Two Rivian R2 SUVs were spotted on off-road trails in Colorado and Utah being driven by company employees who said the vehicles were picked up “fresh off the line” at the Normal, Illinois, plant late last week and driven back to California for testing.
The sighting, shared on the Rivian Forums on Monday by user ‘Budman’, includes two pictures of a white R2 driving on Onion Creek Road near Moab, Utah.
A licence plate number is visible in the photographs, but the issuing state cannot be determined from the images, and the user did not mention it.
Budman said he spoke directly with two Rivian employees who were each driving separate R2 units across the region.
“According to two Rivian employees I talked to driving two different R2s across CO and UT employee deliveries have not started yet,” Budman wrote, referring to Colorado and Utah.
“They picked up R2 fresh off the line late last week to drive back to California for testing,” the user added.
After another forum member asked what the employees were doing with the vehicles, the forum user shared additional details.
“I asked them specifically if they purchased those vehicles or if they were Rivian owned,” Budman wrote.
“They were Rivian owned (one was VIN 23, the other I did not look). One of the drivers said there were a bunch of people flown out to Normal to drive R2s back to California for testing and to put miles on.”
“Both drivers had Rivian tshirts on. One was driving Onion Creek Road in Moab just for fun on the way back to CA. Both said employee deliveries have not started yet.”
What the Sightings Reveal
The account confirms several important details about the R2 production ramp.
VIN 23 was identified on one of the two vehicles, according to ‘Budman’.
That follows the sighting of VIN 5 at a charging station in Kearney, Nebraska, earlier this month — a unit being driven cross-country from Normal to Rivian’s Irvine, California, headquarters.
The progression through the VIN sequence suggests Rivian has produced at least two dozen saleable or near-saleable R2 units.
According to the employees cited by the user, the vehicles were company-owned — not employee purchases.
As of April 13, when the forum post was published, employee deliveries had not yet begun.
Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid said last month that the first R2 units would be delivered to employees in April, with customer deliveries to follow by the “end of spring.” The timeline remains consistent — there are 17 days remaining in the month.
Rivian Teases Updates
Separately, Rivian‘s official X account hinted on Monday that formal R2 announcements are imminent.
Responding to a post from X user Kevin Melnuk who wrote “Give us R2 updates already or I’m flying to Normal to find VINs,” Rivian replied: “More R2 updates are coming, we promise.”
The company has not yet issued a formal start-of-production announcement, though all available signals indicate production of deliverable units is underway.
R2 Lineup and Specs
Rivian unveiled the full R2 lineup last month with three trims tailored to different price points and driving styles.
The R2 Performance, the first variant to reach customers this spring, starts at $57,990 with the Launch Package.
The dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain produces 656 horsepower and 609 lb-ft of torque, with a 0-to-60 mph time of 3.6 seconds and an EPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles.
The R2 Premium, arriving in late 2026 at $53,990, features a dual-motor AWD setup producing 450 horsepower with an EPA-estimated range of up to 330 miles.
The R2 Standard, starting at $48,490 in a single-motor rear-wheel-drive long-range configuration with 350 horsepower and up to 345 miles of range, is not expected until the first half of 2027.
An additional Standard variant starting at approximately $45,000 will follow in late 2027.
The R2 is nearly 2,000 pounds lighter than the R1 and sits on a shorter wheelbase, which Rivian says makes it “incredibly responsive and nimble in urban environments.”
It retains 9.6 inches of ground clearance — which Rivian describes as best-in-class — and the off-road capability that the Onion Creek Road photos illustrate.
The vehicle’s signature rear drop glass lowers completely into the liftgate at the touch of a button. Total enclosed storage is 90.1 cubic feet with fold-flat rear seats.
On the technology side, the R2 is equipped with 200 sparse TOPS of AI compute, context-aware haptic halo wheels on the steering column, and built-in hardware for Rivian‘s Autonomy+ system, which provides Level 2+ hands-free assisted driving on 3.5 million miles of roads across the US and Canada.
New exterior colour options include Catalina Cove, Esker Silver, and Half Moon Grey.
Interior options include Black Crater Signature with upcycled birch wood textures and Coastal Cloud Signature.
R2 Production Context
As reported by EV on Monday, a Rivian senior manager said the company’s R2 SUV is “coming to life on the assembly line”, adding to signals that production of deliverable units is underway ahead of a formal announcement.
The formal start-of-production announcement is expected at any moment.
The EV maker completed its first manufacturing validation builds of the R2 in mid-January.
Rivian is targeting 20,000 to 25,000 R2 deliveries in 2026 within a total production target of 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles.
Of those, the company expects to sell 5,000 R2 vehicles this year in California alone — the EPA filing revealed.
The Normal plant has capacity for 215,000 vehicles annually, including up to 155,000 R2s.
Between April and May, Rivian is taking the R2 on a tour across seven US cities, with demo drives expected at select Rivian Spaces around July.
