The entry-level version of Rivian‘s R2 that CEO RJ Scaringe described as coming ‘shortly thereafter’ will not reach customers until late 2027 — roughly 18 months after the first units roll off the line this spring.
Reservation holders expecting Rivian‘s cheapest model ever will have to wait until late 2027 to take delivery of the $45,000 SUV, according to specifications leaked on Wednesday.
The disclosure puts a concrete timeline on a figure Scaringe has used as the centrepiece of Rivian‘s growth narrative since trhe R2 was first unveiled in March 2024, when the company positioned the $45,000 price as its entry into the mass market.
In early February, Scaringe told CNBC that hitting the $45,000 target was non-negotiable.
‘The top-line number, the starting price of $45,000, has to be achieved. And we have to do it profitably,’ he said during an interview that included a test ride of the vehicle near Rivian‘s Palo Alto offices.
When pressed by CNBC on February 12 about whether the first vehicles delivered would carry the $45,000 price, Scaringe recalled that the Launch Edition would be priced higher.
The launch configuration will be at’ a higher price point, he said, before adding that the $45,000 version would come ‘shortly thereafter.’
The interviewer pushed directly: ‘Will the first vehicles you deliver price at 45 or will they price at a higher price point?’
Scaringe’s response confirmed the base model would follow, without specifying a timeline.
‘Shortly Thereafter’
The leaked specifications show the R2 will launch this spring in a Performance variant priced at $57,990 with the launch package — nearly $13,000 above the headline figure.
A Premium trim at $53,990 follows in late 2026. The $45,000 Standard, equipped with a smaller battery delivering approximately 265 miles of range, is not expected until late 2027.
For customers who reserved the R2 based on the $45,000 starting price announced two years ago, the wait is now approaching three and a half years from the original reveal — and the vehicle they eventually receive will arrive in a market without the $7,500 federal EV tax credit that existed when the price was first announced.
The credit was eliminated last September.
As EV reported last week, the company quietly removed the ‘$45,000 starting price’ language from its R2 product page, replacing it with a countdown to the March 12 reveal.
A Familiar Playbook
The strategy of leading with a higher-priced variant while deferring the mass-market version mirrors the approach Tesla took with the Model 3, which launched in mid-2017 with a long-range premium version priced above $44,000.
The promised $35,000 base model did not become available to order until February 2019 — nearly two years later — and was quietly discontinued the following year after being offered only in limited quantities.
Speaking with Car Magazine in November last year, Scaringe had already begun framing the R2’s price in competitive terms rather than as a firm launch commitment.
“R2 is a really important product — a vehicle at that $45,000 price point that’s really interesting and compelling,” he told the outlet. “People ask, is it going to pull sales from the Model Y because they’re priced similarly?”
The comparison to the Model Y is now complicated by the pricing gap at launch.
Tesla’s Standard 2026 Model Y starts at $39,990 in the United States, while the comparable Premium RWD trim is priced at $44,990.
The R2’s launch variant at $57,990 sits closer to the Model Y Performance at $57,490 than to the mass-market trims Scaringe has positioned the R2 against — a gap that will persist until the $45,000 Standard arrives in late 2027.
Gen 3 Hardware Adds Another Layer
Starting in late 2026, Rivian plans to begin producing R2 units equipped with its Gen 3 hardware stack, which includes LiDAR sensors and the company’s custom-designed RAP1 autonomy chips.
The upgrade was announced at Rivian’s Autonomy and AI Day in December.
Early R2 buyers who take delivery this spring and summer will receive the Gen 2 hardware configuration without LiDAR.
Scaringe said on the fourth-quarter earnings call that hardware retrofits are not planned, meaning the first wave of customers will drive a fundamentally different version of the vehicle than those who purchase it six months later.
The Financial Stakes
Rivian has framed the R2 as the vehicle that will support its path to profitability.
During a test drive with CNBC on February 4, Scaringe said the R2 is ‘really instrumental for driving the business to positive cash flow and overall profitability.’
The company has accumulated more than $24 billion in cumulative losses since its founding.
Addressing that figure last month, Scaringe said the spending reflects the cost of ‘building a very large company’ and that Rivian cannot become one until the R2 reaches scale.
Rivian expects to deliver between 62,000 and 67,000 vehicles in 2026, with 20,000 to 25,000 of those estimated to be R2 units.
R1 and commercial van volumes are expected to remain roughly flat year on year.
