Rivian R2 Tour Dates & Locations - "Block Party" 🗺️ 📍

[Timbuk2000]

Going to Venice Friday!

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[Mark_AZR1T]

Our R1 purchase resulted from three test drives, two owners conversations and a couple visits to Rivian Spaces. Cannot emphasize enough, the physical experience of a vehicle purchase.

We reserved both of our R1s at the LA Auto Show back in December 2018. I took delivery of my R1T the same way a few thousand early adopters did, without ever sitting in one or driving one. Four years and 70K miles later, I still have it.

My wife had the luxury of driving mine and a couple of R1S demos before her delivery, but the truth is this community was built on people willing to buy sight‑unseen.

If Rivian opened up only 26,000 R2 slots (for all of 2026) under those same conditions, no test drives, just take delivery, they’d sell every one of them.

 

[tivoboy]

I think most of the criticism here is valid. People are expecting to take delivery as early as June and according to this test drives won't be happening well into May.

I agree that they'd be better served simply putting an R2 in every show room and I can't imagine that they would be production constrained to the point where that isn't possible. Being forced into viewing an R2 with hundreds or even thousands of other people in a constrained schedule is pretty lame this close to production.

Nearly nobody was able to do A test drive of a Tesla M3 when they came out and they managed to fly off the shelves into the welcome and eager hands of buyers.. later about 3-4 months in in some parts of the country via Turo and some other outlets ppl could test drive them as a rental for a day or so (at some serious premium) and I imagine we’re going to see that again with the R2

 

[DuoRivian]

We reserved both of our R1s at the LA Auto Show back in December 2018. I took delivery of my R1T the same way a few thousand early adopters did, without ever sitting in one or driving one. Four years and 70K miles later, I still have it.

My wife had the luxury of driving mine and a couple of R1S demos before her delivery, but the truth is this community was built on people willing to buy sight‑unseen.

If Rivian opened up only 26,000 R2 slots (for all of 2026) under those same conditions, no test drives, just take delivery, they’d sell every one of them.

Just because they may sell all 20-25k of them doesn’t make it right. I am a day W reservation holder and an R1T owner so likely to be able to get a launch edition vehicle. But I want to see at the very least and preferably drive before buying.
it should not be difficult to have two or three vehicles per space for display and demo drives if production has started - give April’s production to employees and then ship 100-150 out for May display and drives.
I had assumed when they said deliveries by end of first half they had left wriggle room in and would surprise the market with an earlier date - apparently not.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

Just because they may sell all 20-25k of them doesn’t make it right. I am a day W reservation holder and an R1T owner so likely to be able to get a launch edition vehicle. But I want to see at the very least and preferably drive before buying.
it should not be difficult to have two or three vehicles per space for display and demo drives if production has started - give April’s production to employees and then ship 100-150 out for May display and drives.
I had assumed when they said deliveries by end of first half they had left wriggle room in and would surprise the market with an earlier date - apparently not.

I don’t disagree; the current model isn't right. It's just an observation on sales. Test drives should be standard. Only one company has ever made direct‑to‑consumer work profitably, and it’s not Rivian. If Rivian used a dealership model, I could see sales jumping 50% or more. I’m not convinced DTC is better for customers or the business. Time will tell.

 

[KBabione]

If Rivian used a dealership model, I could see sales jumping 50% or more. I’m not convinced DTC is better for customers or the business. Time will tell.

If Rivian used a dealership model the initial wave of R2's would be sold for $90K each (if not more) with the dealership pocketing the difference. Remember the Bronco? I'll bide my time and take my R2 when they offer it to me...

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

If Rivian used a dealership model the initial wave of R2's would be sold for $90K each (if not more) with the dealership pocketing the difference. Remember the Bronco? I'll bide my time and take my R2 when they offer it to me...

I hear you, but Rivian’s DTC model costs far more to run than a dealer network, especially at ~50k units a year. Higher margins don’t matter much when you’re carrying every Rivian Space, service center, delivery hub, and support function yourself.

Only Tesla has made DTC work at scale, and that didn’t happen until they were pushing close to 2 million units a year. BYD shows the opposite: a dealer network moves far more volume, inside and outside China. Right now, Rivian’s DTC setup isn’t helping customers, pricing, or service.

 

[rjhoskins]

Nashville is only 6 hours away from me.....and my daughter lives there. So, I have confirmed her Airbnb (ie spare bedroom) is available so I will be attending.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Our R1 purchase resulted from three test drives, two owners conversations and a couple visits to Rivian Spaces. Cannot emphasize enough, the physical experience of a vehicle purchase.

I'd never driven any EV before in my life... and only rode in a Tesla once... before taking delivery of my R1T three years ago. Saw one in a parking lot of Costco, read the specs and all the articles, joined a few forums, and put down a deposit. On "delivery day" I picked up my truck from the Richmond SC. Spent an hour driving around the block with the delivery person then immediately drove the 90 or so miles back up to Northern Virginia. By the time I got done with that I felt like a pro.

Just saying that not everyone feels the same about a physical experience. I do agree that we need to get "more butts in seats", but the only people I know who insist on that these days are like... my friends moms. E.g.: old people.

 

[sparked]

If Rivian used a dealership model, I could see sales jumping 50% or more. I’m not convinced DTC is better for customers or the business. Time will tell.

Rivian is production constrained. There's no way to fulfill that demand currently. You might have a point after they ramp up the Georgia factory, but cutting out the dealer model gives them levers to pull. And they can put the saved money back into the product instead of giving it to middlemen.

Plus, part of the reason i'm even interested in Rivian is no dealers. Some of us truly hate dealerships and think that model is fundamentally broken from a customer point of view.

 

[kanundrum]

There will be no drives but they will have one vehicle per stop for folks to sit in.

Official word!

 

[Great Gatsby]

Rivian is production constrained. There's no way to fulfill that demand currently. You might have a point after they ramp up the Georgia factory, but cutting out the dealer model gives them levers to pull. And they can put the saved money back into the product instead of giving it to middlemen.

Plus, part of the reason i'm even interested in Rivian is no dealers. Some of us truly hate dealerships and think that model is fundamentally broken from a customer point of view.

As compelling as the new Volvo EX60, BMW iX3 and Mercedes Benz GLC EV are - specially when comparing the range and charging times to the R2 - those are very likely not even getting a test drive from me as I cannot stand the dealership model.

You can't do a casual test drive. It's always a "let's talk numbers". Fees and numbers are made up last minute. Things get awkward after you decline taking an extended warranty on a new vehicle for the 80th time. Lower interest are tied to maintenance packages (which is illegal but no one does anything about it). I truly abhor the whole experience.

Not saying all are bad but it is very much 50/50 on how the dealership nonsense will go. We recently bought a Tesla, and while they were some huge pains as well, we knew very well what car we were getting with what price, options and everything was signed and done before we even got there. Direct sales isn't perfect, but sure beats the dealership model IMO

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

There will be no drives but they will have one vehicle per stop for folks to sit in.

Official word!

LMAO. 1 vehicle per location for hundreds of people to share, sounds like an absolute blast!

 

[rbdavis808]

Just because they may sell all 20-25k of them doesn’t make it right. I am a day W reservation holder and an R1T owner so likely to be able to get a launch edition vehicle. But I want to see at the very least and preferably drive before buying.
it should not be difficult to have two or three vehicles per space for display and demo drives if production has started - give April’s production to employees and then ship 100-150 out for May display and drives.

Absolutely. I want a test drive not only before I buy, but before I make my first non-refundable deposit. I find it hard to believe it would break their production model to divert 50 or even 100 demo cars (out of an expected 2026 harvest of 20,000+) to display centers everywhere. A farsighted marketing team might even consider that to be something that would ultimately attract more buyers from the large number of people who haven't already been breathlessly reading every R2 tealeaf dribbled out by Rivian since the initial reveal.

 

[DuoRivian]

There will be no drives but they will have one vehicle per stop for folks to sit in.

Official word!

Wow, so you can’t even see the full color range in person. That is disappointing.

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