It’s no secret that Rivian is engaged on a extra inexpensive mannequin line based mostly on the so-called R2 platform that can go into manufacturing as early as 2025-2026, because the American EV firm’s Chief Monetary Officer Claire Rauh McDonough revealed again in April.

Nevertheless, we had nothing however phrases to go by, however that modified when Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe hosted a Q&A session on the agency’s Instagram account, the place a coated clay mannequin of the upcoming R2 SUV was proven for the primary time.

The entire video was later printed on the startup’s YouTube channel and you may watch it embedded on the high of this web page. Within the Q&A session, Scaringe sits subsequent to the corporate’s design group chief, and behind them, there’s the covered-up clay mannequin.

Sadly, none of them provide any details about the upcoming electrical SUV, however by the seems of it, the car appears to be about 70 inches (1.77 meters) tall and – as some Rivian boards members identified – round 177 inches (4.5 meters) lengthy. That might make it roughly the scale of the ICE-powered Ford Bronco Sport.

We’ll clearly take this with a grain of salt, as we have now no approach of understanding precisely what the scale of the R2 SUV will probably be, however it’s going to be smaller than the present flagship R1S, which is 200.8 in (5.1 m) lengthy and 77.3 in (1.96 m).

Moreover, it looks like Rivian is planning on maintaining a number of the R1’s signature options, as revealed in a poster that made its approach briefly into the video, which exhibits the recognized entrance gentle setup of the R1T and R1S, in addition to the moveable flashlight that’s saved within the entrance door.

The Rivian R2 platform is predicted to underpin a number of extra inexpensive fashions which could have an MSRP of round $40,000 – if rumors are to be believed – a worth level that can open up an entire new marketplace for the American EV maker.

If the agency’s CFO is to be believed, as much as 200,000 R2 automobiles will probably be in-built 2026 and 400,000 items after that, which will probably be an enormous departure from the virtually 25,000 automobiles it produced final yr.

No technical particulars are presently recognized in regards to the Rivian R2 platform, however seeing the way it will underpin smaller automobiles than the present R1 structure, it’s anticipated that the battery will probably be smaller. Nevertheless, this received’t essentially translate right into a shorter driving vary, as being smaller additionally means the automobiles will probably be lighter, so we would see one thing alongside the traces of 300-400 miles of vary, relying on the configuration.

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