- Rivian showed off the R3 and R3X hatchbacks. They will be based on the same engine as the R2 and should come out in 2027.
- The single-motor R3 is likely to start at around $35,000, and the R3X may start at around $45,000, the same as the R2.
- You will be able to get the R3 with either one or two motors, but the R3X will have three motors.
Last week, the Rivian R2 made its appearance in a bright and well-executed way, with no metal balls thrown at the side windows. The Rivian R2’s appearance wasn’t a surprise after a year of leaks and sightings, but everything else went as planned. The small truck version that EV fans had been talking about for a year did not come out either, as planned.
That night, though, another pair—one that not many people in the business had seen coming—shadowed the R2. Rivian’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, showed off the R3 and its twin, the R3X. Although they are smaller than the R2, they share the same base. People quickly thought of the two hatchbacks as looking like boxy four-door hatchbacks from the 1970s, like the Lada Niva.
Could tiny, high-end electric hatchbacks become the next big thing in EVs? That’s another question the R3 and its spindlier, three-motor twin, the R3X, which will come out in 2027, brought up. Before giving up, a lot of people thought that ten and a half years ago, we would all be driving cute, small city cars. This is exactly what the Apple car was meant to bring.
In reality, though, things were exactly the opposite. In the EV market right now, big, heavy cars are popular, but many of them are also very expensive. Rivian’s first two models were neither small nor cheap.
The Rivian R1T and R1S are not the same as the R3 or R3X except for the style of the front bumper. Also, they will be on the market for a short time.
As the auto business knows, three years is a long time in the EV market, and anything could happen, like the cost of raw materials going up. The EV market may have changed a lot by the time the R3 and R3X come out. People may be more open to smaller EVs.
It’s already clear that buyers are getting tired of expensive electric cars, and the market for electric trucks is clearly stopping. Because of this, automakers had to quickly change their plans and make fewer of many types of electric trucks. This happens at the same time that people start to see the Tesla Cybertruck in their garages.
The Rivian R3, on the other hand, shows a more traditional and positive view of the future of electric vehicles, which is different from what the industry has been following for many reasons over the last ten years. The R3 and R3X did better than the R2 launch. According to reports, the base R3 should cost less than $40,000.
There are obviously many things that could change between now and 2027, including Rivian’s finances. But EV fans are already looking forward to the exact kinds of cars that the R3 and R3X are meant to be just a few days after they were released.
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