The Rivian R2 SUV, which is the California-based company’s smaller, more affordable passenger EV, is officially going to Europe, according to Auto Express. That said, we still don’t know when the R2 will reach the Old Continent, but our money is sometime after 2026.
That’s because the shrunken-down R1S will only go into production in 2026 for the United States market at the company’s new factory in Georgia (which isn't built yet). In fact, the car hasn’t been even officially unveiled–that will happen on March 7.
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Rivian to expand passenger EV portfolio to Europe
Rivian's first commercially-available passenger EV in Europe will be the brand-new R2 electric SUV that's yet to be unveiled. Expected to be smaller and more affordable than the flagship R1S SUV, the new R2 EV will go into production sometime in 2026 at the company's new factory in Georgia.
Rivian isn’t a stranger to the European market, though. Its Electric Delivery Vans started shipping to Germany last year as part of its deal with Amazon, with over 300 EDVs put to work delivering packages for the American e-commerce giant.
Besides sending hundreds of electric vans to the Old Continent, Rivian also has a parts distribution center in the Netherlands and a service center in Dusseldorf, Germany that was opened last year to repair and manage Amazon’s EDVs here. This means the American EV maker won’t be starting from scratch when the R2 SUV reaches European shores.
It goes without saying that a single service center is far from enough for a whole continent, but there we’re still a couple of years away from delivery time, so we take it Rivian will do what it takes to establish more service locations and stores if it wants to succeed.
We got a shadowy first look at the upcoming R2 in a teaser video published by the California-based startup last week, and then the internet went crazy analyzing what seemed to be AI-generated photos of an uncamouflaged white R2 attending a photo/video shoot.
Judging from the images we’ve seen so far, we can say that the R2 SUV will definitely look like a Rivian, with its upright oval headlights and full-width LED daytime running lights. It will, however, be smaller and more affordable than the flagship R1S, with Rivian CFO Claire McDonough hinting last year that the new model will have a starting price of around $40,000 and a maximum retail price of $60,000 in the United States.
