R2 vs Model Y 70-MPH Highway Range Test (by Out of Spec)

[R24U]

I still prefer the R2 and can't wait for delivery. We've been a EV only house with 2 EVs at a time for over 5 years and the 250ish range would have been a slight annoyance exactly once or twice in all those years. The benefits of the R2 far outweigh the slight underperformance on total range. AND TO BE HONEST, I'm not sure it would have really been that much of an annoyance on the couple very very long trips I've taken in EV's since I usually ended up at charging stations with 25% or more in the battery.

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[WoodChips]

We typically do 20% - 70% or so. I'd go lower, but our Teslas' in-car nav is notorious for over-estimating arrival SOC by at least 5%.

If I'm driving solo I am someone that makes few stops, I traditionally go 400+ miles between stopping/fueling.

Friends I know and have spoken to that have similar driving behavior told me when they switched to an EV they drive slower and make more stops resulting in a more relaxed trip and arriving more refreshed. That sounds good and all but it only works when you have the time. Say you're going for a quick weekend trip that's 500 miles away, leave Friday after work and return Sunday. I'm probably over thinking it but adding another hour to a trip after working 10-12 hours feels a bit much.

But then again I'm getting tired of this whole work thing and might just tell my boss I'm done with it all.

I had to pick up my R1T from Minneapolis when I first got it, and drive it home to Charlotte. That is about a 1200 mile trip, I took a buddy up there with me, we played golf and swapped back and forth on drving, it was his first time driving an EV. We basically stopped about every 2 hours, just to pop out, hit the bathroom grab a drink/snack. Almost everytime we were getting finished with what ever we were doing at the stop the truck was ready to go. It only take about 10/12 mins to add 150 miles and that was on the R1T, the R2 seems to charge much better. I guess we will see how it all goes. I just took the R2 on a trip yesterday up to the mountains in NC, Boone area to play golf and back to Charlotte, 242 miles round trip, and pulled into the garage last night with 57 miles left, so assuming that 57 is correct - I would of gotten about 299 on a full charge. That will work great for me to visit my daughter at college and back home without having to ever even charge the R2 up.

As a daily driver the range isn't a worry, I could get by with the electric Mini but for a vehicle being sold as an adventure vehicle I would like to know I can drive into the mountain, go for a hike and still get home.

242 range for such adventures I can live with but 150-170 is too low. I guess wait for more information and see what can be done to stretch the range as much as possible.

 

[mic-chris]

Disappointing when compared to the "Model Y", but, alas, I still prefer the R2 and can't wait for delivery. We've been a EV only house with 2 EVs at a time for over 5 years and the 250ish range would have been a slight annoyance exactly once or twice in all those years. The benefits of the R2 far outweigh the slight underperformance on total range. AND TO BE HONEST, I'm not sure it would have really been that much of an annoyance on the couple very very long trips I've taken in EV's since I usually ended up at charging stations with 25% or more in the battery.

I fixed your post for you. No reason to create hate speech.

 

[Dark-Fx]

It seems to have passed without comment that the 20" A/Ts are getting substantially better mileage than the 21" A/S tires according to Rivian Roamer data. Small samples, and perhaps the car configuration isn't being updated when drivers switch tires/wheels, but the pattern is the opposite of what the EPA numbers suggest they should be.

Do the Scorpions suck or are the BFGs better than anticipated? Or is it just that the people with A/S tires are driving faster and negating the range benefits?

You apparently can't change your tire selection on RR without subscribing. My car came with 21" wheels but they came off after the first few days. I've also got a bunch of stuff on the roof now, and drive fast on the highway. If my mileage is being included in those numbers, it's going to cause it to trend down quite a bit.

I'd somewhat expect people with the 21"s to drive more aggressively overall, and they're still in "new car mode"

 

[gecko10x]

As a daily driver the range isn't a worry, I could get by with the electric Mini but for a vehicle being sold as an adventure vehicle I would like to know I can drive into the mountain, go for a hike and still get home.

242 range for such adventures I can live with but 150-170 is too low. I guess wait for more information and see what can be done to stretch the range as much as possible.

We are also getting for an adventure vehicle. Keep in mind that you should get significantly better mileage getting to a trailhead as in most cases you're not going to average 70mph to the trailhead.

 

[WoodChips]

We are also getting for an adventure vehicle. Keep in mind that you should get significantly better mileage getting to a trailhead as in most cases you're not going to average 70mph to the trailhead.

That's a good point. Though with the smoke in my area we're having to go farther each weekend.

 

[DaveA]

If I'm driving solo I am someone that makes few stops, I traditionally go 400+ miles between stopping/fueling.

Friends I know and have spoken to that have similar driving behavior told me when they switched to an EV they drive slower and make more stops resulting in a more relaxed trip and arriving more refreshed. That sounds good and all but it only works when you have the time. Say you're going for a quick weekend trip that's 500 miles away, leave Friday after work and return Sunday. I'm probably over thinking it but adding another hour to a trip after working 10-12 hours feels a bit much.

But then again I'm getting tired of this whole work thing and might just tell my boss I'm done with it all.




As a daily driver the range isn't a worry, I could get by with the electric Mini but for a vehicle being sold as an adventure vehicle I would like to know I can drive into the mountain, go for a hike and still get home.

242 range for such adventures I can live with but 150-170 is too low. I guess wait for more information and see what can be done to stretch the range as much as possible.

R2 charging breaks will stop you from getting a DVT. Lol. 400 miles and 5-6 hours between stops? R2: For your health

 

[iamnid]

Uh THIS is what ppl are doing with the r2 and the A/S scorpion tires.

That particular R2 was configured with the 20s. (They swapped in 21s for testing). If that particular vehicle is part of Rivianroamer's stats, it's probably misidentified as having the 20s it was factory configured with. That might affect the current stats.

 

[NeverFollow]

...the 250ish range would have been a slight annoyance exactly once or twice in all those years.

On weekends, I often drive to scenic spots to enjoy hiking or mountain biking on the trails.

In such cases, since I need to return to the location where I last charged, my usable driving range is effectively half of the vehicle's total range.

For instance, if I charge the battery to 90% and return with 10% remaining, assuming a total range of 250 miles, my actual usable range works out to approximately 100 miles (250 miles × 80% × 1/2).

It would be incredibly helpful if that driving range could be extended further.

 

[iamnid]

Would an EV released in 2026 make your shopping list if it was priced over $50K, with an EPA range of less than 300 miles?

Yes, it absolutely would.

I've been driving EVs long enough now (only about 6 years) to know that as long as the range is enough for me to drive about 2-3 hours on the highway, it's plenty. I'm not worried in the slightest about the R2s range - I'm not ever going to drive 300+ miles without stopping.

High advertised range numbers are for people who are new to EVs and are worried they'll have range anxiety and/or for edge cases where people do a lot of road trips in one of the few charging deserts that still remain.

250 miles of actual highway range is perfectly acceptable to me and is about what the rated range is of my current R1S standard.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Here's the thing: all EVs released in 2026 are eggs. R2 is the only brick box. I want brick box.

 

[Zorg]

I suspect that this won't impact sales a whole lot. Vehicle is cool and useful enough overall that people gonna buy it.

 

[thomasoris]

Results:

Test Overview & Methodology [00:22]

• Standard Test Protocol: Both vehicles were charged to 100%, set to recommended cold tire pressures (42 psi), put in their most efficient driving modes (Conserve Mode for R2; Chill Mode for Model Y), and driven at a constant 70-mph GPS speed along a flat, tree-lined highway (US-64) until they could no longer maintain 70 mph [00:29], [12:04], [18:28].
• Distance Accuracy: Because both vehicles’ odometers were slightly optimistic, the team calibrated the final mileage figures using a ground-truth reference vehicle (Porsche Cayenne) [01:02:20].

Detailed Behavior & Key Findings
1. Rivian R2 Performance

• Performance Curve: Maintained speed normally down to 5% battery, at which point power output began derating slightly [41:58].
• Shutdown: Reached 0% range display at ~250 miles [44:06]. It ran an additional ~5 miles into its bottom buffer before entering "Turtle Mode" and dropping below 70 mph at 253 real-world miles [46:13].
• Battery Discharge: Outputted 89.3 kWh, which is slightly higher than Rivian's official claim of 87.9 kWh usable capacity [01:01:17].

2. Tesla Model Y Performance

• Performance Curve: Drove roughly 18 miles past the point where the R2 ran out of battery [41:00]. It hit 0% range display right at 300 miles [54:12].
• Shutdown: At 317.8 miles indicated (310.1 miles adjusted), the vehicle displayed a sudden "Unable to drive" warning and cut motive power directly while maintaining 70 mph [55:44], [57:37].
• Efficiency: Achieved an impressive 3.77 mi/kWh despite having wider 275 mm rear tires [01:06:28].

3. Rivian R1S (Dual Motor Max Pack Benchmark)

• Travelled 358.6 miles—over 100 miles farther than the R2—due to its significantly larger battery pack [01:08:38].
• Efficiency was fairly close to the R2 (2.62 mi/kWh vs. 2.83 mi/kWh), showing that the smaller R2 is not substantially more aerodynamic or energy-efficient than its larger sibling at 70 mph highway speeds [01:09:19].

Main Takeaways & Discrepancies [01:07:04]

• The EPA Gap: On paper, the Rivian R2 advertises 24 miles more range than the Tesla Model Y (330 mi vs. 306 mi). In real-world 70-mph testing, the Tesla went 57 miles farther than the Rivian R2 [01:07:19].
• Manufacturer Calibration Differences: The hosts emphasized that this discrepancy stems from how manufacturers run EPA test cycles. Tesla tends to voluntarily under-rate or choose cycles that reflect highway cruising, while Rivian chose a cycle setting (and conserve mode offsets) that maximizes the advertised EPA sticker number [01:04:51].
• Aerodynamics: The R2's boxier "brick-like" body shape creates higher wind resistance at 70 mph compared to the streamlined shape of the Model Y [01:01:48].

If we are doing a 100% highway test, I'd also like to see a 100% city driving test. Then at least we would have ALL the information, not just cherry picked data.

 

[SANZC02]

Just from a trip mechanics standpoint, if you road trip a lot and your legs are that short and predicable and charging infrastructure is reliable you’d be better off from a speed of journey standpoint to let SOC get much lower between legs, and charge from a low SOC each time and then if you want more SOC at destination doing the longer charge at the last charging stop..

I agree, I have nav set to 10% arrival, I find both Tesla and Rivian navs are very good at destination arrival percent. I just plug in the address for my next charger when I start charging and let the vehicle tell me when it is good to go.

I also find the charging infrastructure to be very reliable for me. In hundreds of charges around the country, I only remember one time needing to go to a different location to charge.

 

[yesimahuman]

My immediate reaction yesterday was pretty severe disappointment, but having slept on it I think what I'm most disappointed in is not the car itself but Rivian trading on vastly overinflated efficiency and range numbers, instead of just being honest about the range. RJ is in many interviews bragging about efficiency numbers that just don't match reality. This has impacted a lot of things, including ABRP that has the stock R2 performance reference consumption at something like ~3.34 mi/kWh instead of the ~2.88 mi/kWh from this test.

I already left one brand that had a CEO always over-promising and bending the truth, and I'm just frustrated seeing RJ doing the same. I'm still buying the car, as this won't realistically impact my trips at all as I'll stop for the same charging stops. I just won't be likely to attempt my ~240 mi regular trip without charging like I can in my R1T.

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