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.