Bad news for Tesla: Rivian unveiled two cheap electric crossovers

Until a few days ago, analysts in the capital market wondered whether Rivian would be the next tram manufacturer to close its doors.

This is after it lost $5.4 billion in 2023, and in the last quarter it actually lost $43,000 on each vehicle among the 50,000 it produced, whether it's the R1T in the pickup truck version that starts at $70,000 in the US, or the R1S that costs $76,000 A dollar in the SUV version, and there is a large commercial one that is currently produced only for Amazon.

The value of the company, which at its peak reached 130 billion dollars, deteriorated in two and a half years by 90%. Among the multitude of electric car manufacturers, Rivian has a specialization in the sought-after and almost non-competitive field of electric off-road vehicles, and is one of the only start-ups that has not presented or is working on another sedan to compete with the Tesla Model 3.

On Thursday, the company from Illinois unveiled two more models, which slightly changed the attitude of The capital market towards her: since then her stock has jumped by 17.5% and she received within a day 68 thousand orders from customers who deposited 100 dollars each.

The first model is the R2. It was known that the company is working on an off-roader that will be a reduced and discounted version of the R1, and this is exactly what it presented, and at a price of 45 thousand dollars, it is very similar to the basic Tesla Model Y in the US. With a length of 4.715 meters, a width of 1.9 meters, a height of 1.7 meters and a wheelbase of 2.935 meters, the 2R is significantly smaller than the R1 and has only five seats compared to seven in its big brother.

The specification includes a base version with rear-wheel drive, and dual-drive versions with two and three engines. The company did not reveal the full specifications, but claims that all models have a range of at least 480 km, the strongest of which is 0-100 km/h in 3 seconds, and the ability to fast charge in Tesla's network in the US as well.

The driver has a dashboard screen separate from the central multimedia screen, in front there is a front trunk big enough for luggage, and the rear window opens electrically and provides direct access to the trunk, as it was in the Toyota Foraner from the 90s that was also sold in Israel. Like the big brother there is a kitchen kit as an option, and also a roof tent. The safety equipment is based on 11 cameras and 5 radars and Brevian claims that they will enable level 3 autonomous cruising, with permission to take your hands off the wheel - and also the driver's gaze. It remains to be seen if the American government will also agree. Production will only begin in 2026.

The surprise was the R3. It is based on the R2, but shorter by 12.5 cm, and won a design that is very reminiscent of the European compact cars of the 80s, especially in their rally versions. The sporty model with dual drive and three engines will be called the R3X. Rivian provided even less for both details, and just promised that the R3 versions will be several thousand dollars cheaper than the R2. The little brother will also go into production in two years.

Along the way, Rivian announced that it is freezing the construction of the new factory in Georgia and will in the meantime adapt the factory in Illinois to the production of the new models, at a rate of about 220,000 units per year. This means that its production capacity will be one-tenth of Tesla's production capacity, but even Cherivian understands that right now its goal is to survive so that it can reach the production of the two new models.

Tesla also stabilized financially and started making money only after the launch of Model 3 and Model Y.