The battery blitz in America continues and the newest beneficiary of that is the upcoming Rivian R2.
Rivian just inked a battery supply deal with Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution (LGES) for its next-generation R2 model that’s set to launch in the second half of this decade. The Irvine, California-headquartered automaker showcased the R2 electric SUV—which looks like a baby R1S—in March and is now inching closer to bring that model to market.
LGES said on Thursday that it will provide Rivian with its advanced 4695 cylindrical cells for over five years, with a capacity totaling 67 gigawatt-hours. The new cell type has a diameter of 46 millimeters and is 95 mm tall, the battery maker said in a press release. It will feature six times the capacity of the existing 2170 cylindrical cells.
Your question sounds similar to one asked in the stock market. When is the right point of entry? If I was not an EV owner, I wouldn’t worry too much about this. The tech will continually evolve, and if you just keep working you’ll run the risk of never getting what you want.
I think the best approach is to see what your needs are and then see if something in the market meets those needs. If it does, pull the trigger. It will absolutely happen that some amount of time will pass and there will be a better deal, but you will likely still have your needs met.