{"id":16350,"date":"2026-08-08T20:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T00:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/?p=16350"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:37:33","slug":"rivian-r2-acceleration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/rivian-r2-acceleration\/","title":{"rendered":"Most electric SUVs stop pulling right after 60 mph, and this 4,900-pound one kept going all the way to a 128.1 mph trap speed at the quarter mile, six clear of a Model Y Performance and level with a Porsche 911 GTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may be surprised to hear it, but I’m excited about the Rivian R2. I don’t hate all EVs, alright? Just the boring ones.<\/p>\n

And Edmunds just put one on a test track and came back with a number that made me sit up.<\/p>\n

The EV startup is basically banking on this thing. There’s a lot riding on the little guy. Rivian is targeting 65,000 to 70,000 total deliveries this year, and its own CEO has said the company only reaches per-unit profitability with the R2 doing the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n

RJ Scaringe has also been unusually honest about what went wrong with the R1T and R1S: the cars arrived before the support network did. He’s admitted that in some regions, getting a service appointment for something as minor as a rattle could take 50 days. The customer support just wasn’t there<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The R2 is the smaller, cuter one, aimed at people who want a fun weekend machine for backpacking and camping. That’s at least who it was aimed at. Our review noted<\/a> that getting it up a mountain trail took some rethinking and extra patience once things got steep.<\/p>\n

It’s still an EV, after all. Just a more capable one than most when the pavement ends.<\/p>\n

We have a winner<\/h2>\n

We’ve often compared the R2 to the Model Y<\/a>, even though the R2 is built for dirt and the Model Y is a commuter with delusions. Edmunds may have just found the place where that comparison gets interesting.<\/p>\n

They strapped their testing gear to a 2027 R2 Performance with the Launch Package and ran it. Result: 3.7 seconds to 60 mph, a tenth off Rivian’s own 3.6-second claim.<\/p>\n

Fine. Quick. Whatever.<\/p>\n

Here’s the part that actually matters. The Model Y Performance beat the R2 to 60. So did the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. But by the time all three hit the quarter mile, the Rivian had passed the Tesla and caught the Hyundai.<\/p>\n

Its trap speed was 128.1 mph. That’s about 6 mph faster than either of them, and it happens to be the same figure Edmunds recorded from a Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid.<\/p>\n

A 4,900-pound family crossover with 9.6 inches of ground clearance, crossing the quarter mile as fast as a 911. Sure. Why not.<\/p>\n

Edmunds explained why: most EVs start tapering off past 60 mph, but the R2 “just keeps pulling and building speed.”<\/p>\n

\n
\n
TESTED<\/div>\n
Quarter-mile trap speed<\/div>\n
128.1 mph<\/div>\n
Roughly 6 mph clear of the Model Y Performance and Ioniq 5 N. Matches a Porsche 911 GTS T-Hybrid.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
0-60 mph<\/div>\n
3.7 sec<\/div>\n
Edmunds-measured. Rivian claims 3.6. Edmunds clocked a Model Y Performance at 3.6.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Output<\/div>\n
656 hp<\/div>\n
And 609 lb-ft from a dual-motor AWD setup. 87.9 kWh pack, 330 miles EPA.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Launch Package price<\/div>\n
$57,990<\/div>\n
Includes lifetime Autonomy+, a 4,400-lb tow package and Launch Green paint.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

And that’s<\/em> the difference. The appeal of the 0-60 stat<\/a> is pretty shrug-worthy by now. Every EV can hit 60 in a few seconds. We get it. Meh.<\/p>\n

But most electric SUVs run out of enthusiasm right after. This one doesn’t. It also has a highway passing figure of 50 to 70 mph in as little as 1.55 seconds, which is the number that actually matters when you’re merging onto something.<\/p>\n

During all that, the R2 apparently felt more planted than the R1S thanks to its unibody platform. Edmunds did note it leans more than the Teslas, which makes sense given it sits three inches higher, but said the suspension handles the roll well.<\/p>\n

Nobody needed 656 horsepower in a compact SUV. Rivian did it anyway. I respect that enormously.<\/p>\n

OK, but the honest caveats<\/h2>\n

I’m not going to pretend this is a clean sweep, because a few things complicate the victory lap.<\/p>\n

Edmunds also ran the R2 through its real-world range test this week and got 304 miles against a 330-mile EPA rating. That beats a Model Y Performance by 11 miles, which is the fair comparison, but it trails a Model Y Long Range at 327 and gets absolutely lapped by a Chevy Equinox EV at 356.<\/p>\n

Braking distances came in fine. The skidpad number was lower than both Teslas. And the steering has been the consistent complaint in every review I’ve read, described as light and slow to respond, which is a weird pairing with this much power.<\/p>\n

Then there’s the messier stuff. Rivian just pushed the cheaper Premium and Standard trims to early 2027, so for now the only R2 you can actually buy is the expensive one. There have been quality reports during the first weeks of deliveries, including roughly 800 orders affected by bumper paint that didn’t match the body. Some buyers have had deliveries slip over transportation problems.<\/p>\n

Growing pains, sure. But the whole promise of the R2 was that Rivian had learned from the R1 launch.<\/p>\n

So has the R2 beaten the Model Y?<\/h2>\n

On the test track? For my money, yes. It loses the 0-60 by a tenth and then walks away from the Tesla for the rest of the quarter mile, with more ground clearance, more towing, and the ability to reach a trailhead without an apology.<\/p>\n

On the sales chart? Absolutely not, and it’s not close. Tesla moves more Model Ys in a single US quarter than Rivian plans to deliver of everything it builds all year.<\/p>\n

But Rivian’s numbers are moving in the right direction. Gross margin has climbed for five straight quarters, from negative 16% a year ago to positive 11% now, and the company raised its delivery guidance in July instead of quietly trimming it, which is not what a company in trouble does.<\/p>\n

The Model Y still has a faster claimed 0-60. Who cares. It’s also ugly, can’t leave the pavement, and now gets passed by a Rivian before the end of the drag strip.<\/p>\n

I know which one I’d rather park outside a trailhead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may be surprised to hear it, but I’m excited about the Rivian R2. I don’t hate all EVs, alright? … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electric-vehicles-evs","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16350"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16464,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16350\/revisions\/16464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}