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Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

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131–140 of 353 posts

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#131
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely false. I own one. It goes up to the low 80s mph before the gas engine kicks in. Acceleration from a stop is sub 6 second 0-60. Hardly weak. Charges from fully empty to full in about 2.5 hours. Mine gets a 40-45 mile all electric range. I drive 10-12k miles per year, and ignoring extended multi-day vacation road trips once every couple years, I fill up the tank 2-3 times per year.

> Mine gets a 40-45 mile all electric range. That sounds like the real issue, vs. EVs. This sounds like you basically have to plug it in every time you park it. And there’s no way you could do any sort of (even small) road trip without using gas. (For comparison, our EV6 has about 200-250 mile range, and we charge it about once a week or so, give or take, unless we take a road trip.) Also, one of the main advantages…

> This sounds like you basically have to plug it in every time you park it. And there’s no way you could do any sort of (even small) road trip without using gas.

Yep, so people (mostly) don’t , in aggregate:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/16/plug-in-...

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#132

Looks like a great car. As Marques Brownlee puts it [1], this is Rivian's "Model Y fighter". And I personally find the R2 to be much more appealing than a Model Y in terms of size, shape, and interior. But we have been misled so many times about EV prices prior to launch, I think it's important to wait until we see what it actually costs for different trim levels before making comparisons to the Model Y. That $45,000…

Also Doug Demuro raves about it [1]. Personally I can't stand Marques' reviews. Just inspiring and he looks bored. Doug on the other hand really seems to put some of his soul into his reviews.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUl_0087dyM

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#133
post #94

I feel quite bad for people living in the United States. Despite the constant refrain about freedom y'all are actually pretty hindered when it comes to reasonably priced EVs. On Saturday I put a down on a BYD Shark 6 truck. Hopefully I'll collect it Friday, if not early next week. I'm paying $41,200 USD for the thing brand new. I saw a MotorTrend review of it last week, they flew down to Mexico City to test one out.…

If it's going to have a gasoline engine anyway, I'd much rather just get the Raptor. By the way, the Ford Ranger Raptor is not to be confused with the Ford F-150 Raptor which is a total beast.

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#134
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The RAV4 Prime is extremely hard to get if you live outside of SoCal and maybe a few other areas. I'm in the southeast and a few years ago the local dealer told me that this entire region is only allocated a few Prime's each quarter. Even today I've never seen one in the wild.

Not only that, but it sounds like dealerships are still hardcore ripping off people who want to buy a RAV4 Prime. $20k over MSRP, refusing to sell without add-ons / warranty, etc.

Yep, wanted one but it made zero sense at the prices they wanted. Got a fully electric EV and very happy with the choice.

I figure there's a lot more to break on the Prime too.

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#135
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure about that? The cost of repairing even minor collision damage on a Rivian is ridiculous.

Yup, R1S dented rear quarter, $55000 to repair, insurance totaled it out... https://www.reddit.com/r/Rivian/comments/1r19jxb/vivian_is_o...

There are multiple other people in the comments saying they had quarter panels repaired for $15K. Which is still a lot, but it’s not $55K.

There’s definitely more to that story.

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mine gets a 40-45 mile all electric range. That sounds like the real issue, vs. EVs. This sounds like you basically have to plug it in every time you park it. And there’s no way you could do any sort of (even small) road trip without using gas. (For comparison, our EV6 has about 200-250 mile range, and we charge it about once a week or so, give or take, unless we take a road trip.) Also, one of the main advantages…

> Also, one of the main advantages with EVs is their insane low maintenance, but sounds like PHEVs still have to all the same maintenance issues of ICE vehicles. I keep seeing this repeated, but I kept a detailed decade-plus spreadsheet of maintenace costs for my last ICE car, and ~2/3 of the costs were for components that are common to EVs.

1. Maintenance isn’t just about cost. It’s about the number of things that move and/or need fluids, and can fail/leak. It’s about dealing with service centers trying to upsell you on every little possible thing that could go wrong.

When I take my EV in, it’s for one of two things: I need my tires rotated, or I need new tires. That’s it. There’s no “curtsy inspection” that comes back with literally 40 different things that I could have done to it.

2. Our household has four vehicles: one EV, three ICE vehicles. There’s no way the occasional new tires (rotations are free where we bought our tires) amount to 2/3 the cost of the maintenance needed on our ICE vehicles. It’s probably closer to 1/10.

I think you’re overestimating what all needs maintenance on an EV.

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#137
post #7

Haptic steering wheel thumb-wheels instead of actual buttons? Hell no. Full pass. And we're in the market for a vehicle like this in the next year or so, looking hard at Santa Fe Calligraphy, or Outback XT (similar size, similar price tag, AFAICT). No physical buttons = no sale.

The haptic feedback on e.g. macbook trackpads is very convincing, so I'm not sure it's impossible to get right in a car, but I wouldn't bet on to get it right.

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toyotas hybrid uses gas when you accelerate hard to get that 0-60, it’s a combined system horsepower. Unlike phevs, EREVs are only driven by the electric drive, and the gas system is a series generator, so the EV is fully capable & always doing 100% of the work. PHEVs fundamentally aren’t. Anyway, the real world data from PHEV usage shows you are the outlier, most people don’t bother plugging them in regularly due to…

What limitations stop someone from plugging them in regularly? If you have a charger at home, what stops people from plugging them in at night? And who cares if this guy is the outlier? You're going to bash on the car because people are dumb and don't know how to operate their cars?

The cars fine. It’s great it works for him. I wouldn’t personally buy one today when lots of options for real BEVs exist, but you do you.

What I do care about, and why I care that he’s an outlier, is that low range PHEVs mainly exist to get emissions credits for manufacturers so that they can sell more gas cars, and those emission savings aren’t real [1]. You could say everyone’s dumb for using them this way, but clearly the ergonomics of the electrical capabilities in this category are lacking in important ways.

And I can’t prove it but I bet the manufacturers have known this for a long time. But adding a plug to a hybrid with a tiny battery was an awfully cheap way to get your existing car counted as “green” for credits, so too tempting.

(1) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/16/plug-in-...

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#139
post #7

Haptic steering wheel thumb-wheels instead of actual buttons? Hell no. Full pass. And we're in the market for a vehicle like this in the next year or so, looking hard at Santa Fe Calligraphy, or Outback XT (similar size, similar price tag, AFAICT). No physical buttons = no sale.

The Outback is an incredible car for the money

Re: Rivian R2: Electric Mid-Size SUV

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self-driving seems like something where car companies shouldn’t all “reinvent the wheel.” A couple of the bigger car companies have projects on this, right? Maybe they could share.

It will probably follow the same pattern as ADAS. Bosch or someone will develop a package, sell it to car manufacturers, and it will become widespread

Why aren't car manufacturers partnering with Comma when they're the closest competitor to Tesla's system? The Bosch systems are super basic.
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