Rivian bet the company on R2. RJ Scaringe told us almost everything

June 10

45 mins

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Episode Description

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