Rivian Recap: 07/03/2026
Hey there,
Here's your weekly Rivian Recap for July 3rd, 2026.
We have some real world R2 highway range figures, Pet Mode OTA timing, color inspiration, Tesla YL launches, and July offers drop.
Let's dive in!
Software
Last week, I mentioned that Pet Comfort Mode was one of the glaring missing items from R2 as the team pushed hard to get it shipped at all costs.
Thankfully, the wait for early of adopters won't be long.
It will be very interesting to see if Pet Comfort Mode ships with parity to the feature in R1, or if we will get any of the improvements I outlined previously.
The team seems well aware of the initial feedback for things like the turn signal sound and the polish needed for the halo haptic wheels.
While we are likely to see that update sometime in the next few weeks, R2 is already getting a quick hot fix update that is likely focused on stability as the release notes are identical.
All eyes will be on how quickly R2 software improves, especially when it comes to backfilling the disparity with R1, which includes the recently released Rivian Assistant, Pet Comfort Mode, Climate Hold, and more Autonomy+ progress.
Hardware
The hardware story is a bit more interesting this week than expected, because we have some real world validation for highway (70 mph) range figures.
Tom Moloughney flew out to do his highway range test on a customer delivered R2 and the results were impressive.
His test was on a build equipped with the 20" All-Terrain tires, which have an EPA mixed rated range of 307 miles.
What's most impressive here is that the EPA rates this combination for 276 miles on the highway (70 mph) and 338 city.
Based on the initial efficiency, it seems like under normal conditions at this speed a real range of 276 miles to 0% is actually achievable, and it may even result in a slight beat by reaching near 280 miles.
With the added efficiency of the All-Seasons (or by swapping All-Seasons onto the 20" tire), a real world highway range of solidly 300+ miles seems doable.
This is a marked improvement for efficiency, especially at speed, for a vehicle of this size, shape, and wheel/tire combination. It is truly a step change in efficiency over the previous generation in-house motors in R1.
I can now also see how the "brick" shape of R2 is able to get MPGe numbers that are identical to the slipper design of the Model Y.
Thanks to Tom for his work, I've updated the highway curve for projected R2 range with various environmental impacts.
Speaking of the Model Y, the North American market got a new entrant this week: the Model YL, which has been selling in China and Australia.
Any time a variant of a best-selling vehicle ships, I'd be negligent if I didn't mention how the market is evolving.
While clearly a variation of the best selling Model Y, this elongated YL should offer comfortable suspension, excellent software, and 2nd row captains chairs that have been much requested by R1S buyers.
(If you recall, I project captains chairs as a real possibility for the 2027 R1S.)
Offered exclusively in a 3 row, 6 seat configuration, Tesla came out with a very different vehicle than R2, but hits similar range and pricing.
Here are the quick stats for the Launch Series:
325 miles of range
125 mph top speed
4.4s 0-60
Tow Hitch (3,500 lbs)
Wheel, Paint, Interior color options at no charge
12 months of FSD included
12 months of Supercharging
$61,990 + destination, order fee, and tax.
I fully realize that most Tesla's being sold are not in the "adventure" category that you'll find with Rivian, and that there are a whole host of reasons someone may never consider one or the other.
I'm still planning to buy the Rivian R2 because it better fits my needs today, and I prefer the styling + capability of the off-road forward design.
I'm pleased to see another quality EV option in North America, as every competitive model pushes the whole industry forward.
Circling back to R2, we have some initial charging figures as well.
And thankfully, much like the EPA figures where Rivian slightly underpromised and overdelivered, we see the same for charging... but it does depend on the amperage rating for the charger you plug into.
It seems like Rivian is delivering on the near 230kW peak charging speed (which may still have a bit of headroom left), along with a flatter curve that should beat their own figures by a few minutes.
I'd like to see Rivian push the preconditioning logic to still work below 10% state of charge, but being so new they are likely just playing it safe.
Note: In Tryone's post you can see it does work with the Tesla CCS1 to NACS adapter, even if the fit is not totally perfect.
One other thing I reached out to Tyrone about was to better understand the range impact of the "Conserve" mode that every R2 ships with.
It clearly operates different than any other R1 model, and because the efficiency of the connect/disconnect of All-Purpose the range gain is minimal.
1% is still 1%, but I'll be very curious to do some additional testing to see if more can be squeezed out of it.
The really good news here though is that with R2, all on-road drive modes are persistent according to the manual. Less owner regret!
If you're still struggling to pick your ideal color, Rivian dropped more background on their color palette, which have always been grounded in Earth inspiration.
So far with the R2 colors I've seen in person, they all do exactly what I've experienced with R1 colors over the years: they all hit very different in person than in photos.
This is more true of some colors than others (for example, Launch Green in particular). But the play between what these colors look like in light vs dark can be dramatic.
The use of colored metallic flake can give some colors a completely different character in the sunlight when new hues come to life.
This is how blues can shift green in sunlight, or how we get a range from dark silver to a shade of brown undertones with Half Moon Gray.
Community
Now that essentially everyone has been notified of their expected window for being invited to order, there are a spectrum of emotions on social media.
From my point of view, there were essentially three key surprises baked into the order invite windows worth mentioning.
First, was that we didn't really see anyone post windows that extended beyond February 2027 and everyone who was notified seems to have an indication that the Launch Package will be available to them throughout.
Given the rumored multi-hundreds of thousands of reservation holders, and the likely production to be at *best* roughly 40k by then, that's an interesting projected pull through expectation by Rivian.
Second, was that some fairly recent reservations were getting earlier than anticipated windows, even without being near a service center.
For example, my mom who place a reservation in the past 6 months and lives hundreds of miles from a service center was given November-December of 2026 for an order invite.
Third, is an update for our Canadian friends, who appear to be on track for a first half of 2027 invite window.
Given the order timeline and the communication Rivian has had for Gen3 Autonomy and LiDAR, there is understandably some confusion about if we would see a Launch Package with the upgraded Autonomy hardware.
This seems to be bubbling to the top in my latest community survey.
I'm going to be answering what I expect to happen in-depth in my next video, so make sure to vote on future surveys to help prioritize what gets made first.
Note: Rivian quarterly earnings are scheduled for July 30th at 5pm Eastern, and I'll be holding my quarterly simulcast for the community to hang out!
I just wanted to give a shout out to the team behind R2, and especially Max Koff, who has been at Rivian a really long time and took on a huge role with the R2 project specifically.
Any time you set out to create something new, no matter if it's a physical product or a new piece of software... it's going to be hard.
Shipping a modern EV that is high quality is doing both of those at the same time, across ever growing groups that each have their own stakeholders.
We learned in the latest episode of the Carmudgeon Show that Max plans to take a year off after over a decade a Rivian. I'm sure the burnout to hit this finish line is real, and I'm looking forward to watching the team scale.
The long ranging interview with Max and Jeff (chief designer) was a worthwhile watch if you want to learn more about the genesis of Rivian R2.
Worth Checking Out - VION
What is quickly becoming a "must have" go to in my new Rivian kit, VION has continued to deliver one of the best sub-$100 accessories you can get.
While sometimes it's awesome to have an open cabin feel, getting some reprieve along with the huge benefit for a cabin that cools down dramatically faster with quieter HVAC operation is a welcome change on hot days.
VION now has an update to their popular R1S kit that can perfectly fit the 3rd row as well now, and a gray version for light interiors.
As a subscriber to the Rivian Recap, you can get 10% off anything site wide with code "TRAVIS", on what is already a stellar product for the price.
Check out their sunshades, carbon activated air filters, and more:
VION Sunshade // VION Air Filters
My thanks to VION for helping make this newsletter possible.
Latest Deals
July deals are here and updated, but they are a touch worse than June. That's a bit surprising because we seem to be at the end of 2026 R1 production, with 2027 models just around the corner.
The delivery numbers were just released and there were thousand of vehicles beyond the consensus estimate, so perhaps demand is stronger than we all expected, even with worse incentives.
There is a bonus $500 offer for orders placed by July 6th, however.
(There are also a few "reduced price" vehicles in inventory.)
Here's what's sticking out for deals this week:
Dual Large w/Performance [Lease vs Buy Example]
2026 R1S Dual-Large w/Performance (Premium Audio)
2026 R1T Dual-Large w/Performance (Premium Audio, Utility V2 Tonneau)
Dual Max w/Performance [Lease vs Buy Example]
2026 R1S Dual-Max w/Performance (Premium Audio)
2026 R1T Dual-Max w/Performance (Premium Audio, Utility, V2 Tonneau)
**An interesting note about the Forest Edge configurations, is that they show up as a "cheaper lease" when sorting by lowest lease. However, they don't qualify for the current lease cash or finance incentives.
That makes this misleading as Rivian assumes $3k more cash up front to get that lease number down. Leasing an equivalent Dual Max Performance is $1,300 less over 36 months, and financing is $9,202 less with the 0.99% promotional rate.
As a reminder you always want to do $0 down when leasing to minimize losses in the event your vehicle is totaled or stolen during your lease.
Forest Edge is thousands less if you're paying cash, but all other purchase options are notably better with the current promotions on normal trims.**
Tri Max ($3k Lease or 1.99% for 60 months) [Lease vs Buy Example]
All referrals also get 3 months of free charging on the Rivian Adventure Network.
I hope enjoyed this week's edition of the Rivian Recap. Let me know what you'd like to see more of in future editions!
Even if you just want to say hi, hit reply – I'd love to get to know you 👋
Stay curious ✌️,
Travis Ketchum
P.S. Thinking about buying a new Rivian?
Make sure you use a referral code. A friend, a neighbor, or someone who has helped you along the way.
Here's mine: TRAVIS4699411
P.P.S. Here are some tools and resources you may find useful: