Rivian said for the first time on Wednesday that it is producing “hundreds” of R2 “production intent builds” of its $45,000 SUV.
Through a post on X, the company said that “they may not always travel in packs, but sightings of R2 are on the rise,” with “hundreds of production-intent builds” hitting the road for “real world testing and final validation.”
The EV maker further clarified on a blog post that “in recent weeks, more and more R2 vehicles have been out in the wild eating up miles, as hundreds of production-intent builds come off our pilot line.”
The R2, to be priced from $45,000, is expected to start production in the first half of 2026 at its Normal, Illinois, plant.
Earlier this month, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard noted that “management is still targeting a starting price of ~$45,000 for the lowest trim, although we expect Rivian to first launch with a higher trim version initially.”
According to Chief Financing Officer Claire McDonough on the latest earnings call, Rivian expects the R2 to cost less than “half as much per unit to produce as the R1 line.”
Rivian started manufacturing the R2 in its main plant in Normal, Illinois, for which production is suspended at the moment — as the company retools to accommodate larger-scale production of the SUV.
Recently, Illinois officials said French supplier OPmobility will assemble bumpers for the R2 at Rivian’s newly designated supplier park in Normal, joining Michigan-based auto seat maker Adient.
The Irvine-based automaker is also expanding its manufacturing footprint to Georgia, where a new plant is currently under construction, after several delays.
The factory will support production of the R2, and will then integrate the R3 and R3X. Operations are projected to begin in the third quarter of 2027, with sales following in 2028.
In an interview with CNBC, Rivian’s founder and CEO RJ Scaringe reaffirmed that the R2 will be “a global product,” with “world-class technology,” which will be produced in the US.
He further added that “companies like Rivian are really important to the United States,” noting that they have a “great partnership” with the Department of Energy, which is giving the EV maker a loan of over $6 billion for the plant’s construction.
“The really important thing to keep top of mind here is that the administration and the president’s objective is to bring jobs to the United States,” he said.
Last week, the upcoming R2 was spotted at a Tesla Supercharger in Arizona, which confirmed that the model will feature a native North American Charging Standard (NACS) port on the rear driver’s side — the same placement used on Tesla vehicles.
Rivian announced it was switching to the NACS system over a year ago, in March 2024.
By then, it sent an adapter to all Rivian owners for free, as access to the network would require it at first. It also started adapting its charging network to support the charging system in late July.
