I wondered for a while about Rivian’s timing. Tesla had already gotten huge. All automakers had electric vehicles on the market, more coming, and growing EV sales. They were all advertising their EVs at high volume — in my region, at least. How was Rivian going to squeeze its way onto the mass market? It didn’t have Tesla’s first-mover advantage, and it didn’t have the decades-long loyalty that legacy automakers benefit from. However, a year or two can make a big difference, and what looked like horrible timing now looks like it could be quite good timing. Naturally, as US policies on EVs and fuel economy standards changed, legacy automakers have cancelled and pulled back on their EV plans and programs. EV models that were supposed to come to market have been canceled, and some models on the market have even been pulled! At the same time, Tesla’s brand has taken a big hit, many pure EV enthusiasts are looking for something purer, and many people who bought a Tesla 3, 4, 5, 14 years ago are looking for something new and different — and better even. So, there may be just the right opening for Rivian and its coming R2 right now. As luck may have it, 2026 might be the perfect year for Rivian to bring its semi-mass-market model to town. Perhaps there are just enough buyers looking for something other than a Tesla and not being offered what they want from legacy automakers to give Rivian all the business it needs. The R2 is not yet the much lower cost model that I think will be a real hit (the R3), but there should be a solid bunch of buyers in this segment to take all the R2 vehicles that Rivian produces. Maybe. Hopefully. We’ll see. One thing I’d like to see, though, is significant expansion of Rivian’s sales and service network. This is critical to the company’s market growth. That’s been clear from what Tesla showed us and told us, and it’s been clear from various conversations I’ve been in. Most people don’t want to buy a car if the will have to go 30 or 50 or 100 miles to get service. Just looking it up right now, the closest Rivian service center to me is 59 miles away, in the middle of a packed, super busy city that is one of my least favorite places to drive in the world. If I was going to get a Rivian, I’d want a service center much closer and more convenient to get to than that. That service center opened two years ago. Perhaps, with the R2 on the way, it’s time for Rivian to open a few more locations in the region? I get it — that takes money. Rivian needs business to make that money. But perhaps if the company hits just the right sweet spot, it will get the business needed from this opening in the market and the launch of the R2 to expand sales and service centers significantly. What do you think?
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