Rivian CEO: R2 Failure Would Force Company Restructuring

Rivian Automotive CEO RJ Scaringe, in an interview with Wired, has laid out the stakes for the company's new R2 electric SUV, warning that its failure would force a major business restructuring. Scaringe noted that Rivian has invested billions in vertical integration—building its own software, electronics, motors, and silicon—all designed to support high-volume production. If the R2 does not succeed, the current cost structure becomes unsustainable.

Scaringe commented on the Tesla Cybertruck, calling it a niche product clearly never intended for mass market success. He also highlighted the dominance of Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y in the US EV market, calling it a sign of an underserved market. On Polestar, he said the company has not yet found the right balance of price, features, and appeal.

Rivian lost $3.6 billion in 2025 and has burned nearly $25 billion over eight years, but secured up to $5.8 billion from Volkswagen and up to $1.25 billion from Uber. The R2 will feature a Gen 2.5 autonomous system with in-house silicon capable of 1.6 trillion operations per second, though full Level 3 hands-off driving will come with later Gen 3 hardware.

Scaringe also discussed the tension between buttons and touchscreens, praising the Ferrari Luce's interior while defending Rivian's choice of touch-heavy controls with haptic wheels for software updateability. He acknowledged Rivian's high customer satisfaction but low reliability scores, attributing the latter to older data from early R1 models.