After weeks of speculation that deliveries of the R2 could be imminent, Rivian has confirmed that the first units will be delivered “next month,” as reservation holders continue to wait for guidance on their order timelines.
“Deliveries are starting next month! We’re in the final stretch,” the company wrote on X last Friday.
The comment came days after the EV maker hosted an event at its plant in Normal, Illinois, attended by Governor JB Pritzker, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, several other executives, and prominent Illinois politicians.
The event fueled speculation among enthusiasts that Rivian was preparing to announce the start of R2 deliveries.
Furthermore, the event took place just a week after the company opened the online configurator for the model.
Rivian had reaffirmed just days before a June timeline for customers to configure their vehicles.
Estimated Time to Order
Rivian officially launched the R2 SUV on March 12.
The model debuted in the Performance version, priced from $57,990, with a ‘Launch Edition’ package that includes lifetime access to its Autonomy+ ADAS.
Two additional R2 variants are confirmed for launch in the next year and a half.
It includes a Premium trim, priced at $53,990, which is expected in late 2026, and a Standard variant, priced at $45,000, expected in late 2027.
As part of its effort to assess demand for the launch trim, the company began contacting reservation holders to confirm their pre-orders in March.
Rivian allows customers can place a reservation for the Launch Edition with a $100 refundable deposit — an option that was available even before the release of full details.
Reservations have been open since March 2024, when the model was first unveiled.
For those who had already reserved a vehicle, the company is now requesting confirmation of the delivery address and whether they are interested in the Launch Edition.
By late March, Rivian revealed in a customer e-mail that reservation holders will be able to access more details about placing their orders in June.
“In June, you’ll see your estimated time to order,” the company stated.
The timeline narrowed the window for deliveries to commence before the end of the first half of the year.
R2 Delivery Priority
Rivian has made available a ‘R2 Priority Delivery Offer’, available for those who have placed a reservation for the model.
However, one of the conditions to access the offer is that the reservation holder owns/has owned or leases/has leased a R1 vehicle.
The offer places previous and current R1T and R1S owners above those who have placed their reservations in the last two years.
Reservation holders who are not current R1 owners have begun speculating about when their deliveries might take place.
“I’m an R2 reservation holder and received a sales call from Rivian last week to try and get me into an R1,” user ‘ontheclock’ wrote on Rivian Forums last week. “They told me if you reserved after January this year, you’re looking at least until 2027 at the earliest. That could be some sales pressure, but probably right.”
In a separate reply, they added that the company “went over the current offers and incentives, including leasing – which isn’t even available in my state (Indiana).”
While some believe the first R2 deliveries will be split between R1 owners and new customers, another user flagged in the same thread that a Rivian representative at the R2 Block Party confirmed that R1 owners will get priority over non-Rivian owners.
“So if somebody gets an R1 today and then reserves an R2, they bump my 3/7/24 reservation,” user ‘Yamazaki’ wrote. “I figure I’m one of the first in line for all the people without an R1 (got a res within the first 15 minutes of the reveal), but I have no idea where that actually puts me since a lot of people who reserved an R2 already have an R1.”
Rivian expects to deliver 20,000 to 25,000 R2 vehicles this year, with the majority of them being delivered in the second half of the year.
Production Ramp
Rivian officially started volume and saleable production of the midsize SUV on April 22.
The confirmation came just weeks after the first R2 units with VIN numbers started being spotted across the US.
Employee deliveries began on the same day.
During the Illinois plant event with the Governor, users spotted several numbers written on the vehicles’ windshields, which went above 500.
The Irvine-based EV maker reportedly confirmed to X user ‘Riviantrackr‘ that these numbers corresponded to the VIN, which suggests that the company has already produced over 500 saleable units of the R2 ahead of external deliveries.
Late last week, Rivian’s autonomy and software leaders responded to questions about the upcoming model on Reddit, addressing growing concerns about the gap between the first vehicles shipping this spring and the LiDAR-equipped versions arriving later this year.
The executives also revealed more about the model’s infotainment — for which ‘Youtube Music‘ and ‘Amazon Music‘ are scheduled to roll out — and the company’s intention to unify software architecture between the R1 and R2 models.
