Rivian may develop a smaller electric pickup truck built on its upcoming R2 platform, though the California-based EV maker is currently prioritizing the R2 crossover as it seeks to expand its customer base, Chief Executive RJ Scaringe said in an interview.
“I mean, we haven’t announced anything, but… it doesn’t take a huge amount of imagination to think of, like, if there’s R2 what are the other R2 variants?” Scaringe said on the Plugged-In Podcast this week. “And we sort of hinted at that with R3, where we did an R3X. You could imagine X versions, you can imagine other versions.”
The R2, a smaller and more affordable sibling to Rivian’s R1S SUV, is expected to launch in 2026. Rivian also revealed the R3X, a rally-inspired version of its R3 hatchback, as part of the same rollout. Scaringe’s comments suggest possible future iterations such as an R2T pickup, which could compete with an entry-level truck from U.S. startup Slate Auto and Ford Motor’s planned $30,000 EV pickup.
Still, Scaringe stressed Rivian’s immediate focus is scaling production of the R2 crossover. “The focus of the business is on R2,” he said. “It’s, we think, the biggest segment. It’s the most broadly appealing. And it’s the one that for us will represent the vast majority of our production of R2 products in the short term.”
Looking further ahead, Rivian is also evaluating what its R4 and R5 vehicles could look like. Scaringe described them as “very much conceptual” but said the models will be “siblings” sharing a lower-cost platform.