Last week, the electric automaker Rivian unveiled the R2, its latest electric SUV. When the vehicle starts rolling off production lines—in the first half of 2026, Rivian says—the R2 will join the R1S SUV and the R1T pickup truck in the automaker’s lineup.
Critically, Rivian pledges its newest entry will be cheaper: At “around” $45,000, according Rivian’s press materials, the SUV will cost some $30,000 less than its bigger SUV cousin, and will still come with about 300 miles of range.
Pulling off the feat of making its new SUV more affordable without sacrificing range or style should not only prove critical in making Rivian’s latest ride stand out in an increasingly crowded field of electric vehicles—it also might save the company. How did Rivian make it work? “R1 was designed through addition. It’s our premium flagship. We got to say yes to a lot of things,” Jeff Hammoud, the automaker’s chief design officer, said at an R2 unveiling event in Laguna Beach, California, last week. “With R2, we’re really thinking about, to get the price point down, what do we need to say no to?”
Still can’t afford it. I’d love to get a EV, but why spend $30,000+ when I can buy a gasser for just a couple thousand? Even penciling some quick math. I recently bought a 1999 Nissan pathfinder for $900, did some repairs to it to make it reliable, cost $450 in parts. I drive 28 miles a day minimum. Fuel economy is about 17mpg on this old thing. Fuel is about $4.50 here. Calculating if I drove literally every day and averaged about 10,000 miles a year I’m still spending only about $2700 in gas a year. That means I’d have to drive about 11 years to make up the value of even a $30k EV. Doesnt make sense yet. Where are these affordable Ev’s at yet?
You’re comparing a 25 year old vehicle with a new one. Come back in 25 years and do a similar comparison with a 2024 30k EV… Or, accept that your argument has nothing to do with EVs and is just an argument against buying new.
OK, so talking new, I can go buy a brand new 2024 Nissan Versa for $16400. It’s estimated at 30mpg mixed driving. That’s still only $1530 in fuel cost a year. Including the cost of the car, it’ll take me 9 years to spend $14000 in fuel. My point is that Ev’s are still not cost efficient, regardless if you buy a new or used vehicle.
Clearly EVs aren’t there yet for the very bottom of the market. This market will buy used for another decade and then all the sudden will start buying cheap used EVs. Used EV prices are dropping and will continue to drop, but it takes time. In the meantime, wealthy people that were already planning on spending a lot of money on cars will increasingly buy expensive electric cars and prices will come down. Pretty much every manufacturer is targeting a $10k drop in price for the next generation.
And to answer your question about where are the affordable EVs - China.