Rivian cuts R2 electric vehicle production costs by 50 percent

American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian has achieved a significant breakthrough in reducing the production costs of its new mass-market R2 platform. The company's management announced that R2 production costs have been reduced by more than 50 percent compared to the R1 series. This was reported by Ixbt.com xabar.

Engineers have optimized almost all of the vehicle's key components. The length of the electrical wiring has been reduced, the number of connectors has been cut by 60 percent, and the volume of high-voltage cables has been decreased by 70 percent.

The new "Maximus Drive" power unit contains 41 percent fewer parts than the "Enduro" units in current R1 models. The inverter is mounted directly onto the drive unit, simplifying the cooling system and the assembly process.

Significant savings were also achieved in the mechanical section. Switching the front suspension to MacPherson struts reduced parts by 70 percent, while the use of large casting technology for the body reduced the number of underbody components by 90 percent.

The complexity of the rear door construction was reduced by 65 percent.

CEO RJ Scaringe emphasized that this approach will allow Rivian to sell future models at a profit. The starting price for the Rivian R2 model is expected to be approximately 45,000 US dollars.