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Rivian R2 Test Mule Spotted in British Columbia, Canada
One of the first Rivian R2 test mules has turned up in Canada. X user Brian4591 caught it out in British Columbia, making it one of the earliest R2 sightings north of the border we have seen.
That alone is worth paying attention to. R2 has been a waiting game for Canadian buyers for a while now.
Back in February, we reported that Rivian had pushed the R2 launch from 2026 to 2027. Around that same stretch, the Canadian pricing situation got murky. R2 was originally listed at $66,500 CAD, but Rivian quietly pulled that number from the Canadian R2 site, so right now, there is no official price listed for buyers up north to look at.
So seeing an actual mule rolling around BC is a good sign. Test vehicles showing up usually means the program is moving, and for everyone in Canada who has been anticipating R2, that is exactly the kind of thing they have wanted to see.
Down here in the US, the picture looks a little different at the moment. Last week, I reported that R2 email invites were ramping up, and things felt like they were picking up speed. That has changed. We are now seeing a pretty noticeable slowdown in both invites and deliveries including yours truly, who is still waiting to be matched to a VIN and to schedule delivery. Rivian has not said anything about why.
Hard to know what that means yet. It could be a normal pause, something on the production side, or nothing at all. Rivian tends to stay quiet on this stuff until it is ready to talk.
Either way, it is good to see R2 actually out on Canadian roads. That has been a long wait, and the folks up there have earned a little excitement. We will keep an eye on the US side too and see whether this slowdown is just a blip or the start of something.
I think the reason the pricing went off the Canadian site is that Canada has imposed a 25% retaliatory tariff against the USA for their tariffs on Canadian autos. Which means that the price of a Rivian R2 would be over $85k at the base and over $100k for performance and launch editions.
I don’t see many sales happening for these models in Canada until that tariff goes away, which won’t happen unless the USA starts following the USMCA/CUSMA free trade agreement.