Rivian has emailed all employees on Thursday about its R2 employee delivery programme for launch editions, the brand’s content creator and owner Chris Hilbert said on X citing “multiple sources”.
The email was sent a day after the company’s Software Chief Wassym Bensaid revealed that deliveries to staff will take place this month.
Both Rivian and Rivian-VW Technologies Group joint venture employees are eligible, Hilbert wrote on X on Thursday. “Employee deliveries are happening very soon!” he added.
Bensaid had stated last month that employees would receive vehicles first and hold them for several months to accumulate mileage and feed software experience data back to the company, after which customer deliveries would begin by the “end of spring.”
Separately, a Rivian sales representative at the company’s King of Prussia Mall showroom told a customer in mid-March that deliveries were expected to begin in mid-April, as reported by EV.
A floor-level R2 Assembly Team Leader at the Normal, Illinois plant also posted on LinkedIn around the same time that his team was “finishing up MVB strong and launching R2 to customers later this month.”
Thursday’s internal email aligns with that timeline.
Employee units would begin shipping this month, with external customer deliveries following in June.
What Is Known
The first trim available is the Performance Launch Edition at $57,990, which includes lifetime access to Rivian’s Autonomy+ driver-assistance system, a tow package rated at 4,400 pounds, semi-active suspension, and an exclusive Launch Green colour.
The vehicle offers 330 miles of EPA-estimated range, 656 horsepower from a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain, and a 3.6-second zero-to-60 time.
Rivian has begun contacting reservation holders to confirm their pre-orders for the Performance Launch Edition, though the online configurator has not yet opened.
A customer email sent to reservation holders in March indicated they would see their “estimated time to order” in June, as EV reported.
Production is expected to start at Rivian‘s Normal, Illinois plant on a single shift, with a second shift planned for late 2026 and a third in 2027.
The company has said the plant’s annual R2 capacity will reach 175,000 units.
VW Joint Venture Inclusion
The eligibility of Rivian-VW Technologies Group employees is also a new information.
The joint venture, announced in June 2024, involves Volkswagen investing up to $5.8 billion in Rivian through 2026 in exchange for access to Rivian‘s electrical architecture and software platform.
The partnership is expected to cost Volkswagen approximately 2.3 billion euros this year alone, according to Der Spiegel.
Delivery Timeline
Rivian reported earlier this Thursday first-quarter 2026 production of 10,236 vehicles and deliveries of 10,365, beating analyst consensus.
The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance of 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles, a target that requires a significant ramp in the remaining three quarters — partly driven by R2 volumes beginning from a standing start.
Rivian‘s head of sales Gary Gaines said at SXSW last month that the R2’s reception had “exceeded” management expectations.
The R2 Performance at $57,990 sits almost exactly at the price of the Tesla Model Y Performance at $57,490, the vehicle Rivian has explicitly targeted as its primary competitor.
As of press time, Rivian shares were trading 2.9% higher at $15.37.
