Rivian R3 Will Be Priced 'Materially Lower' Than R2, CEO SaysInsideEVs[email protected] (Tim Levin)Mon, September 21, 2026 at 6:29 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleRivian RJ Scaringe R3The R4 is coming after that, he told The New York Times, at an even lower price than the R3.The Rivian R3 will be priced "materially lower" than the R2, CEO RJ Scaringe said in an interview.The R2 will eventually start at $45,000, so it sounds like the R3 will cost significantly less than that.Scaringe said the R4, which we know next to nothing about, will be even cheaper than the R3.The Rivian R2 arrived to rave reviews this year, including from us at InsideEVs. But plenty of the startup's fans and EV buyers at large are already eyeing Rivian's next car, the R3. The hatchback, presented as a "one more thing" surprise at the R2 reveal event, kind of stole the show from its big brother. Now we know a (little) bit more about what it'll cost you."The next product, which we creatively call R3, is going to take the price point down. We haven't announced pricing yet, but it will move materially lower," Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe told The New York Times in a recent interview. "There's a product beyond that, called R4, which again moves that further."Rivian Future RoadmapToday the R2 starts at close to $60,000 for debut trim, which is the Performance edition with Launch Package. By late 2027, Rivian says, it'll release a version for $45,000. That R2 Standard will have rear-wheel drive and a Rivian-estimated "275+" miles of range.AdvertisementAdvertisementIf the R3 brings the price for a Rivian "materially lower," that indicates that the hatchback could start somewhere below $40,000. While that segment now has more options than ever, like the newly discounted Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Subaru Uncharted, and the Toyota bZ, there are far more EVs on sale that are more expensive.Rivian hasn't revealed much in the way of detail about the R3. We know it will be produced at the startup's upcoming Georgia factory, which is supposed to kick off production in 2028. Scaringe has said R3 sales will start with the high-performance, off-road-oriented R3X.The company has said even less about what comes after that. The R4 Scaringe mentioned will apparently cost even less than the R3, suggesting it could be a true budget EV. But what form factor it will take is still very much unknown. When Scaringe came on the Plugged-In Podcast in 2025, he said the R4 and R5 will be "a sibling set, where you have two very different vehicles that share the same platform."The vagueness is understandable. For now, the R2 is the company's top focus, and that needs to go off without a hitch for the rest of its roadmap to come into focus. Deliveries started in June, and the automaker expects the new model will let it sell up to 70,000 EVs this year, bringing it more scale than ever before. As Scaringe told me last year on the podcast: "It must go well."AdvertisementAdvertisementContact the author: [email protected]More EV News You'll EnjoyCATL's New Batteries Target American Pickups. They Could Made In The U.S.Nissan's New Rogue Is A Different Kind Of Hybrid. Here's How Much It Costs.This VW ID. Buzz Finished A 62,000-Mile World Trip With Nearly 96% Battery HealthHyundai CEO's Answer For The EV Slowdown: Build Robotaxis