Finance vs. Lease the R2 -- the math

Katsudon · 2026-06-09T07:54:49-0700

Financing vs. Lease math - by @travisketchum

If you're weighing lease vs finance for the R2, the numbers tell you everything you need to know.

Financing can save you $8,836 over a 36 month term.

Rivian R1T R1S Finance vs. Lease the R2 -- the math HKYR5RQaMAA2F9q

R2D2TOO · 2026-06-09T08:15:18-0700

Or - just pay cash. Maybe.

Ajax · 2026-06-09T08:46:05-0700

We can't predict the sale price 3 years out—guessing it's likely to drop quite a bit, affecting potential equity. Maybe this is built in to the calculations, but by 2029 there will likely be a newer+nicer R2 that could make 2026 R2s drop like a rock in price.

New cars are never a good investment and shouldn't be considered as such IMO. More about mitigating losses. If financing is your best route, go for it, but if you upgrade regularly or are worried about early adoption issues (this is the first R2 ever, keep in mind), leasing may be a better bet. Your mileage may vary!

DuoRivian · 2026-06-09T08:47:12-0700

The gap is large even if the residual drops down. The current leasing, as expected, is not competitive.

ribuck97 · 2026-06-09T09:19:26-0700

Payment: $829
Depreciation: $442

Rent Charge: $387 (Steep at 10+%)

R1SEnthusiast · 2026-06-09T09:56:09-0700

Torn. On one hand saving $8K with financing is great. On the other, you are taking a risk with LiDar coming out, uncertain EV markets, etc. even after 3 years EV technology would be outdated yet again.

Crazy to think that I leased my 2024 Gen R1S Quad 2 years ago for $929/mo pre-tax, 36 mo/10K yr, and $0 down (plus first months payment + fees). The R2 performance lease will be more than that.

RivAW · 2026-06-09T10:17:04-0700

Katsudon said:
Financing vs. Lease math - by @travisketchum

If you're weighing lease vs finance for the R2, the numbers tell you everything you need to know.

Financing can save you $8,836 over a 36 month term.

Your numbers are off.
At least according to the Rivian website, if you configure to a price of $60,990, then the lease is estimated at $877/months with $5772 due at signing (taxes being variable by state).

Eric9610 · 2026-06-09T10:37:32-0700

RivAW said:
Your numbers are off.
At least according to the Rivian website, if you configure to a price of $60,990, then the lease is estimated at $877/months with $5772 due at signing (taxes being variable by state).

He calculated it at $0 down and just drive offs due at signing for the lease.

DuoRivians · 2026-06-09T10:44:59-0700

None of this is financially attractive

MaskedRacerX · 2026-06-09T10:52:32-0700

Ajax said:
We can't predict the sale price 3 years out—guessing it's likely to drop quite a bit, affecting potential equity. Maybe this is built in to the calculations, but by 2029 there will likely be a newer+nicer R2 that could make 2026 R2s drop like a rock in price.

New cars are never a good investment and shouldn't be considered as such IMO. More about mitigating losses. If financing is your best route, go for it, but if you upgrade regularly or are worried about early adoption issues (this is the first R2 ever, keep in mind), leasing may be a better bet. Your mileage may vary!

100%. There's a lot more than just math involved in this (time costs for a resale for example).

ribuck97 · 2026-06-09T10:54:40-0700

leasing... no. interpret it as an attempt to take advantage of the recent push or quasi-advice to "lease an EV" coupled with an expected high demand vehicle.

Also keep in mind the fact that Rivian is losing money by "including" the Autonomy+, Tow, and key fob in the LE. If you assume $3600 value, you are taking away $100/mo and the lease payment is then $729/mo. Nothing is "free"...

Oh... also Rivian could have used the "Reservation" system "Current Lease Info" to estimate a percentage of customers to lease to set the price.

mkg3 · 2026-06-09T11:03:58-0700

MaskedRacerX said:
100%. There's a lot more than just math involved in this (time costs for a resale for example).

And that the battery technology is on the cusp of huge energy density change. There are at least two solid state battery companies scaling up for high volume production (QuantumScape - backed by VWG, and Factorial - backed by MB). Chinese CATL is pretty much there.

If I were interested in R2, leasing is th only logical thing from my perspective. Not only the statement above, it is a first generation of R2 (don't care if Rivian call it gen 3 vehicle). This would mean that there will be plenty of first of its kind types of issues and problems.

I would do a 2 year lease and treat the payment same as a utility, albeit very high utility.

Count Orlok · 2026-06-09T11:04:59-0700

R2D2TOO said:
Or - just pay cash. Maybe.

the only way

dleepnw · 2026-06-09T11:10:16-0700

Definitely not liking the residual for the R2 at $38070. Was thinking of leasing the R2 while I wait for the R3X but not sure it makes financial sense.

ribuck97 · 2026-06-09T11:16:25-0700

The more I think about it, the more I ffirmly believe the lease price was set purposely to ensure inclusion of Autonomy+ in ALL R2 deliveries. The take rate of Autonomy+ on leases would probably be low and thats not what Rivian needs for future growth.

Finance vs. Lease the R2 -- the math

Katsudon

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R2D2TOO

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Ajax

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ribuck97

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