R2 Lease Available at Launch (Report)

[Gen(R3)Xer]

Not in Minnesota - been waiting for the option on R1 but it hasn’t happened.

I wonder why Minnesota and Wisconsin don’t offer leasing? Is someone blocking Rivian legislatively?

Sponsored

 

[Edwin]

For many years, leasing didn't make sense to us due to annual milage constraints. We were driving over 25k miles/yr on two of our daily vehicles to work, multiple kids sports practices and tournaments. Now, we're both retired, empty nesters so our mileage is probably 25k miles/year combined in our 4 vehicles.

I believe EVs are the best daily driver vehicles. As such, I've always thought leasing EVs were the best and the smartest thing one can do. The technology and capabilities are changing fast enough so if leased, one can easily walk away into a new.

I know this smacks in the face for those that keep their vehicles for a long time or ones that make modifications. Since we typically keep our vehicles for 5~6 years and/or roughly 80k miles historically, leasing would be a change for us. We always bought our vehicles, including the R1S (lease was not available in mid 2023). We don't like large monthly payments. Just need to think about it like a utility payments, if leasing.

I do believe having the lease program at the start of R2 is very smart for Rivian. They will deliver more vehicle this way.

If Rivian can produce and sell 70,000 R 2’s this year, how can it be better to lease 70,000 than to sell 70,000?

 

[mkg3]

If Rivian can produce and sell 70,000 R 2’s this year, how can it be better to lease 70,000 than to sell 70,000?

I think you just answered the question yourself. Rivian cannot make 70k vehicles this year, let alone just R2.

The way to think about it is if Rivian can sell 15k vehicles out right, then they can probably sell another 15~20K more with lease.

This is not complicated. When making a purchase and finishing, most require 20% down and financing for 60 months. On a $60K+ vehicle, that's a down payment of $12K and close to $1K month with 7% interest.

Lease payment is financing the depreciation only and in most states, no sales tax on the entire vehicle. Just the deprecated portion. So the consumers can get in with few thousand and probably a monthly payment of less than $500.

Meanwhile Rivian moves 2x or more inventory and the cashflow, and the factory utilization to lower their cost of goods sold to improve their per vehicle profitability and factory utilization that goes with them.

 

[Edwin]

I think you just answered the question yourself. Rivian cannot make 70k vehicles this year, let alone just R2.

The way to think about it is if Rivian can sell 15k vehicles out right, then they can probably sell another 15~20K more with lease.

This is not complicated. When making a purchase and finishing, most require 20% down and financing for 60 months. On a $60K+ vehicle, that's a down payment of $12K and close to $1K month with 7% interest.

Lease payment is financing the depreciation only and in most states, no sales tax on the entire vehicle. Just the deprecated portion. So the consumers can get in with few thousand and probably a monthly payment of less than $500.

Meanwhile Rivian moves 2x or more inventory and the cashflow, and the factory utilization to lower their cost of goods sold to improve their per vehicle profitability and factory utilization that goes with them.

70,000 or 5,000 vehicles. It doesn’t matter if they have buyers for what they can produce. Maybe I am in the minority who can and will pay cash.

 

[Eric9610]

I highly suspect the LE models are going to be more than people think. They are probably going to be $65-68k. This is not a bad thing since its a good value proposition based on reviews. Rivian probably knows the market for this cost is smaller than expected. Also knowing a H3 version is 6 months away they are hedging all bets. Offering the option to lease has no impact on people who want to purchase but offer the upside for people to do 24month lease then get into a H3 model.

 

[TexasBob]

Rivian is like Tesla, where less than half of vehicles sales are lease vs purchased. Legacy auto EV lease ratios are anywhere from 70% to 90+%.

Historically, leasing has always been a minority of new EV acquisitions. (Note it was only 20% of all new cars in 2025.) The very whacky inflation reduction Joe Manchin is a noodle-head lease rules skewed the market for a couple years, but forecast for this year is 27% - 30% of total sales.

Percentage of US EVs leased instead of purchased
2021~26.5%
2022~12.6%
2023~30.0%
2024~48.7%
2025~58.0%
2026 - ~28%

 

[DuoRivian]

I highly suspect the LE models are going to be more than people think. They are probably going to be $65-68k. This is not a bad thing since its a good value proposition based on reviews. Rivian probably knows the market for this cost is smaller than expected. Also knowing a H3 version is 6 months away they are hedging all bets. Offering the option to lease has no impact on people who want to purchase but offer the upside for people to do 24month lease then get into a H3 model.

That is way too high and we will see in less than four weeks time. It has to start at or below $60k (including destination would be good).

if it is priced more expensive than the BMW and Volvo with lower range and slower charging and potentially lower quality interior is not a recipe for long term success.

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

That is way too high and we will see in less than four weeks time. It has to start at or below $60k (including destination would be good).

if it is priced more expensive than the BMW and Volvo with lower range and slower charging and potentially lower quality interior is not a recipe for long term success.

Absolutely agree. $59,900 is what I feel a mass market will tolerate. We will know s00n.

 

[mkg3]

70,000 or 5,000 vehicles. It doesn’t matter if they have buyers for what they can produce. Maybe I am in the minority who can and will pay cash.

Okay, good for you. It's not about you or me. It's about what makes business sense for Rivian.

 

[KRG]

Maybe I am in the minority who can and will pay cash.

Uh, yes, you are. This is supposed to be a mass market vehicle and most people don’t pay cash.

I’ve purchased most of my cars outright but I do like the idea of leasing EVs since I don’t keep cars long and the depreciation hit is rough. Really just depends on the math. Most of my EV buying friends that could buy 12 cars in cash still lease.

 

[KRG]

I highly suspect the LE models are going to be more than people think. They are probably going to be $65-68k. This is not a bad thing since its a good value proposition based on reviews. Rivian probably knows the market for this cost is smaller than expected. Also knowing a H3 version is 6 months away they are hedging all bets. Offering the option to lease has no impact on people who want to purchase but offer the upside for people to do 24month lease then get into a H3 model.

The optics of this would be ridiculous. They can’t launch their new mass market platform that RJ has been openly advertising as significantly cheaper to build and aimed and significantly expanding Rivian accessibility and price it $5k less than the R1. I know cheaper models are down the line, but that’s still a bad idea. They cannot price this above BMW and Volvo at launch.

 

[DuoRivians]

The market depreciation on R1 vehicles is much greater than the estimated residual. By like $20K or more.

In this environment, the consumer would be foolish to not lease the R2, unless they expect to drive it a lot or make significant modifications

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

You never assume . Leasing has never been mentioned in regards to the R2 except in the forum. I don’t see how leasing (unless it’s the last option) would help Rivian and the need to generate cash.

I mentioned this before. If the R2 is coming in higher than expected (over $60K) then leasing becomes an option for many people if they want AWD, 300+ miles, etc. Also there’s less of a risk with missing tech like LiDar/G3HW. Just return the car after 2-3 years depending on lease contract.

If Rivian does the lease financing then they can reclaim and resell gently used low-mileage R2s that might fit someone else’s needs.

Snow plough?

I wish I could afford a quad-motor and go around pulling people out of the snow.

 

[lefkonj]

Considering over 20% of new car purchases are leases, it was over 30% a few years ago, this is fantastic. There are plenty of buyers who don't buy and this keeps the door open to them.

 

[R2D2TOO]

I mentioned this before. If the R2 is coming in higher than expected (over $60K) then leasing becomes an option for many people if they want AWD, 300+ miles, etc. Also there’s less of a risk with missing tech like LiDar/G3HW. Just return the car after 2-3 years depending on lease contract.

Isn't leasing always an option?

Sponsored