Show Notes
Rivian, by many accounts, has become the darling of the automotive industry. It’s a hot topic despite its current volume and scale. To date, it’s not a mainstream brand with a mass-market offering. But that changed yesterday with the launch of the R2, which costs between $45,000 and $60,000 while hitting at the absolute heart of the compact crossover SUV market at 186 inches long, which is the size of the Toyota RAV4 and Tesla Model Y. The former is one of the best selling vehicles period while the latter is one of the best-selling EVs by the widest of margins it’s not even funny.
Now it’s Rivian’s turn to step into the arena and aim for the masses. This is the moment RJ Scaringe and his team has been building towards for years. Everything is riding on this.
This week, The Drive's Director of Content and Product, Joel Feder, is joined by Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe to dissect how we got here, missteps, where the company is today, and what's about to happen in both the immediate and longer-term future.
So, today, it’s behind-the-scenes on Rivian going into the mass market arena, what that looks like, how it plays out, and addressing how the automaker aims to tackle it all.
Stories mentioned in today's episode:
2027 Rivian R2 First Drive Review: The Perfect Car for So Many PeopleSomehow, Rivian’s Cheaper R2 Is Its Most Refined Vehicle
The Rivian R2 Needed a Rear Wiper That Didn’t Exist. So Rivian Invented One
2026 Rivian R1T Quad First Drive Review: When Too Much Is Just Enough
Rivian Is Going RAD. But Can It Stick the Landing?
Rivian Won’t Talk About the Missing R2 Tri-Motor. The Reason Why Is Big
Rivian Sidesteps Apple CarPlay With Built-In Texting
00:00 Intro
04:05 R2 profitability
07:43 R2 launch
10:49 Service
16:54 Rivian Adventure Network
20:03 RAD
25:47 R3X
26:25 R2T?
29:13 R4
29:31 Patents and a winch for R1
30:57 Repairability
35:32 Buttons, knobs, and the Halo wheels
37:43 Voice controls
39:07 RJ's final thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The Drivecast
General Motors just laid out its future and it's wrapped around bets on AI, new EV battery chemistry, new EVs, and autonomous vehicles. But the automaker's in the midst of launching new clean-sheet V8s, what gives?
Arguably the Corvette is General Motors' most iconic and important vehicle even if it's not a sales leader. As the possible finale of the C8 Corvette lineup arrives in the form of the Grand Sport a new leader is taking over the team and all of GM Performance. It's a critical moment, and Tony Roma has big shoes to fill.
Cars are more complicated, connected, and software driven than ever. The tuning industry is growing, but awash in shady characters promising big power gains if you yank out your car's brain and send it to them to modify. AutoTuner aims to show you can run a legitimate business in this space, but this is at odds with what automakers want.
America's EV charging situation is a mess. So much so that eight automakers banded together to create a joint venture, dubbed Ionna, and try to fix the situation. It's an unprecedented move on multiple levels that shows the gravity of the situation, how seriously automakers take the future of electric vehicles, and an entirely new business venture that diversifies these companies beyond just building and selling vehicles: now they are selling the fuel too.
A new law in California relaxing emissions tests for classic cars is being hailed as a “landmark” victory for the car community and common sense. But it’s not what it seems.