Rivian R3 (Source: Rivian)
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says the upcoming R3 crossover will be priced “materially lower” than the R2, and that a follow-up model, the R4, will drive prices down even further.
He didn’t give a number. But it’s the clearest sign yet that Rivian plans to continue pushing its line into the heart of the market after the launch of the R2.
Scaringe made the comments in a Corner Office interview with The New York Times published this weekend. When asked if Rivian was working on something cheaper than the R2, he joked that the next product is one that “we creatively call R3.”
“We haven’t announced the price yet, but it will drop materially,” Scaringe said, adding that R4 “again goes above and beyond.”
Lower than what R2?
This is where things get complicated. The R2 is widely described as a $45,000 SUV, and that’s how the Times framed it, too. But that’s not a car you can buy today.
When Rivian revealed the full lineup and pricing of the R2 in March, only the $57,990 Performance launch edition was scheduled for 2026. The $53,990 Premium follows later this year, the $48,490 Standard Long Range in early 2027, and the $45,000 Standard RWD doesn’t expire until late 2027.
Therefore, “materially less than R2” could mean many things depending on which R2 is chosen as a reference.
The best reference we have is that of Scaringe himself. He previously said R3 would take Rivian “between 30 and 30 years.” That lines up with a product priced materially below a base R2 of $45,000.
R3 is still years away
Rivian plans to build the R3 at its Georgia factory, where production is scheduled to begin in 2028. The plant is designed for 400,000 units of annual capacity in two phases.
As for the R4, Scaringe previously described the R4 and R5 as sister vehicles on an all-new platform and said there were no engineering teams on them yet. Nothing in this interview suggests that much has changed. For now, R4 is a price address with no date attached.
The R2, for its part, is doing what Rivian needed it to do. The company raised its 2026 delivery forecast to between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles after deliveries of the R2 began in June, up from about 42,000 last year. However, it continues to lose money, with an estimated adjusted EBITDA loss of between $1.8 billion and $2 billion this year.
Scaringe also explained why Rivian couldn’t lead with a cheap car. As an unproven startup purchasing parts for the R1, Rivian had no leverage and was quoting a “40 or 50 percent premium” over the supplier’s price. That relationship has changed, according to Scaringe, and the CEOs of those same providers are now the ones traveling to introduce Rivian.
Electrek’s opinion
I like the direction and I like that Scaringe keeps repeating it. Rivian is running the same playbook that Tesla used to move from the Model S to the Model 3, and so far it’s working better than most expected. Electrek’s Seth Weintraub drove the R2 and seriously considered it to replace his Model Y.
With the R2 ramping up, bringing Rivian closer to profitability, and then the smaller, cheaper R3, Rivian will be in a great position for global expansion with a more complete and profitable lineup in the coming years.
This is exciting. If all goes well, the United States will have another strong all-electric car manufacturer. One that doesn’t come with all the strange baggage…
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