The Rivian R2 Is A Make-Or-Break Car For Rivian

You're looking at the new five-seat

R2 electric SUV from Rivian.

Built on an entirely new platform,

this is not a stripped down R1S,

but a ground up rethink with one crucial target in mind,

bringing Rivians to the masses.

And what's more, in order to keep the survival

of the company, this thing has got to work.

Starting at a competitive $45,000,

this is the make-or-break budget EV from the car company

that has spent more money over the same period

of time versus almost every other pure EV maker.

I went to Salt Lake City

and tried out this, the $58,000 launch performance model

with dual-motor, all-wheel drive, 656 horsepower,

0 to 16 in 3.6 seconds,

and an estimated range of 330 miles.

Premium, Standard Long Range and Standard models

are coming over the next 18 months.

The R2 is not a budget version of the R1.

In no way does the car feel cheap

despite the dramatically reduced price tag.

The friendly exterior

with the cheerful headlights is still here.

The boxy profile is rugged,

clearly signaling this thing can still off-road

if you need it to.

Inside you still get the huge touchscreen,

loads of storage, loads of room in the back

and possibly the best innovation

for steering wheel controls I've seen yet.

On the road, the car is quick and nice to drive,

but the default regenerative braking is hard

and there's no disguising the weight in sharp corners.

Off-road the R2 can cope with way more

than you think it should be able to.

You know the weird thing about Rivian?

It came last or damn near last

in Consumer Reports' reliability survey

at the end of last year.

The interesting thing is that with any other car brand,

that would actually be terrible news.

However, the paradox is that Rivian has one

of the highest satisfaction rates from its customers at 85%

and the customers say they would definitely buy

another Rivian after owning one.

And part of that attraction, of course, is down to the fact

that they look like they look,

It's a lovely design, a beautiful design,

and individual too.

You can spot them a mile away.

Rivian says it's fixed its reliability issues

and we'll have to wait and see if that's true.

We'll also have to wait and see

what its new autonomous driving system is like

because that won't be ready for months yet.

And the same goes for its in-car AI helper,

neither of which I was able to try out.

In fact, the launch R2s

won't even have Rivian's latest Gen 3 hardware on board

for next-level hands-free eyes-off driving.

The later R2s will get that.

All this means we'll have to revisit the R2,

but for now it succeeds in the neat trick

of balancing ability, good design, and nice handling.

If its next-gen, self-driving tech does turn out

to match this high standard, the R2 deserves

to be the revenue driver the company needs.