Electric Vehicles

When a silver Rivian R3 prototype rolled on stage during the automaker’s R2 reveal event on March 7, the audience’s eyes sparkled and jaws dropped, followed by cheerful whistling and whooping. Few other EVs have triggered such enthusiastic reactions in recent memory.

For car nerds, the pint-sized, angular hatchback was an ode to legendary rally names like the Lancia Delta Integrale. For regular people, the message was clear: An affordable yet highly desirable Rivian is on its way.

The R2 will start at $45,000, so the R3 is estimated to fall in the $30,000-40,000 price range. At that price, the R3 would compete with the next-gen Chevrolet Bolt EV, the Kia EV3, and potentially an affordable Tesla, among others.