Photo: vburlapp / Instagram
Rivian Automotive is an American electric vehicle manufacturer and one of the very few (along with Lucid) of the many startups that have enjoyed success after popping up like spring daffodils in the wake of Tesla's immense popularity.
Currently, it sells two models – the R1T pickup truck competing with the F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck, for example, starting from $79k, and the R1S off-road SUV sibling starting from no less than $89,350. Obviously, they're not very cheap, and that clearly takes away from their mass-market potential.
In fact, Rivian sometimes needs to make drastic decisions to ensure its ongoing survival – back in December 2023, we heard the bad news of how the company decided to end in-house battery cell development, and it also immediately went on to fire 20 battery cell experts, including the company's lead battery engineer, Victor Prajapati, as a consequence and decision to limit cash bleed-outs.
Luckily, that was immediately followed by good news from Rivian and the rumor mill – a filed permit revealed that Rivian wants to use a public park in Laguna Beach, California, to stage a worldwide launch event on March 7. Naturally, everyone and their mother jumped at the chance to believe it was for the brand's next significant introduction – the R2 series of models.
The first one to arrive won't be the R2T pickup truck, though, if we are to believe the next leak – a recent patent filing showed what could be the first sketch of the upcoming R2S compact or medium-sized off-road SUV that hinted it's the model set for reveal on March 7. From there, it was only a matter of time before the imaginative realm of digital car content creators pieced two and two together and envisioned the unofficial looks of the upcoming Rivian R2S.
Vince Burlapp (aka vburlapp on social media and burlappcar.com) is a prolific virtual artist who loves to dream of all the latest models across the wide-ranging automotive realm as he keeps a close eye on the rumor mill's latest developments. Naturally, he immediately jumped at the chance to portray the R2S based on the leaked patent illustration, especially since the vehicle is not very different from the R1S.
In fact, it looks exactly like a shrunken R1S, whereas the hypothetical R2S has shorter everything – overhangs, front and rear doors, and especially the trunk area. Interestingly, it might not be terrible if we see a smaller R2S looking almost exactly like an R1S – it's not a bad design to begin with, and the similarities could help Rivian speed up the development and manufacturing process.
Also, it could help them deliver sensible pricing. In fact, the pixel master believes the R2S versions could be priced as low as in the $40 to $50k range, essentially cutting in half the MSRPs of the R1S. Of course, it would come with less power, but these quotations would also allow it to go head-to-head with the world's best-selling car, Tesla's Model Y. What do you think - is Rivian on track to become the second-most successful EV-only automaker if it manages to deliver an R2S off-road SUV that's comparable with the Tesla Model Y in terms of pricing – and if they muster enough manufacturing prowess to sell tens of thousands of them? Or is this all just wishful thinking?
In fact, Rivian sometimes needs to make drastic decisions to ensure its ongoing survival – back in December 2023, we heard the bad news of how the company decided to end in-house battery cell development, and it also immediately went on to fire 20 battery cell experts, including the company's lead battery engineer, Victor Prajapati, as a consequence and decision to limit cash bleed-outs.
Luckily, that was immediately followed by good news from Rivian and the rumor mill – a filed permit revealed that Rivian wants to use a public park in Laguna Beach, California, to stage a worldwide launch event on March 7. Naturally, everyone and their mother jumped at the chance to believe it was for the brand's next significant introduction – the R2 series of models.
The first one to arrive won't be the R2T pickup truck, though, if we are to believe the next leak – a recent patent filing showed what could be the first sketch of the upcoming R2S compact or medium-sized off-road SUV that hinted it's the model set for reveal on March 7. From there, it was only a matter of time before the imaginative realm of digital car content creators pieced two and two together and envisioned the unofficial looks of the upcoming Rivian R2S.
Vince Burlapp (aka vburlapp on social media and burlappcar.com) is a prolific virtual artist who loves to dream of all the latest models across the wide-ranging automotive realm as he keeps a close eye on the rumor mill's latest developments. Naturally, he immediately jumped at the chance to portray the R2S based on the leaked patent illustration, especially since the vehicle is not very different from the R1S.
In fact, it looks exactly like a shrunken R1S, whereas the hypothetical R2S has shorter everything – overhangs, front and rear doors, and especially the trunk area. Interestingly, it might not be terrible if we see a smaller R2S looking almost exactly like an R1S – it's not a bad design to begin with, and the similarities could help Rivian speed up the development and manufacturing process.
Also, it could help them deliver sensible pricing. In fact, the pixel master believes the R2S versions could be priced as low as in the $40 to $50k range, essentially cutting in half the MSRPs of the R1S. Of course, it would come with less power, but these quotations would also allow it to go head-to-head with the world's best-selling car, Tesla's Model Y. What do you think - is Rivian on track to become the second-most successful EV-only automaker if it manages to deliver an R2S off-road SUV that's comparable with the Tesla Model Y in terms of pricing – and if they muster enough manufacturing prowess to sell tens of thousands of them? Or is this all just wishful thinking?
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