Last week, the electrical automaker Rivian unveiled the R2, its newest electrical SUV. When the car begins rolling off manufacturing strains—within the first half of 2026, Rivian says—the R2 will be a part of the R1S SUV and the R1T pickup truck within the automaker’s lineup.

Critically, Rivian pledges its latest entry might be cheaper: At “around” $45,000, in accordance Rivian’s press supplies, the SUV will value some $30,000 lower than its larger SUV cousin, and can nonetheless include about 300 miles of vary.

Pulling off the feat of constructing its new SUV extra inexpensive with out sacrificing vary or type mustn’t solely show essential in making Rivian’s newest experience stand out in an more and more crowded area of electric vehicles—it additionally would possibly save the corporate. 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, stated at an R2 unveiling occasion in Laguna Beach, California, final week. “With R2, we’re really thinking about, to get the price point down, what do we need to say no to?”

It’s early, however the math appears to have labored: Rivian reported taking greater than 68,000 reservations within the first 24 hours after the SUV’s unveiling.

For the electrical automaker’s design staff, the trick to creating what executives known as the “more accessible” R2 was to take care of the unique SUV’s design language—the weather that make it clearly a Rivian—whereas snipping manufacturing and supplies prices wherever they might. So the R2 has Rivian’s signature entrance, full with smile headlights, and appears like a shrunken model of the R1S. (The new car seats 5 folks as an alternative of seven.) Cutting extra prices got here all the way down to sensible engineering.

After an extended day of exhibiting off the R2 and its shock crossover counterpart, the R3, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe sat down with WIRED to debate his engineering and design groups’ little compromises that assist make the brand new SUV work.

Suspension System

In a bid to make the R1 line right into a sports activities automotive/off-roader hybrid, Rivian needed to go all out with its suspension system. Because electrical batteries are heavy, the car wanted air springs to make sure it may get the bottom clearance required to traverse tough roads but in addition the soundness to make the experience really feel comfy and clean. An electro-hydraulic roll management system helps the R1 navigate tight corners—the sports activities automotive half—soak up off-road shocks and maximize wheel articulation, in order many wheels as attainable can preserve contact with even probably the most treacherous terrain. The fancy system additionally enabled some pleasant perks. Camp mode, for instance, makes use of the suspension system to stage out the R1’s chassis whereas on uneven floor, making it extra nice to sleep or prepare dinner in, or simply dangle contained in the car or in its truck mattress.

But that complicated and costly suspension system wouldn’t work for the R2, says Scaringe. To minimize down on manufacturing prices, the SUV has a hard and fast experience peak and stuck roll management. Instead of an impartial double wishbone entrance suspension design—utilizing two arms to attach every wheel to the chassis—the R2 makes use of a strut.

The change “was absolutely the right call,” says Scaringe, as a result of it performs nicely in inside security testing, saves the automaker “hundreds of dollars,” and comes with the added benefit of giving the R2 extra entrance storage room.

Rear Windows

For the R2, Rivian designers needed to offer passengers a basic “open-air” journey automotive expertise, the sort discovered on a safari inside a Toyota Landcruiser. So the staff got down to give the rear passenger home windows full-drop glass. Easier stated than accomplished. Many automobiles, together with the R1S, have a hard and fast quarter window, separated from the portion that rolls down by a strip of metallic and rubber known as a division bar. The configuration is smart for many automobiles, as a result of the rear passenger doorways overlap with the entrance of the rear wheelbases, that means that the small portion of glass behind the division bar has nowhere to go.

So to drop that window glass, Rivian’s design staff needed to spend plenty of time twiddling with the dimensions of the R2’s again doorways. “There were some goofy proportions for a while because of it,” says Scaringe. In the top, the ultimate configuration permits your entire again home windows to drop. It additionally permits Rivian to economize on glass, division bars, and sealants.

Rear Table

Hammoud, the Rivian design head, says R1S homeowners actually love the SUV’s break up rear tailgate. It opens like a clamshell, which permits simpler entry to the trunk by shorter people, and likewise offers folks a spot to take a seat, shielded from the weather. But that setup is fairly expensive. In the R2, Rivian has nixed the break up tailgate however added a helpful little rear tray desk, which can be utilized contained in the automotive throughout picnics or tenting jaunts however also can flip outdoors the automotive for use as a seat or altering desk.

Portable Bluetooth Speaker

The R1 line comes with a built-in, detachable bluetooth speaker, which additionally emits a mushy, yellow glow—a stunning campsite temper setter. But temper setting ain’t free. The R2 doesn’t include the speaker. Sad, however essential to maintain prices down.

Frunk

Rivian likes to speak about its software-first strategy. Indeed, its automobiles are continuously gathering knowledge. For that motive, the automaker is aware of that drivers actually use its entrance trunk, or “frunk”—the cupboard space the place a gas-powered automotive’s engine normally goes. Scaringe credit the R1 frunk’s recognition to its very easy-to-use open-and-close tech, which permits folks to open up and shut down the factor by double-tapping a button on the important thing fob or miserable a button on the entrance fascia, no pushing or prodding required.

But that system is pricey. For the R2, the frunk nonetheless opens with the faucet of a button, which releases a latch inside. But a small strap dangles from the within lid of the compartment. Drivers solely have to offer the strap a light-weight tug earlier than a cinch takes over, closing the frunk tight. “It’s just the right trade-off for a $45,000 car,” says Scaringe. Rivian will actually discover out if drivers agree about two years from now when the R2 rolls out of the manufacturing unit and onto American roads.