When Rivian held its R2 reveal event in March 2024, the company also unveiled two other models no one expected to see: the R3 and R3X. Due to the element of surprise, they nearly topped the R2 as the most exciting reveals from the event.
While we’re waiting for the electric SUVs to make their way off the production line and into our garages, we’re assembling everything there is to know about the R3 and R3X right here so you can learn more about the highly-anticipated EVs.
So, let’s dive into everything you need to know about the Rivian R3 and R3X.
Overview
The Rivian R3 and R3X were officially unveiled on March 7, 2024, at an event in Laguna Beach, California. The vehicle, which was a complete surprise, is the company’s take on an electric crossover, making it a direct competitor to popular gas crossovers like the Subaru Crosstrek.
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Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said that the R3, while holding true to what makes a Rivian a Rivian, will be far more accessible to customers due to a much lower cost compared to its R1 products.
“I have never been more excited to launch new products – R2 and R3 are distinctly Rivian in terms of performance, capability, and usability, yet with pricing that makes them accessible to a lot of people. Our design and engineering teams are extremely focused on driving innovation into not only the product features but also our approach to manufacturing to achieve dramatically lower costs.”
The vehicle is built on a new platform that the company will also use for its upcoming R2 electric SUV. The company says the R2 and R3 are siblings, but while the R3 and R3X are the company’s electric take on the crossover, the R2 is a mid-size SUV.
Design
The R3 and R3X are Rivian’s take on what a crossover could be as an electric vehicle and are also basically a smaller version of the R2. The two lines share a lot of the same characteristics and the same platform. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe actually calls the two “siblings.”
Side of the Rivian R3.
That said, the R3 certainly has a different design and feel on the outside of the vehicle, especially when you look at the R3X version of the vehicle. While the R3 is the base model, the R3X is the company’s performance variant that features a wider stance, beefier tires, and a higher ground clearance for better off-road capability.
Side of the Rivian R3X.
Like the R2, the R3 features a front trunk that you can use to store cargo. Rivian says that the front trunk in the R3 is slightly smaller than the one that is featured in the R1S, and while the front hood can open automatically, it needs to be closed manually.
Rear of the Rivian R3.
The rear of the vehicle stands out with a big light bar in the center of the trunk. While you can pop the back hatch of the vehicle like a normal crossover, you can also pop the rear window separately, which the company calls its “flipper glass.”
Rear of the Rivian R3X.
The interior of the R3 looks strikingly similar to the R2. It features the same steering wheel with the new haptic dials, a new display behind the steering wheel, and a new center touchscreen. It also comes packed with two glove boxes, heated and ventilated seats (all of which fold down), a center console with extra storage, and a wireless charging pad for two phones.
Interior of the Rivian R3.
The interior of the R3X breaks from the R2 and R3, offering an even more unique cabin that the company calls “Rugged Playful.” Unlike the R3’s interior, the R3X interior is much more colorful and features more ambitious materials. Check it out in all its glory:
Features
We don’t know how fast the R3 and R3X will be just yet, but Rivian says that the R2 will accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in under 3 seconds. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, the tri-motor configuration will be capable of 0-60 in “well under 3 seconds.” Using that as a reference, we suspect that the R3 and R3X will likely be even faster.
The front trunk of the Rivian R3.
We also don’t have any sense of range just yet, but we can also use the R2 for reference here as well. Rivian says that the R2 will be able to achieve a range of over 300 miles, regardless of configuration. We don’t yet know the exact range of each configuration, but we do know that you’ll need to purchase the upgraded Large battery pack to get that range of over 300 miles. The R3 will likely be in a similar position when it launches.
NACS charging port on the Rivian R3.
The R3 and R3X, like the R2, will use Tesla’s NACS (North American Charging Standard) connector. That’s not a huge surprise — Scaringe has said that all Rivian vehicles manufactured in 2025 and after will use the connector. The company is also gaining access to the Supercharger network in March 2024 with an adapter for its vehicles that still have the CCS connector. The company says the R2 will be able to charge from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes, so hopefully, the R3 will be capable of the same since it’s built on the same platform.
The R3, like the R2, will come packed with 11 cameras, five radars, and a more powerful computing platform. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says that the R2 will be capable of Level 3 Self Driving, which would let the vehicle drive with the need to have your hands on the wheel or eyes on the road. The R3 should get the same benefits.
Configurations
So far, it seems that the R3 and R3X will be available in three motor configurations:
R3: Single-Motor Rear Wheel Drive
R3: Dual-Motor All-Wheel Drive
R3X: Tri-Motor All-Wheel Drive
Rear wheel of the Rivian R3X.
The company also mentioned that the vehicle will also ship with one of two battery packs:
Standard battery pack: Expected to be around 270 miles of range
Large battery pack: Over 300 miles of range
The price will depend entirely on which motor and battery pack configuration you end up getting, and we hope to have those figures from Rivian as we get closer to the point of customers being able to reserve and configure those vehicles.
Accessories
Thankfully, it appears that the R3 and R3X will both support the same accessories as the larger R2. In fact, Rivian says that its upcoming accessories will support its entire vehicle lineup across the R1T, R1S, R2, R3, and R3X.
The first of those accessories is the Treehouse, the company’s take on a rooftop tent. According to people who attended the reveal event, the rooftop tent will be able to be climate-controlled from the vehicle. It will also feature a cooled and heated mattress, integrated lights, and even a projector to watch movies while you lay under the stars.
Rivian’s upcoming Treehouse rooftop tent.
The next accessory coming to the R3 and R3X is a new camp kitchen. Unlike the camp kitchen that slid into the Gear Tunnel of the R1T, this new camp kitchen will hook into the powered accessory ports on the back of the vehicle. The company says that will also be compatible with the R1T and R1S (and the R2 of course), but it’s unclear at this time how that will work since the earlier vehicles don’t feature accessory ports.
The other accessory highlighted by the company is the bike rack that you can use to either mount your bikes on the back of or on top of your R3 or R3X. If you use the back mounts, they will also connect to the accessory ports on the back of the R3 and will be small enough to store in the front trunk when you aren’t using them.
Rivian R3X with the company’s upcoming bike racks.
The company is also making a storage bin to hook on the back of the R3 and says more accessories are on the way. Some of those accessories will launch before the R3 does, so we’ll get a good sense of those products before we need to decide which ones to buy. We don’t know how much any of these accessories are going to cost yet.
Price
We don’t know exactly how much the R3 or R3X will cost just yet. All we know is that, according to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, the R3 will come in at an even lower base price than the R2, which has an estimated starting price of $45,000 before the federal tax credit.
Most of the speculation of the R3’s base price has it launching somewhere between $35,000 and $40,000, which seems fair since it puts it in direct competition with the Tesla Model 3. It would also put it in direct competition price-wise (as long as it qualifies for the federal tax credit) with the Subaru Crosstrek, a vehicle that Rivian seems to want to conquer.
Regardless of what the price is, the R3 could end up even more popular than the R2 due to that lower price point. We need more affordable electric vehicles, and an off-road capable crossover for $35,000 could be the ticket for a lot of people.
Release Date
We currently don’t know when the R3 and R3X will be rolling off the production line. All we know from Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is that the R3 is coming after the R2. That’s it. The R2 is expected to start deliveries in the first half of 2026, so we can hope that the R3 lineup could start delivering to customers later that year, but that seems unlikely.
I personally wouldn’t expect to see the R3 and R3X start deliveries until at least 2027, especially since, unlike the R2, the company hasn’t allowed anyone to start reservations for the vehicle. Until then, we can at least drool over the vehicle by watching the unveiling event again.
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