Rivian is preparing to begin producing customer units of its R2 SUV, a model expected to significantly boost its demand by moving the company into a more affordable segment than its current premium R1 lineup.
The EV maker first announced the R2 platform in 2022, with an initial launch planned for 2025.
However, manufacturing delays and the priority on scaling R1 production have pushed the debut to 2026.
Production is now expected to begin in the next few months at the Normal plant, where the first validation vehicles have just rolled off the line.
2022/2023 — Initial Plans
During an investor call in May 2022, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said Rivian remained on track to launch the platform in 2025, with production planned at their new factory in Georgia then.
In its early-2023 shareholder letter, Rivian confirmed progress on the plans and announced that it had signed an Economic Development Agreement for a second Georgia plant, which it designated as the production site for the R2 platform.
By then, the brand aimed at beginning R2 production in early 2025.
Speaking at a Bank of America summit in mid-2023, and as cited by The Verge, Rivian‘s Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough said that they expected to produce 200,000 R2 vehicles in 2026.
However, that timeline was pushed back as construction of the Georgia site was delayed due to several zoning-related lawsuits by local citizens.
The company broke ground for the $5 billion-plant in September 2025 — three years after the deal was signed.
The facility is expected to take approximately 36 months to build, with partial operations projected to begin in the third quarter of 2027 and sales of its production expected to begin in 2028.
2024 — Unveil
Rivian unveiled the R2 mid-size SUV in March 2024, alongside the R3 and off-road R3X crossover SUVs.
The latter two came as a surprise, as the company had not mentioned them beforehand.
Back then, Rivian announced it was moving R2 production from Georgia to its main plant in Normal, Illinois.
The shift led them to save about $2.25 billion while allowing vehicle production to begin earlier, which was since then slated to the first half of 2026.
The five-seat SUV will offer over 300 miles of range on a single charge and will be available in multiple configurations, from single-motor to tri-motor.
On its R1 models, Rivian offers single-, dual-, tri-, and quad-motor configurations.
The company indicated that the entry-level R2 would start around $45,000, though the exact price was not officially confirmed at that time.
According to CEO RJ Scaringe, the R2 received over 68,000 reservations in less than 24 hours since its unveiling.
Customers could place a (refundable) $100 deposit to secure their place in line for purchasing the model.
Three months later, Rivian‘s VP of Manufacturing Tim Fallon said that the model had exceeded “well over 100,000” pre-orders.
Since then, however, the company has not provided an update on the reservation figures for the highly anticipated model.
In late 2024, Rivian began expanding its Normal factory to accommodate production of the new vehicle.
Chief Operations Officer Javier Varela wrote on LinkedIn that the “Rivian R2 is one step closer to coming to market! We broke ground in Normal (Illinois) to begin expanding the plant to build R2, in addition to our current products.”
The Normal plant, originally covering about 2.6 million square feet, was expanded by an additional 1 million square feet.
Changes also included a supplier park adjacent to its facilities, for which construction is expected to be completed this year.
2025 — Final Steps
During an earnings call in February 2025, Rivian‘s CEO stated that the company had successfully sourced 95% of the bill of materials for the R2.
“And the bill of materials in R2 is expected to be roughly half of what we have in R1,” Scaringe noted.
By then, the company had reported completing winter testing on the first development builds.
In August, management was questioned whether recent policy changes affecting consumer credits would influence Rivian‘s outlook on R2 pricing, costs, or production capacity.
Scaringe responded that the company was still committed to launching the $45,000 R2 SUV at its Normal, Illinois plant, with an allocated capacity of 155,000 units.
In September, the EV maker shut down the Normal factory “for approximately three weeks starting late in the third quarter of 2025,” as it integrated “key elements of our manufacturing process in preparation for the planned start of R2 production in the first half of 2026.”
Later that month, Rivian announced that it already had “hundreds of production-intent builds” of the upcoming SUV on the road for real-world testing.
Late 2025/2026 — Production
Scaringe has since then reaffirmed the first-half timeline, which not only includes production but also deliveries.
Speaking with The Verge in October, he said that the first “saleable units” would be manufactured early this year.
“We start deliveries in the first half of next year,” the CEO stated, “which means we have to start building what we call saleable units in the early part of next year.”
Despite confirmations of an entry-level trim priced at $45,000, the EV maker is expected to begin production with a higher-priced version of the SUV.
During its ‘Autonomy & AI Day’ event in December, Rivian revealed the first R2 builds equipped with LiDAR, marking the first time the company confirmed that its vehicles will include the sensor suite.
Late last year, a prototype spotted near Rivian‘s factory on December 23 had suggested trial production was underway.
Rivian’s stock has come under pressure in recent days, as several Wall Street analysts anticipate losses now that the excitement around autonomy news is fading, and since the company has not provided updates on the R2 production timeline.
The chief executive said late last year that Rivian will hold a dedicated event later this quarter to share go-to-market details, including pricing, trims, and other specifications.
