Rivian Leaks Its Own R2 SUV Details, And The Price Might Surprise You
Since 2022, automobile enthusiasts have been aware of Rivian's plans to develop new EVs based on the company's in-development R2 EV platform. The first vehicle based on this new platform — the Rivian R2 — was also widely touted as the first mass-market car from the car maker.
While rumors were floating about this new vehicle since mid-2023, it wasn't until early February 2024 that the company officially acknowledged the existence of the Rivian R2. The confirmation came via Rivian's social media pages where the company officially announced that it will reveal the Rivian R2 on March 7, 2024. Interestingly, this also happened around the time that the first spy shots of the Rivian R2 went viral.
Aside from this single blurry spy shot, Rivian has been quite successful at keeping details of the R2 from leaking to eagle-eyed members of the automotive press. However, two days before its official reveal, Rivian seems to have inadvertently leaked crucial details about the R2 SUV via its own website.
No, the company did not accidentally publish details about the car online. What it ended up doing instead was adding crucial details of the R2 — including its range, seating capacity, acceleration figures, and even the starting price — to the backend of the webpage.
All this data, while not being explicitly visible, could be easily scraped by anyone using a simple web inspector tool. That is exactly what people did.
Rivian R2: What we know so far
While it was rumored that the Rivian R2 would be a more affordable option compared to the company's existing offerings, we didn't really know how low the company intended to go with the R2's pricing. If we are to believe the leaked listing, we can expect the Rivian R2 to start at an impressive price tag of $47,000 MSRP. That would make it an extremely competitive product, especially compared to the starting price of its $73,000 Rivian R1 predecessor.
***BREAKING NEWS***
Rivian R2 Specs Leaked!!!
- Starting price $47,500
- Range up to 330 miles
- 0 to 60 in 3 seconds
- Seats 5
- Length 185.6 in
- Width 75 in
- Width with Mirrors 84.4 in
- Height 66.9 in
- Max Ground Clearance 9.8 in
- Wheelbase 15.6 in
- Wheel and Tire... pic.twitter.com/VcB13HW2lh— Chris Hilbert (@Hilbe) March 5, 2024
The leaked listing also indicates that the vehicle will boast an impressive range of 330 miles, with a claimed 0-60 time of just three seconds. What is still not known is whether even the base variant of the R2 gets the claimed 330-mile range, since it may very well be the case that the 300+ mileage claim is for a variant with a higher battery capacity.
The 5-seater electric SUV is also 185.6 inches long, has a width of 75 inches without mirrors, and is reasonably tall with a height of 66.9 inches. In fact, these numbers put it very close to the Tesla Model Y in terms of overall size. The backend listing also mentions the R2's front trunk as well as the optional bike mount system.
There is no denying that the specs, pricing, and range aspects of the Rivian R2 could make it an extremely appealing product. However, what seems to be going against the vehicle is the fact that it won't be on sale until 2026, which is still a good two years away.