Rivian R2 production has started despite tornado damage to factory

Rivian has rolled the archetypal customer-ready R2 SUVs disconnected the accumulation enactment astatine its mill successful Normal, Illinois, conscionable days aft it was hit by an EF-1 tornado that tore disconnected portion of the roof.

Despite the damage, laminitis and CEO RJ Scaringe told Bloomberg Television connected Wednesday greeting that Rivian doesn’t expect immoderate delays to the R2’s rollout, which is important to the company’s survival.

“The tornado went done the southbound extremity of the plant, and ripped the extortion disconnected the building, and knocked down immoderate of the works arsenic well, and truthful the past 72 hours person been astir the clock,” helium said. Scaringe explained that Rivian has had to alteration however and wherever it brings immoderate materials into the mill to physique the R2.

But “we’re not making immoderate changes to the plan,” helium said, referring to the company’s accumulation roadmap.

Scaringe wasn’t asked erstwhile Rivian volition marque the archetypal R2 deliveries during the interview. The institution has antecedently said it volition commencement shipping R2 SUVs earlier the archetypal fractional of 2026 comes to an end.

Getting the R2 into accumulation is simply a large milestone for the company. It’s the archetypal accumulation conveyance Rivian has made that has a accidental to scope mass-market customers, arsenic it costs acold little than the company’s existent R1 EVs. It’s besides expected to assistance the institution yet scope profitability aft years of losing wealth connected each conveyance it sold.

The institution has large expectations for the R2. Rivian told investors earlier this twelvemonth that it expects to present betwixt 20,000 and 25,000 of the SUVs by the extremity of 2026. If Rivian achieves that, it would go 1 of the fastest-scaling caller EVs ever launched successful the U.S., 2nd lone to Tesla’s Model Y.

That said, Rivian is launching with a mentation of the R2 that costs astir $13,000 much than the $45,000 terms tag the institution spent years promoting. The launch variation R2 starts astatine $57,990, with a somewhat cheaper $53,990 variant coming by the extremity of this year. Rivian won’t merchantability an R2 for nether $50,000 until the archetypal fractional of 2027, and a existent basal exemplary starting astatine $45,000 won’t deed the marketplace until precocious 2027.

And that’s if the $45,000 R2 ever arrives astatine all. When Rivian announced pricing for the SUV successful March, the institution said the basal exemplary terms volition commencement “around $45,000” — not “at $45,000” arsenic it had promoted connected its website arsenic precocious arsenic February.