Rivian R3 pricing revealed, European sales plans confirmed

Rivian shocked the world last week when everyone was expecting it to unveil the R2, and it did that, but also had a "one more thing" moment presenting the even smaller and cheaper R3. Not too many details were released about the R3 at the time, but now Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has revealed a bit more info to Top Gear.

And most importantly, the price range. Rivian wants the R3 to cost between $35,000 to $40,000. For reference, the R2's starting price is $45,000, so the R3 neatly slots below its bigger sibling.

"It's like a crossover meets an SUV, meets a hatch, meets a wagon, meets a bunch of things. We say it has the soul of a rally car", Scaringe says about the R3. What about the R3X? "We got to have a little bit of fun with R3X where it's a tri-motor, it's insane performance, there’s torque vectoring. It allows us to take the performance element of the brand and apply it in a meaningful way".

The R3 is due to begin production in 2027 though, and a lot can change in three years. Before that, the R2 should propel Rivian from an ultra niche player in the EV space to mass market adoption - or at least, that's what the company is hoping. The R2's first deliveries are scheduled for 2026.

We already knew the R2 would be launched in Europe, and the R3 will join it too: "Both models are designed at their core for both the US and Europe. We haven't said specifically when they come to Europe, we should and we need to, but we recognize how appealing they are in the European market and especially R3 really fits", Scaringe says.