Electric vehicle maker Rivian will unveil its third consumer product soon, a compact SUV likely called the R2 or R2S.
News of the impending debut comes from an unlikely source – the City Council in Laguna Beach, California. Council staff last week published a request from the company to close a portion of the city’s Main Beach Park for a half-day event on March 7. A map included with the request wears the label “R2 launch.”
Observers have expected a compact SUV launch soon. CEO RJ Scaringe hosted an Instagram question and answer session last May in front of what appeared to be a small SUV draped in a car cover.
Scaringe also told investors on a third-quarter earnings call in 2023 that the SUV would likely carry a price in the $40,000 to $50,000 range – a segment crowded with electric SUVs like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia EV6, and Tesla Model Y.
Its shape generally resembled that of the company’s R1S 3-row SUV. Engineers build many electric vehicles on so-called “skateboard platforms” – nearly flat combinations of batteries, motors, suspension, and steering components that engineers can scale up or down to build vehicles for different market segments.
The skateboard underlying the R1S and R1T pickup could easily provide the parts for a smaller vehicle.
Cox Automotive, the parent company of Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, is a minority investor in Rivian.
