Volkswagen just passed Amazon to become Rivian's largest shareholder at 15.9%, and the forums immediately went to takeover panic. Here is why the actual mechanics of that stake, along with VW's own mess of a situation, say the opposite.
Rivian raised its full year guidance to 65,000 to 70,000, but the first half only covered 22,559 of it. The back half now has to nearly double the Q2 pace, and R2 is the only thing that can get it there.
Everyone assumes the R2 is the smart buy because that is where the new tech lives. Most of that tech is coming to the R1 anyway. The real reason to order an R1 today is the bigger body, the third row, the towing, and the range, none of which an update can ever add, and it makes you wonder why Rivian has not refreshed the R1 yet.
Rivian appraised my R1T at $66,520. Carvana came in at $75,200 and Ever ended up paying $76,000. If you are trading in for an R2, shop your Rivian trade-in around first. The spread can run thousands.
We want a new feature every month and we want the bugs gone, and we get loud when either one is missing. That is the corner Rivian is stuck in, and the boring updates are the ones doing the real work.
Rivian is becoming an AI company on top of being an EV company, and the environmental cost of that shift is the question nobody at the company is really asking yet.
Most states only tax the difference when you trade a car in. Four tax you on the full price no matter what your trade is worth. Here's how all 50 states plus DC handle it.
The 2027 model year R1 is probably going to be a light refresh while Rivian keeps its head down on R2, so I'm looking past it to the next-generation R1 expected around summer 2027. Here's my full wishlist, from captain's chairs and the R2 LiDAR system to 800V, vehicle to home charging, and a battery that stops thermal limiting the second things heat up.
The House wants EV owners paying $130 a year to the feds, and after running it against what gas drivers actually put into the Highway Trust Fund, the number is more defensible than the reaction. The real problem isn't the size of the fee, it's that they made it flat, so the person babying their R1S around town pays exactly the same as the one stacking 25,000 miles a year.
The R2 configurator is live and you can finally price one out, but the only trim you can build is the $57,990 Performance, and the roughly $45,000 R2 we were all sold on is nowhere on the page yet. Add in colors that mostly cost extra and a Performance that lands dollar for dollar with a Model Y Performance, and the attainable Rivian still feels like a future-tense thing.
