Its fascinating to see how much that concept has captured the enthusiast market for what probably is just a small crossover.
And I say that as someone who also wants one.
Thinking about that now, it'd be really cool to see them do the climate controls with dimpled anodized aluminum toggles, potentially in silver or Rivian orange depending on the interior fabric/leather color. That'd really fit with their design aesthetic, while giving something more premium feeling to interact with than the main screen.
Unfortunately Rivian is [all in](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rivians-chief-software-officer-says-221656379.html) on using AI, voice and touchscreens instead of physical controls. Sucks because I like almost everything else about their cars.
I mean stylistically it looks kinda like an 80s callback to something like the Lancia Delta Integrale or Golf Country, which considering most EV designs are more half-used bar of soap (with a few exceptions like the Ioniq5), already makes it stand out
Not committing until we get some actual reviews, but I'm definitely open to buying one too
Not to sound like an apologist but why do you think adding a horizontal pattern would help hide gaps or misalignments? I think a solid color could distract more from something like that since there wouldn't be an obvious point of reference.
Pretty sure it's just a play on "R2-D2".
Disclaimer: have an R1T, and yes I had to have them fix the gaps on delivery.
It's not about hiding the gaps. It's about visually differentiating the final product from the pre-production version. So people don't look at the flaws and think it is the final version.
> why do you think adding a horizontal pattern would help hide gaps or misalignments?
Because it will make people focus on the pattern and color contrast instead of looking closely at where the body panels meet.
This is just for the pre-production models according to reviewers. Rivian didn’t want people seeing a full color R2 and thinking it was already launched apparently. This color won’t be available otherwise
so the reason the Xiaomi SU7 and YU7 can be produced in such great numbers at such low cost is slave labor? how many humans do you see here? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5KhnLLpoQ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5KhnLLpoQ0)
In the specific Xiaomi case they've been able to leverage their existing expertise and experience in electronics manufacturing, as well as taking advantage of massive government support. Though it's important to preface that the video you sent was of final assembly, not upstream in the supply chain where the working conditions are attrocious. Also, obviously Xiaomi is going to try to make themselves look as modern and flashy as possible in a promotional video.
Furthermore, the Chinese EV market is famously extremely heavily subsidized, and the Chinese also has a more chill regulatory environment. However, Xiaomi is not the largest EV maker in China, that title goes to BYD, which is infamous for its exploitation of workers, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYD_Brazil_working_conditions_controversy just as an example. There have also been many cases of China abusing the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region and forcing them into slave labor for rare earth metal extraction, as well as many other fields critical to EV manufacturing.
If we want to make the future electric then it's of the utmost importance that we don't support nations that still use slave labor, it's barbaric, cruel, inhumane, and a failure of our species.
Because Chinese govt has had absolutely power to control their industry system which American govt doesn’t have. Chinese govt heavily subsidy their automakers for their EVs, but American govt doesn’t subsidy like them much and even more worse.
You can realize why Chinese automakers able to lunch EVs so quickly, but American automakers can’t.
So crazy wow. The only reasonable explanation is that the Chinese are just 10x smarter than everyone else on the planet and not that they aren’t playing by the same rules as everyone else like has been constantly said and downvoted on this sub. Must be that America just “sucks.”
Stolen from Reddit but .... [Yeah that's hot.](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fwrap-idea-yes-or-no-v0-fhz5gi1a9r6f1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D640%26crop%3Dsmart%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D10b12378d814e74b635f5ad33f6e6f7f62677ebd)
This will make or break the company. If they can't ramp fast enough and actually start to turn a profit within maybe two years few investors will be willing to support the company further.
I wish them good fucking luck. Trying to ramp up production to that amount, on a brand new model, for a company that has had issues in the past and has never made a big seller and thus never manufactured to this level. That’s a lot working against them.
People are going to have to purposely pick this over a bettered featured Tesla Model Y
With the Model Y sales already declining year over year they’re in a position to start eating into Tesla share. The R1 platform rides better than the X or CT so if they can hold that advantage in the R2 it will be great.
It doesn’t look like an amorphous blob like the MY which will only help.
If Rivian nails quality they’ll be in a good space.
No political baggage too. Rivian's brand image is actually attractive to the primary EV buying demographic, which I can definitely imagine helping it vis-a-vis the MY
> No political baggage too.
Yet Rivian had a much larger percentage sales decline in the US than Tesla last year, which really underscores how much they're struggling.
I mean Rivian also right now sits way up-market of Tesla, the R1 starts at like double a base spec M3 or MY (and doesn't really compete with them) so it makes sense they might get hit harder during a time where consumer sentiment is bad
Exactly. Additionally this is a great transition car for the countless owners embarrassed to be driving a Tesla today. The R2 is looking to be a great reason to get out of a Tesla.
I'm excited for those looking to swap to sit in the Rivian and see the crazy quality difference between the brands. I have no doubt the R2 will be a substantially more premium product.
I don’t think they’ll have a problem with people picking this over a Y. People have been waiting for their more affordable model for a while. The R2 and iX3 are the two I’m contemplating for my next EV. We’ll see once I test drive if they remain the top 2 but I’m likely not going back to Tesla at this point.
> People have been waiting for their more affordable model for a while.
This won't be affordable. It won't be as affordable as they pitched it, and it won't be as affordable as a Y. It will be more affordable than the R1s, sure, but that's a very low bar.
It's likely going to be another one of those "Prices start at $45K but we'll start with manufacturing the high trim ones that are like $60K" situations as is standard with startup companies
Standard with most new cars that are in demand, just wait.
Rivian luckily doesn't have to deal with annoying dealership shinanigans, but I bet plenty of people will try and flip their early allocations for a profit.
People absolutely will - until consumers get FOMO under control, or manufacturers put methods in place to control scalping (like purchase provisions), there will always be people separating a fool from their hard earned money.
You will not be able to get one for $45k.
At best, there will be like 10 base models allocated. But you won't be able to buy one. I will bet my life the only option a normal person has is 55+
There is still a large market of buyers in that 50-60 range that aren’t willing to move up to 80+ for the current models. The Y sells insane volume so rivian doesn’t need to convince all buyers. They capture 5% and that’s 50k buyers. I think that’s more than achievable.
I never said it would be “affordable”. Rivian isn’t targeting the Bolt or Leaf market with this. For what it offers its price point will attract a lot of buyers. There is a decent enough market in that 45-60 range that this thing will sell well.
It’s targeting people who don’t want to spend 80+ today but will spend 50-55.
I’m a current Tesla owner and absolutely plan on buying an R2 instead of a Y for my next vehicle (I need something bigger than my 3). Elon has soured my perception of the brand beyond repair while he still remains there, and they’ve made it clear that they don’t want to sell cars anymore anyway, with their shift to robotics/robotaxi.
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He also runs a car auction company and has bought/sold tons of cars personally.
I think he has a handle on the value proposition of mass market vehicles.
He buys expensive sports cars but he sees all kinds of cars being bought and sold on cars and bids every day. His job is directly related to cars and their value to the public buying them.
Base will still be around the noted price, which is impressive given inflation ($47,500 would be the adjusted price from 2024 > 2027). But launch edition is prioritizing dual motor first.
Dual motor lidar (not launch edition) will probably fall in that second realm - lidar trim being the key factor with whatever the future performance trim probably hitting towards the top of your figure
I don’t think the base ever happens. It will be the $35,000 Model 3 that Elon also promised.
Here’s why: Launch edition is pretty much guaranteed to be the large battery, Performance AWD. I’m expecting it to be price at $60K.. considering that’s very close to what Tesla is charging for a large battery, Performance AWD Model Y. The R2’s most direct competitor.
It might take a year or so to get through building those. Then expect deliveries of the next cheapest trim: LR AWD (non-performance) for maybe $55K. Then LR RWD for maybe $52K.
For them to offer a $45K trim.. it’s probably going to be a smaller battery pack and RWD only. Rivian does not build cars fast enough for that to be offered anytime soon. Anybody waiting on a $45K R2 is probably going to be waiting another 3-5 years for delivery. If it actually happens. Them pivoting to the even smaller R3 and using that as their $40K tier makes much more sense.
"I don't trust Rivian because Tesla lied."
You're right that a $45k R2 would be RWD and the smallest battery pack, but so far Rivian has a good track record of following through on their promises. We should know a bit more on March 12 when the full launch pricing is unveiled. Hopefully they'll hint at the next available trims.
Ehhh how long have you been following Rivian? I was one of the original preorders on the quad motor R1T for $65K. I’m a day one reservation holder on the R2.. that R2 reservation is almost exactly 2 years old at this point.
I ask these questions because Rivian made thousands of people boiling made when they drastically raised the price R1T and refused to honor the cheap $65K pricing.
None of these companies are your friend. They are all in business for one reason: Profit.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/3/22959855/rivian-r1s-r1t-price-ev-vaporware-cars-preorder
I think they'll be around 45k but they'll strip everything out they can to hit that price.
People are more price sensitive today than they were a few years ago, and they'll realise that hitting the price point is more important than having all features on the base model.
That will also make it less compelling at that price though.
I'd take that bet. Rivians future depends on this being a hit and they know they have to be aggressive. The manufacturing cost of the R2 is going to be significantly cheaper than R1 so they should come in low.
The journalists/YouTubers that got early access confirmed that $45k will still be the starting price, and higher trims are still "a good value," likely relative to Tesla, Polestar, etc.
Cool car, and I very much long for it to launch in Europe. But I can't help but comment on how it's a previous gen EV compared to the BMW iX3 and Volvo EX60 (about 500 miles of range and faster charging).
Not sure it will sell well here given that it probably won't be a $45k car here.
How is Rivian in Europe right now ? Do they expend more their showrooms and service centers ? Do they consider to built their factory in Europe ? If they don’t, that would be difficult to sell their cars.
The only good way is VW helping them to sell their cars.
I agree, the spec sheet is mostly whelming. I think it’ll still sell plenty well if the price remains true, but I worry about what I call the Audi Q6 effect - where I was excited for the Q6 and the PPE architecture, but by the time it launched it was only just competitive for a year or two and mostly surpassed shortly thereafter in terms of specs.
Now of course there’s not a ton of midsize EV SUVs that have an off-road lean, so that helps it too and it still looks like a very solid car
I live in the SF Bay Area and I don’t think this will work well for Rivian, it’s too little too late. At this point they’ve eroded all brand equity… it’s literally libtarded white folks and Indian people driving these. It is not cool at all. When Tesla did the model 3 it was still an interesting and exciting brand
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The whole car will still be rigid but you now deal with:
1. Less protection overhead in a rollover
2. Redesigned airbag layout to still meet crash protection standards
3. Massively increased road noise because you basically replaced your roof with a plastic sheet
4. Increased cost from having to develop solutions for #1-3
This is not a Wrangler or a Bronco.
There is no need to compromise body rigidity, increase weight & NVH and add cost for 10% of buyers that will remove the top 5 times a year.
Theoretically the trend should always be upwards.
Practicality post COVID says that due to manufacturing optimization and supply chain pivots you can expect a possible dip.
As with all vehicles, don't buy the 1st gen.
Rivian really needs to ramp up service centers.
I've been barking about this since R2 was announced and haven't seen a meaningful uptick (although I'm sure they're increasing).
For example, I live in the capital of a NE state and the three closest Rivian SCs are 1.5 hours away (+/- 5 minutes). I still have an R2 reserved, but I reaaaaaly hope I never need to visit the SC.
If they can build a reliable car, hopefully the need for more service centers can be negated.
My Mach E has needed zero maintenance in the first year, but has 3 recalls. They can be performed by a roaming mechanic that has done it in my driveway.
They're definitely ramping up. We're in a major city and had the same concerns when we considered an R1S a couple years ago. They just built a SC less than 15 miles away in the last quarter or so.
How is the parts supply chain for Rivian? if you get into an accident or an event that requires a new body panel etc, is there long wait times? only thing that keeps me hesitant is the small footprint of their logistics relative to the big brands
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