Rivian

VW Group's stake will continue to grow under the $5.8 billion joint venture with Rivian.

cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/electricvehicles/p/598348/rivian-s-r2-will-be-its-first-global-ev-and-it-s-hiding-a-cost-cutting-trick

The R2 is Rivian’s make-or-break moment, so it has to do everything right. A big part of that is slimming down the parts bin.

But it’ll be much more expensive than promised until next year.

Rivian, along with other automakers, has been under pressure to make the manual door releases easier to access. The new R2 SUV does that — here's how.

Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/10/heres-how-rivian-changed-the-rear-door-manual-release-on-the-r2/

The driver assistance software is available on Rivian's for Gen 2 R1 cars and works on 3.5 million miles of North American roads. But it doesn't slow or stop for traffic lights or stop signs.

Rivian demonstrated the progress it's made, and in the process showed just how far it still has to go to make its cars autonomous.

The EV maker will likely share more details on its upcoming AI & Autonomy Day scheduled for December 11.

The layoffs represent about 4% of Rivian's workforce. The company has made two other smaller cuts since June.

While largely ceremonial, it's an important step for a project that has dealt with a lot of uncertainty the last few years. Rivian R2 SUVs will roll off the line in 2028.

The Rivian you buy today won't be the Rivian you interact with five years from now.

Laying the groundwork for the R2 and R3

The RAD Tuner opens a new world of EV powertrain and chassis customization.

Faster than a supercar to 60, still able to rock crawl with the best of them.

The company laid off around 1% of its total workforce, or around 140 employees. It's the third round of cuts since the start of 2024.

Rivian says it will likely deliver fewer vehicles this year than previously forecasted due to President Trump’s tariffs and other regulatory changes, making it the latest automaker to be affected by the new administration’s chaotic economic policies.

Aidan Gomez, the co-founder and CEO of generative AI startup Cohere, has joined the board of EV maker Rivian, according to a regulatory filing. The appointment is the latest sign that Rivian sees promises in applying AI to its own venture while positioning itself as a software leader — and even provider — within the automotive industry.

Before RJ Scaringe founded Rivian in 2009, he had micromobility on his mind.

Camping hardware maker iKamper teamed up with Rivian to develop a special edition Skycamp Mini tent for your R1T or R1S. Unlike a lot of similar tents that only go on the roof, this one installs on the bed rack and folds away into an aerodynamical hardshell case, so it shouldn't reduce your truck's range.

Rivian said Thursday it plans to launch a hands-off version of its driver assistance system for highway driving “in a few weeks,” and an “eyes-off” version in 2026.