- Now that R2 is here, it’s time to focus on what’s next for Rivian.
- CEO RJ Scaringe shares details of when to expect the upcoming R3 (and R3X).
- R4 is also on the horizon and something that Scaringe says is “very cool.”
The Rivian R2 is finally headed to driveways in America, which means that many new EV buyers and those looking to move on from Tesla will soon have somewhere adventurous to land.
Now that it’s here, CEO RJ Scaringe is starting to talk a bit more openly about what comes next. And if you’re one of the many people who watched the R2 reveal and said “Forget the R2, give me that weird little hatchback” as soon as they saw the Rivian R3X, I’ve got some news for you.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
In an interview with our friends at The Drive, Scaringe shared that and R3X is “couple of years away.” That puts the year 2028 on the map, which is the same time when Rivian plans to have its Georgia plant up and running at a significantly higher-than-anticipated capacity.
Rivian has been fairly transparent that R3’s timeline has been contingent on the Georgia factory spinning up, and its CEO has been careful not to overpromise anything else (perhaps to avoid taking on the same stigma as perennial timeline-pusher Elon Musk). But we do know that the R3X will launch ahead of the standard R3 trim, which means all the nerds who want a modernized, electrified mashup of the Lancia Delta Integrale and Audi Quattro coupe will soon have their dreams delivered on.
Scaringe also touched on what the team has been cooking up based on the R2. Could an R2T exist? Don’t hold your breath, but never rule anything out.
Here’s what Scaringe told The Drive:
We’ve thought about R2Ts and even things beyond that.
I would just say the platform’s capable of doing a lot. The real challenge we have is deciding what to do. And so there’s so many different cool things we can create […]
To say, off the R2 platform there could—or off the R3 platform there is a—there’s a unique variant, and off the R2 platform there could be unique variants. There’s a lot of things you could do.
And so in the fullness of time, I wouldn’t rule anything out. But in the immediate future, I wouldn’t hold out, you know, I wouldn’t hold out for any of those very different variants. It’ll stay R2.
He also noted in the interview that “the smaller trucks space” hasn’t been addressed, which isn’t to say that Rivian will be the one to address this, just that the teams seem to have clearly toyed around with the idea about what comes next.
Could that be the form factor that R4 takes on? Maybe, but Scaringe wouldn’t say anything outside of “it could be a lot of things” and that it is “very cool.”
Rivian has effectively bet the company on building cool affordable EVs that people actually want—something that touches both the tech and lifestyle brand approach that can reach as far as Tesla. And for the first time in years, Rivian’s future isn’t just a collection of concept photos and promises of what’s to come. R2 is here and it’s great. What comes next is anybody’s guess, but I’d by lying if I said it didn’t have me on the edge of my seat.