging network than most of the country.
Tariffs
Since April 2025, Canada has applied a 25% surtax on US-made vehicles, a countermeasure to US auto tariffs.
For vehicles that do not meet the rules of origin under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, the surtax applies to the full value of the car.
Vehicles that comply face the surtax only on the portion of their content sourced outside North America.
Remission is available only to automakers that build vehicles in Canada and continue to produce there.
Rivian assembles in Illinois, with a second plant planned in Georgia, and has announced no Canadian production, so it qualifies for no remission.
The surtax has already affected the R1.
Owners and dealers report that it has raised Canadian prices and weighed on sales, and an imported R2 would face the same charge.
The R1T and R1S have sold in Canada since 2022, already at prices above their US equivalents before the surtax.
That added duty would raise the price of a model Rivian has positioned on affordability.
Incentives
Government purchase support for electric vehicles has also changed significantly.
Canada’s previous federal iZEV program exhausted its funding and was paused in early 2025. It has been replaced by the Electric Vehicle Affordability Program (EVAP), which launched on February 16, 2026.
EVAP offers up to C$5,000 for qualifying battery-electric vehicles, but eligibility is generally limited to vehicles with a final transaction value of C$50,000 or less (with no cap for Canadian-made vehicles).
In Quebec, the Roulez vert rebate for new fully electric vehicles was reduced to C$4,000 in 2025 (down from up to C$7,000 the previous year). The program is being gradually phased out, with further reductions planned and rebates scheduled to end for vehicles registered from 2027 onward.
Quebec will also introduce an annual fee for battery-electric vehicle owners beginning in 2027.
An R2 reaching Canada in 2027 would therefore face both the 25% surtax on its import value and significantly reduced purchase incentives.
