Rivian R3 and R3X: Price, Specs, Battery, Motors & Release Date
The Rivian R3 and R3X are part of Rivian’s upcoming platform of smaller and more affordable vehicles, which were announced on March 7th, alongside the Rivian R2.
The R3 is a midsize crossover, designed with tighter dimensions, and an even lower price point than the R2 – which is supposed to start at $45,000 USD. Meanwhile, the R3X is the performance variant of the R3 – it's supposed to be Rivian’s tech demonstrator that is meant for vehicle enthusiasts, capable of working both on- and off-road.
Price and Specs
While pricing information for the Rivian R3 hasn’t been released just yet, industry estimates line up the starting price around $37,000 USD, and it should go up to $45,000 USD after battery and motor options. The R3X will be a bit more expensive, similar to the current R1T or R1S Quad Max Ascend trims, which have everything included. We’re estimating the R3X to be in the $50,000 to $60,000 range, depending on fit and finish. These numbers, for now, are just best guesses.
Battery Specs
We expect Rivian’s offerings to vary widely based on both the battery and motor packages. Today, Rivian offers a Standard Pack, Large Pack, and Max Pack on the R1S and R1T. For the R3, and the R2 platform in general, Rivian will launch two battery packs. The larger pack will be the one that obtains both the 300+ miles (382 km) of range and the 3-second 0-60mph acceleration on its quickest configuration. This could change in the future, but for now, this is Rivian’s plan, as they intend to offer fewer configuration options to reduce manufacturing complexity.
The R3 will also feature a structural battery based on Rivian’s new 4695 cells, which they say will offer significant improvements in both energy density and output. Rivian intends to focus its efforts on this new cell size going forward.
The R3X is only expected to be available in the top-level battery pack trim.
Motor Options
On the R1T and the R1S, Rivian offers three motor options — dual-motor AWD, tri-motor and quad-motor. However, for the R3, Rivian will be offering a single-motor (RWD), dual-motor (AWD), and tri-motor (two rear, one front) configurations for the R3. This lets Rivian reduce the R3’s starting price, making it as cost-efficient as possible.
The R3X, meanwhile, will only be offered in a tri-motor option, emphasizing performance and robustness both on and off-road.
EV Rebates and Tax Credits
It's still uncertain whether the R3 will qualify for the U.S. Federal EV Tax Credit or Canada's iZEV rebate. While the Canadian rebate is more flexible, it offers a lower value of $5,000 CAD ($3,600 USD). In contrast, the U.S. rebate, a tax credit, depends on battery material sourcing and vehicle production. Right now, we expect the R3 to qualify for the full $7,500 USD ($10,000 CAD) USD tax credit.
Charging Capabilities
One of the most important things for the R2 platform, including the R3 and R3X is the inclusion of Tesla’s NACS port and built-in Supercharger functionality. Additionally, the charge port will be moved to the rear left quarter panel – matching the location of Tesla’s NACS port. This will make it easy to fit the R2 and R3 at Tesla Supercharger stalls without blocking an adjacent spot.
The R3 and R3X will both be CCS compatible but will require a CCS-to-NACS adapter. At this point, Rivian does not intend to provide an adapter with the R2, so a third-party adapter will be required unless Rivian releases an OEM option.
Rivian has said that the R3 will be able to charge – on the right chargers – from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes. Overall, it’s a reasonable charge rate, and one that we can expect will get better as Rivian improves both the performance and software behind the new 4695 cells.
Autonomy / Self Driving
Rivian built up an entirely new autonomy hardware system with its second-generation R1 platform, including 11 cameras, 5 radars, and an updated compute unit. While they haven’t revealed the autonomy capabilities that will be included in the R2 and R3, we expect them to be on par or the same as the current 2025 R1 vehicles.
This is an upgraded autonomy package from the first-generation R1S and R1T MobilEye EyeQ4 “Mid” system. The new system uses MobilEye’s EyeQ5 High, or “MobilEye SuperVision”.
Rivian’s custom compute package also includes hardware from Nvidia, but supposedly this board will be in training mode and non-functional until Rivian launches its own autonomy solution. The MobilEye hardware will be responsible for Rivian’s autonomy features, including full-surround perception, autonomous lane changes, and highway and traffic jam assist – which is essentially an advanced highway lane-keeping assist. Rivian intends to eventually phase out the MobilEye hardware, but we’re not sure when this will happen.
We’ll be diving deep into Rivian’s Driver+, their autonomy solution, in another article soon.
Release Date
The R3 isn’t expected to begin production until 2027. The R3X is expected to launch first, as early as late 2026, or early 2027. Rivian intends to launch the R2 first, sometime in mid-2026, across North America.
A European launch is expected sometime by the end of 2026 for the R2, with deliveries in 2027. This schedule will likely follow for the R3 and R3X, with European deliveries toward the end of 2027 or early 2028.
Unlike the R2, Rivian isn’t taking reservations for the R3 and R3X yet. However, they have mentioned that current owners will be given priority over others, so if you’re interested in a future R3 or R3X at launch, you could look at Rivian’s R1T or R1S Gen 2 today.
We're incredibly excited to see Rivian's R3 and R3X in the future – they have the potential to become some of the world's best-selling vehicles.
