The Rivian R2 is finally here, so we're starting to see real-world testing.
The Out of Spec YouTube channel put the EV through its "10% challenge."
They found the R2 charges impressively quickly, but its highway efficiency is worse than the Tesla Model Y Performance.
Rivian's decision to stick with 400-volt battery architecture for the new R2 might have raised some eyebrows when it was first announced. Since many high-end EVs have switched to 800-volt architectures, the R2 seemed to lag behind despite being among the newest EVs on the market. But a new test shows the R2 is a charging beast.
Kyle Conner from Out of Spec Studios recently put the Rivian R2 to the charging test as part of his "10% challenge." The test is designed to determine an EV's road-trip abilities. The idea of the challenge is to replicate a quick 15-minute charge stop at 10% state-of-charge, and then see how far an EV can go on the highway before it hits a 10% SOC again. So it's a fast-charging and highway-efficiency evaluation rolled into one.
