Rivian is now ready to take the wraps off its highly-anticipated R2, which will sit below the R1T and R1S in the EV startup's lineup with a smaller footprint and lower pricing. The news comes shortly after paperwork filed by the company with the city of Laguna Beach, California revealed that the electric SUV would be launched there on March 7.

The R2 will mark the beginning of Rivian's ambitions to produce higher-volume offerings, as its estimated starting price of just $40,000 will allow the company to sell the SUV in far larger numbers than the current R1T and R1S, which sit in luxury territory with their prices of around $80,000.

Unfortunately, buyers won't be able to get their hands on the R2 until around 2026, as Rivian's factory in Georgia that will host production of the R2 is far from completion. But when production does come into full swing, the electric SUV will lead the way for a slew of other R2-based models––one of which will undoubtedly be a pickup to slot below the R1T.

As for how Rivian is faring right now, the company says it built over 57,000 vehicles last year, and delivered around 50,000. Those numbers include the brand's EDV commercial van that the company is building for Amazon, which will soon be followed by a variant oriented for smaller businesses. The bad news is that the company continues to lose thousands of dollars on each R1-based vehicle, but the R2 is coming to remedy exactly that.

Image Credits: Rivian