Video: How Rivian R2 Will Dominate [w/ TLDW summary]

[Katsudon]

AI Generated Summary

• ? Rivian's Push Toward Profitability
  Rivian has shown a turnaround by achieving gross profitability, learning key lessons from the R1 lineup's cost challenges.
• ? Revolutionary Maximus Motor
  The R2 will feature a brand-new Maximus motor with continuous winding that reduces welds from 264 to just 24, significantly lowering production complexity.
• ? Simplified Drive Unit Design
  Consolidation of parts, integrated rotor shaft, and fewer bearings contribute to a highly cost-effective powertrain architecture.
• ? Massive Cost Reduction via Giga Castings
  Rivian is adopting Tesla-style Giga castings for the R2, reducing body components from 50 to just 3 and eliminating over 300 joints—slashing assembly costs dramatically.
• ? Strategic Investment in High-Scale Production
  The company is investing millions in casting equipment, betting on massive market demand for R2 to justify the cost.
• ? Affordable Yet Rugged Vehicle
  The R2 will be cheaper but still feature Rivian’s signature design, coil suspension (instead of costlier air suspension), and strong off-roading capabilities.
• ? Advanced Self-Driving Tech Coming
  Rivian Gen 2 vehicles are launching hands-free highway driving, with a target for eyes-free capability next year.
• True Tesla Competitor at Lower Cost
  With a price point under $50,000, enhanced storage, tri-motor layout, and intuitive software, R2 might be the most promising rival to Tesla’s Model Y.

Insights Based on Numbers

• ? Reduction of welds in Drive Unit: from 264 to 24—a nearly 10x improvement in manufacturing efficiency.
• ? Body component reduction: From 50 parts and 300 joints to just 3 die-castings—huge leap in cost-effectiveness.
• ? Ground clearance: 9.7 inches—ensures continued off-road credibility.

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[beyond]

Am I the only one that seeing reducing 50 body components to 3 as a bad thing? While yes, I see that it can help them save money but at the same time doesn't that make these way more likely to be totalled out upon any accident?

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Am I the only one that seeing reducing 50 body components to 3 as a bad thing? While yes, I see that it can help them save money but at the same time doesn't that make these way more likely to be totalled out upon any accident?

Not the OEM’s job to be concerned about that. It’s just how the cookie crumbles. All they are concerned about is building a profitable product that is enjoyable, compelling, competitive and meet or exceed safety requirements. High repair cost means profitability on replacement parts. High likelihood of totaling means potential for another vehicle sale… And if they make the original so enjoyable and safe, less chance of losing that second sale to another OEM. So, one way for consumers to hedge against this… invest.

 

[Rivdog]

Am I the only one that seeing reducing 50 body components to 3 as a bad thing? While yes, I see that it can help them save money but at the same time doesn't that make these way more likely to be totalled out upon any accident?

Probably so, but look how much minor repairs cost already. Relatively new Rivians are getting totaled out for stuff that looks repairable and I suspect that trend will continue as the vehicles get older and less valuable.

 

[R1Thor]

Am I the only one that seeing reducing 50 body components to 3 as a bad thing? While yes, I see that it can help them save money but at the same time doesn't that make these way more likely to be totalled out upon any accident?

Can you name any other vehicles who receive any type of frame damage (whatsoever) and aren't generally totaled due to an incident?

I bet the numbers are in the margins.

No one is repairing frame damage. Salvagers, maybe.

But then ask yourself: If you were in such a terrible accident that it required your frame to be repaired, would you trust the integrity of that structure to last another collision, regardless of how it was constructed (frame, chassis, weldments, bolted joints, or cast)?

Notwithstanding, with more anti-collision tech being installed in vehicles, they're getting safer over time. So, the odds of a terrible collision are going down. And even if there is one, it's probably not going to be on you (or your insurance) unless you were doing something incredibly dumb. So, my advice would be: don't drive dumb

This is a non-issue in my opinion.

In fact, it's the opposite. If Rivian gave consumers the option of paying an extra $6k for a 'traditional chassis,' I bet the adoption rate of buying that vehicle would be less than 1%. EDIT: actually, while I'm making this point, I'd also bet that >80% of vehicle consumers have zero idea how their vehicles are constructed or could articulate what their 'chassis' does, how it's made, or explain the difference between alloys. SO, not quite a marketing statement, either.

Just my .02

 

[MountainBikeDude]

Just my .02

What currency tho? ?

 

[OldGoat]

50 years ago if your 3270 IBM terminal stopped working, IBM would send out an SE (or in the case of big accounts, they had an office on site staffed full time) to repair it on site. In about 1980, they stopped that practice and replaced it with a process whereby they simply replaced one of three components, the screen, the keyboard or the board. It would take less than five minutes to diagnose and replace the bad part. This saved them tons of $ since before this and SE could take hours and hours trying to diagnose and repair the terminal.

If you look at the cost of a car accident repair, labor is often the most expensive component. So, it may actually be cheaper to simply replace one of three components instead of taking all the time needed to sort through dozens of parts and pieces diagnosing and replacing the impacted parts.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Can you name any other vehicles who receive any type of frame damage (whatsoever) and aren't generally totaled due to an incident?

I bet the numbers are in the margins.

No one is repairing frame damage. Salvagers, maybe.

There's a frame repair line item from when I was hit in my Sierra EV.

 

[Juantana]

Am I the only one that seeing reducing 50 body components to 3 as a bad thing? While yes, I see that it can help them save money but at the same time doesn't that make these way more likely to be totalled out upon any accident?

speaking as someone who just totaled his Model Y sliding into a ditch < 18 mph Id say it's getting more and more common for cars to be totaled - of course the build quality on Teslas is nowhere near Rivian's.

 

[savethemanual]

I'm pretty sure the repair logic behind these large castings is if they get damaged....it's a serious accident and the vehicle is going to be totaled anyways.

 

[ThirteenElectrics]

This is great fan fiction and I'm sure it generates a lot of page views. I wouldn't consider this rando to be particularly objective. This channel recently published a video claiming that R1S sales are surging, even though Rivian sales are down 20% YoY for February. So if R1S sales are surging, van and R1T sales have hit rock bottom.

There is always a tool vendor ready to sell a pie in the sky fantasy to a manufacturer, but in this case I think it's smart to pursue "gigacastings". Tesla was the one who got screwed and had to endure the pain of making that process actually work in the real world. There was a lot of scrap and a lot of rework, but now that they figured it out, the gigacasting tool maker can just give the recipe to Rivian and it will be smoother sailing for them--and maybe it will even turn out cheaper if the volumes are high enough. If. Personally, I don't think the R1 design works when shrunk to R2 sizes. The car looks poorly proportioned and give me claustrophobia. I would have copied the Evoque. However, I'm much taller than RJ and I don't wear glasses. So I prefer taller cars, and cars with front ends that don't look like they're wearing spectacles.

Note that Tesla has scaled back their plans to produce a single casting, sticking with their existing approach of three (like Rivian): https://www.reuters.com/business/au...gigacasting-manufacturing-process-2024-05-01/.

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