The electric automaker Rivian dropped three surprises Thursday during the reveal of its new, more affordable SUV – including that the vehicle will be made in Normal and that construction of a new plant in Georgia is on pause.
As expected, Rivian revealed that the new R2 is a midsize SUV that looks very similar to the R1S SUV, but smaller and at a much lower starting price of $45,000. (The R1S starts at $74,900.)
But after introducing the R2 at Thursday’s event, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe then announced two additional and unexpected models: the R3 crossover SUV and the sportier, rally-inspired R3X. And most notably for Bloomington-Normal, Scaringe revealed a change of plans: R2 would be made first in Normal, instead of waiting for a new $5 billion manufacturing plant to open in Georgia. Rivian said in an SEC filing that it’s paused construction in Georgia but may resume it.
That change will allow Rivian to save a bunch of cash – about $2.3 billion – and speed up first deliveries of the R2 to the first half of 2026.
“We’re able to achieve that accelerated timing by leveraging our production capabilities in Normal, using our Illinois site to launch R2 and get that into the market as quickly as we can,” Scaringe said. “Now, our Georgia site remains really important to us. It’s core to the scaling across all these vehicles – between R2, R3, R3X – and we’re so appreciative of all the partnership we’ve had there. But being able to leverage the team, the skill, the passion we have in the Illinois facility to get that to the market and customers as quickly as possible, we’re just ecstatic about it.”
Elected officials celebrated Rivian’s decision to build R2 in Normal. Gov. JB Pritzker said it would “add more economic investment and job growth to the Bloomington-Normal community,” and he praised Rivian as an “important partner in building Illinois’s rapidly-growing manufacturing sector.”
“A lot of the pieces of the puzzle came together when they made that announcement today,” said Normal Mayor Chris Koos. “The fact that they’re retooling the factory and realigning shifts and not only trying to increase efficiency – now we know why: producing the R2 here. And my sense of it personally is that they have a vehicle ready to go, they have a plant they think they can do it in, so here we go.”
Rivian certainly has room to grow in Normal. It’s planning to make 57,000 vehicles this year, the same as last. With the R2 coming here, Rivian says total capacity in Normal will jump to 215,000 vehicles.
It’s unclear if that means more hiring. Rivian already employs 8,000 people in Normal, making it McLean County’s second-largest employer behind only State Farm.
“We’re still finalizing all those plans. As we get those finalized, we’ll definitely put out what those numbers will be,” said Tim Fallon, Rivian’s vice president of operations in Normal. “We really get to leverage our facilities, our experience, the workforce we have here, all the professional staff – it’s really going to be amazing.”
Three new EVs revealed
Scaringe delivered a Steve Jobs-like product reveal on stage inside a theater in southern California. Video was streamed to live watch parties around the country, including one at the Normal plant.
The R2 is about 15 inches shorter than the R1 SUV, and lower in height too. The range is over 300 miles on a single charge. It goes from zero to 60 in 3 seconds. It seats five people, and all seats can fold down to fit cargo or to do some car camping. Reservations are now open.
“The vehicle combines capability, performance, utility, storage and functionality in a way that we think really fits into a huge customer need and a huge need within the market,” Scaringe said.
It’s unclear when R3 (crossover SUV) or R3X (the rally-inspired variant) will begin production, but it will be after the R2. Both the R2 and R3 are built on an all-new midsize vehicle platform. The R3 will be priced lower than the R2’s $45,000, though Rivian did not say how much.
Early adopters jumped at Rivian’s high-price R1 pickup and SUV. But high interest rates have cut in demand for EVs, including at Rivian, and Scaringe said increasing demand is one of their key focus areas for the year. There’s also a broader skepticism about how quickly American transportation will electrify that’s led more established automakers to scale back or slow their EV investments.
Rivian has cut costs too, including cutting 10% of its salaried workforce last month. This week WGLT first reported Rivian will change from three shifts to two in Normal, saying it can meet this year’s modest production goals with only two because the plant is getting more efficient. A weekslong plant shutdown this spring will integrate new engineering design changes to R1 including significant changes to supplier and component parts, lowering how much it costs to build each EV.
Rivian said launching the first line of R2 in Normal, instead of Georgia, will save over $2.25 billion on “capital expenditures, product development investment, and supplier sourcing opportunities.” The company says “the timing for resuming construction is expected to be later to focus its teams on the capital-efficient launch of R2 in Normal.”
Owner reaction
R2 and R3’s lower price could put an EV within reach for more U.S. buyers.
In the crowd Thursday at the Normal watch party was Jamie Shircel from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, sporting a T-shirt featuring Rivian’s signature oval headlights. Shircel has an R1S reserved and hopes to get it this summer.
“R2 is gonna make it a lot easier for other people to afford a Rivian,” Shircel said. “Sometimes when I tell people we’re on the list for a Rivian, people go, ‘Ohhh, that’s expensive.’ And I think it’s harder for people to achieve. I think it’s gonna be a big seller.”
John VonBokel from St. Louis also watched in Normal. He already owns an R1T pickup but said his wife might want an R2.
VonBokel was a Tesla owner before Rivian, and he said this new model should compete well with Tesla's Model Y midsize SUV.
“Especially right now, interest rates are high, and people are less willing to pay the extra premium upfront for an EV even though they know it will save them money in the long run,” he said. “The interest rates are making that difficult for people. So getting that price down, that makes a huge difference.”
