2026 Rivian R2 Specs & Reviews!! 300+ Mile Range, 10-80% Charge in 30 Min, 656 hp / 609 lb-ft, 0-60 mph in 3.6s, dimensions

[savethemanual]

I was pleasantly surprised that Kyle from OoS was not one of the ten people selected for this early test.

Yeah, he's incredibly anal about the charging curve and numbers. When he does eventually get one to drive, he's going to completely focus on that compared to the iX3 and EX60. Yes, Rivian isn't the leader with this, but the overall R2 experience is going to be very compelling.

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[Just Passing By]

I was pleasantly surprised that Kyle from OoS was not one of the ten people selected for this early test.

Not sure I'd go that far, but I only managed to watch part of one OoS video before writing the channel off. Maybe I just picked a particularly bad video to watch but the obvious padding for time, endless repetition, redundancy and lack of content editing and the long duration of other suggested videos from that source have not encouraged me to re-visit.

 

[Just Passing By]

What struck me as interesting with the recent reviews was which media were invited. Not so much the US representatives, but the fact that three UK focused media were there, Carwow, BBC Top Gear UK, and Car Magazine. This seems an unusual choice given the focus of selling R2 into the US for 2026, where one might have expected all media present to be US focused, with only 10 media having been represented.

There might be several takes on this. The benign assumption might be that this is just about building long term brand awareness outside the US. But in that case one might have expected mainland European media to also be represented.

My take is that Rivian is being both prudent and perhaps ambitious.

• Prudent because if there is any softness in US demand for R2 in 2027 as Rivian aggressively ramp production, then the UK might be a manageable market for Rivian's first foray abroad, despite the public plan of record being to start exports from the Georgia factory in 2028 or later.
• Ambitious because Rivian have already demonstrated how quickly they were able to build the Normal expansion and get it to production, so they might be expecting to ramp the Georgia factory very rapidly. This would mean producing very large numbers of R2 from the combination of Normal and Georgia, before the R3 launches to use some of the Georgia capacity. This might mean starting UK sales from Normal production in mid-late 2027.

Rivian need to ensure they have primed markets outside the US for R2, not just because they will be producing in high numbers, but because the market will be seeing more quality offerings from others like the recent BMW and Volvo vehicles and of course Chinese vehicles in Europe. In other words the large Tesla sales for M3 and MY that were established in the absence of quality competition, may not be a repeatable achievement for anyone else in a more mature market.

 

[blipit]

Yeah, he's incredibly anal about the charging curve and numbers. When he does eventually get one to drive, he's going to completely focus on that compared to the iX3 and EX60. Yes, Rivian isn't the leader with this, but the overall R2 experience is going to be very compelling.

Funny thing he is a bit of a Rivian fanboy. He isn't the only one that was hoping to see some advancements in battery tech and/or higher voltage architecture. I just don't think Rivian is in the position to do it, they played it safe. I believe their target was to be near Tesla ranges/charging, even though Tesla specs are now dated.

Not sure I'd go that far, but I only managed to watch part of one OoS video before writing the channel off. Maybe I just picked a particularly bad video to watch but the obvious padding for time, endless repetition, redundancy and lack of content editing and the long duration of other suggested videos from that source have not encouraged me to re-visit.

Yeah their videos are quite long winded. But I will say Kyle is more educated on EVs than all the influencers/reviewers Rivian invited on the press drive.

I believe he wasn't invited, because Rivian knew they were not giving out anything new besides hp/tq, 0-60, and 10-80% charge time. Kyle likes to go full nerd. It was a marketing event.

 

[Cactus]

Well if your choice is "ugly headlights" or a bubbled egg .. i'm taking the headlights

Has anyone made after market headlight warmers? Love low power of LCD, but the halogens are great at burning off snow.
LCD after market headlights on Wranglers are the worst bc the show piles up in the concave area under the lights

 

[Cactus]

Wow they really crushed it. I was bracing for losing a lot of cool features, and all we lost was fold flat front row seats, which we knew about.

Seems like they are positioning the launch spec to compete with the Model Y performance, despite a tri motor planned. At anything under $60k they'll be sold out for years. Off road capable, drivers screen, 360 cam, open air cabin, premium steering wheel controls. Customers of New cars want a novel experience for their money and Rivian has delivered.

Now I wait to hear about gross margins so I can start to get excited for R3X...

Rivian better get their service centers up to speed if they are going to sell like hotcakes (and I hope they do both: sell like hotcakes and install more service centers).

 

[NY_Rob]

I believe he wasn't invited, because Rivian knew they were not giving out anything new besides hp/tq, 0-60, and 10-80% charge time. Kyle likes to go full nerd. It was a marketing event.

Agreed, it was a fully controlled "look see" for carefully curated reviewers who agreed to stick to the Rivian script and not ask questions or make comments that were out of bounds. I'm sure the reviews were audited by Rivian before release as part of the terms and conditions. I believe Kyle would have played nice if he had been included, but yes, he likes to "full nerd" and they just decided that wasn't going to happen for this press fluff event.

 

[DuoRivian]

Agreed, it was a fully controlled "look see" for carefully curated reviewers who agreed to stick to the Rivian script and not ask questions or make comments that were out of bounds. I'm sure the reviews were audited by Rivian before release as part of the terms and conditions. I believe Kyle would have played nice if he had been included, but yes, he likes to "full nerd" and they just decided that wasn't going to happen for this press fluff event.

Rivian wanted to get YouTubers with decent audiences. OoS has a relatively small audience and average view per video. Kyle’s ego is bigger than his audience.

 

[Mos Eisley]

I believe he wasn't invited, because Rivian knew they were not giving out anything new besides hp/tq, 0-60, and 10-80% charge time. Kyle likes to go full nerd. It was a marketing event.

He's a lot like "The Ioniq Guy"- a lot. And both have one similar trait: just not particularly good presenters and both tend to dwell on pet-projects/wants.

 

[macb00kemdanno]

 

[VegasWeezy]

Can anyone compare cargo space between R1S and R2?

I’m driving an R1T and had a loaner R1S and liked the rear space for two large dogs we adopted. I’d love to see the measurements comparing the R1 and R2 cargo width, length, etc.

This!

I have not seen this information anywhere yet. I would love to know the cargo volume in the R2.

 

[SANZC02]

Can anyone compare cargo space between R1S and R2?

I’m driving an R1T and had a loaner R1S and liked the rear space for two large dogs we adopted. I’d love to see the measurements comparing the R1 and R2 cargo width, length, etc.

You can see the measurement here.

It has been a couple of years since I saw the prototype in Pasadena but looking at it it seemed bigger than the Grand Cherokee area and that it would accommodate our 65 and 75 pound dogs with rear seat up.

 

[KRIV_ian]

A little late to the party, Supercar Blondie AI Supercomputer SUV | Rivian R2

 

[ElEsido]

A Swiss horse and rider magazine recently published an article stating that 2026 will be a pivotal year for electric vehicles capable of towing horse trailers. They included the attached list of tow ratings, which highlights how the market is evolving.

Obviously, Rivian is absent since they are not yet available in Europe. However, the 2,000 kg tow rating of the R2 is not exactly class-leading - on the contrary, it actually places it at the bottom of the midsize SUV segment, only slightly above sedans and small SUVs.

I really hope to see Rivian increase the tow rating in a higher-performance trim.

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