This afternoon, a Rivian R1S SUV was spotted on the back of a flatbed truck in Sydney, travelling along the M5 highway. User Evans Electric posted the photo around 6PM.
The reason this photo is significant is the fact that Rivian don’t currently ship vehicles into Australia and their popular EVs would be very welcome in Australia, making this a potentially very exciting view of the future.
The R1S is Rivian’s second vehicle, a full-size SUV following on from the success of the R1T (which would also be very welcome in Australia). As inviting as Rivian’s existing lineup is, today the big news was about the future.
This morning, Rivian officially revealed the details of their R2 vehicle. The new model won’t be out until the first half of 2026, around 2 years from now, but the design, specs and price have many very interested.
Seating 5 passengers, a range of over 300 miles (482km), a 0-60mph time of around 3 seconds and a starting price of US$45,000 got the EV community very excited.
While the R1S is more of a competitor to the Kia EV9, the R2 would be much more comparable to mid-sized SUVs like the Model Y. Pre-orders went on sale today for a $100 refundable deposit at http://rivn.co/reserveR2.
Regardless of which vehicle or vehicles Rivian brings to Australia from their lineup, their biggest challenge ahead right now is funding. It is understood that Rivian lost around US$32k for every vehicle it sold in 2023, however, CEO Robert “RJ” Scaringe suggests they can turn this around over the next year and change.
