Video: Rivian R2 and R3/R3X Up Close: Rivian’s Next Act

That's a great big, full-sized pickup, and a full-sized three-row SUV as well. Now, they're really great products, and they're for people who are kind of looking for an alternative to Teslas, but they're also very expensive. Maybe you don't have $75,000 to spend on a new R1S, or maybe you just don't need a great big three-row electric SUV, and you want something a little bit smaller. Well, Rivian, earlier this year, took the wraps off the vehicles that are coming next in a couple of years, and that's this. This is the new 2026 Rivian R2; and shortly thereafter, we're gonna have this, the new Rivian R3. They're smaller, they're less expensive, and they actually sit on a completely different platform. Now, they're not coming for a couple of years yet, but they've still gotten us really excited. Let me show you why. (upbeat music) First out of the gate is gonna be this one. This is the Rivian R2. And yeah, you might say it looks like a smaller version of the R1S; well, that's really only because of this front end. Only Rivians look like this. This light-treatment is so unique. It's easily making you able to identify a Rivian from quite a long ways away. The rest of this thing does still look a little bit like an R1S, but the proportions are different. It's 15 inches shorter and 10 inches lower than the R1S, and it sits on a completely different mid-sized platform. See, Rivian took all the things that they learned from making the R1S and decided to make something that's less expensive, easier to build, and does things like use the battery pack as part of the structure of the vehicle to lower the passenger compartment load floor as well. So, a lot of tricks are going into the R2 in order to make it meet that final price point of right around $45,000. Walking down the side of the R2, you really get a better sense of just how much smaller this thing is. Yeah, it's shorter, but it's also a lot lower. You can't see over an R1s, but you can actually see over an R2 just fine. But the more interesting feature comes in this rear tailgate. Yeah, you've got the full-width Rivian taillight bar like you have on the R1S, but the glass in the tailgate actually lowers down into the tailgate separately, like a Toyota 4Runner or a Toyota Tundra pickup truck. It enables you to put longer items in the cargo area without actually having to leave the entire hatch open or putting them on the roof, which you might not wanna do. Got a surfboard? Should fit back here just fine. There will be three different powertrains available for the R2 when it goes into production in early 2026. You can either get a single-motor rear-wheel-drive model, or you can get one of two different all-wheel-drive models; one with dual motors, one on the rear axle, one on the front axle; or a tri-motor version with two motors on the rear axle and one on the front. Now, we don't have any power numbers for those just yet, but Rivian says that the quickest version of the R2, which will have three motors, is going to go from 0 to 60 in under three seconds, making it one of the most seriously quick SUVs that we've probably ever driven. We also don't have really any information on the size of the battery just yet, but Rivian says there will be two different packs available and they will each provide for over 300 miles of range. Inside, the R2 looks fairly similar to the R1. Obviously it's a little bit smaller and you don't have quite as much headroom as you do in the R1, but it's still not bad in here despite being lower than the R1. You've got this great big glass roof, and there is a decent amount of headroom, even for a taller and bigger padded guy like me. Up front here, you've got the dash that looks very much Rivian. The whole style for the company is very much modern, but some really great materials in here. This wood is actually wood veneer. You've got interesting cloth surfaces on various places. And, of course, you've got the ubiquitous screens. They are running some new software on here, but you can also now get this in the R1T and R1S for the new model year, as well, and it looks fantastic. More interesting to us are these. These little haptic click wheels that you have here are something we've never seen before from any automaker. And despite having seen a demo of them in action, I think it's probably gonna take some time to get used to working with them. They roll, obviously, but they're also haptic from the front or the back, so you could push them, you can pull them, they click left and right, they're touch-sensitive as well. So, while we're not huge fans of touch-sensitive things on the steering wheel, we reserve judgment to see just how well these work until we can get one of these things out on the road to see how they work while driving. All of the screens, of course, are really clear, really easy to use. And, of course, all of the controls are in the screen. There's no buttons in here, pretty much whatsoever. Everything from the climate control to changing how the vents work; all of that happens in the Rivian Central software screen right here. In terms of room in here, it's actually quite spacious, either up front or in the back. This might be a smaller platform than the R1S, but it's still got tons of room. And more interesting is that all the seats in here can fold flat, and I don't mean just the back seats. All of the seats in here can fold flat. So, if you're taking your Rivian camping and you don't wanna use a rooftop tent, which is gonna be an option, you can put all the seats down flat in here. You can put an air mattress in here and actually be pretty comfortable while you're camping. The backseat actually has a decent amount of room as well. This is just a two-row SUV, of course, not the three row like the R1S. So, it is smaller, but three across in the back actually works because there's no hump in the floor of the back seat. There's no drive shaft or transmission tunnel, just batteries below your feet. So, it is flat. It is usable. It's airy. It's spacious. This is really nice. And for someone who wants something a little bit smaller than an R1S, like maybe you, say, European customers, this thing is gonna be perfect. But this isn't the only thing that Rivian has shown us in the smaller than the R1S category. There's something else that they've come up with that's even more exciting than this thing. (upbeat music continues) Arriving sometime after the '26 R2, which is happening sometime in early 2026, is the R3. And this is the one that's got a lot of people really excited. It's made on the same platform as the R2, so it's the mid-size platform; it's a little bit smaller. But unlike the R2, it's even shorter, and smaller, and more compact. It looks more like a lifted hatchback, reminiscent of something like a Lancia Delta, or the original Volkswagen Golf, or maybe even the Dodge Omni in terms of the way it's styled. But this chopped off back here, this really is fantastic. This one is the styling winner in my opinion. It looks absolutely dynamite, and the proportions of the thing make it such that it should be really popular with European markets, 'cause those folks like something that's a little bit smaller and easier to manage than the much-too-large R1S. However, this isn't necessarily the one that's gotten everybody super excited, it's the one over there. This is the R3X. This is the tri-motor performance version of the R3. And just look at this thing. It looks like an off-road rally car. Great big wheels with these off-road, knobby, all-terrain tires. The paint scheme, the interior is absolutely gorgeous. The thing is really getting everybody very excited, and it's kind of a shame that it's several years away. Well, the R2 is arriving in the first half of 2026. Rivian says that the R3 is just going to arrive sometime later, so we're not entirely sure what the timing is on this thing. In terms of specs, the R3 is supposed to have the same specs and powertrain and battery options as the R2. So, 0-to-60 for the fastest version: under three seconds, over 300 miles of range, two different all-wheel-drive systems or a rear-wheel-drive model. We don't have any of the specifics just yet; those are still gonna be coming closer to when the R2 itself goes on sale; again, first half of 2026. Pricing for the R2, Rivian says, is $45,000. Well, we'll see if that lasts two years till the start of production or whether or not that goes up, which sometimes happens. They've also said that the R3 is going to come in less expensive than the R2, so figure maybe 35 to $40,000 to start. This one being the R3X is gonna be loaded, but where is it going to top out at in terms of price? That's anybody's guess right now. Our sneak peek of these upcoming Rivian models has gotten us very excited, but it's also left us with a lot of questions like, well, what are the power output numbers for these things? What's the final price gonna be? Why are they not called the R2S and R3S? Does this mean that there's not going to be a pickup truck version of the R2 and R3? Well, Rivian's been kind of tightlipped about that. They won't actually say. we're just gonna have to wait and see as these things get closer to production in early 2026. If you'd like to learn more about the Rivian lineup, including today's R1T and R1S, you can go look everything up at cars.com/news. (upbeat music continues)