Not that I expected any great deals given the likely high demand, but as the R1S was $799 last month, it was a bit of a surprise to see the R2 this high.
Not a surprise at all. They want first adopters to be buyers not lessees.
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Or they’re happy to fleece the idiotic first adopter lessees.
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Someone’s gotta pay the R&D, buddy. 
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I think it’s going to be a smart move to just wait until next year when they offer the lidar with the new processor.
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Starting at $45k was quickly proven wrong lol
I would only lease EVs and was planning on looking at an R2, but a few weeks ago I figured the lease would be horrible. I was thinking $700-ish but $900+ is insane. Glad I decided to move on.
They still show a starting price of $45k on the standard rwd model, they’re just out of the gate with the fully optioned launch trim. No big shocker there.
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It wasn’t there few days ago ..I checked & it was increased to $48k…I tried playing around & could not get it to go down to 45k…but with still an year away, let’s see if they can make it
Here’s the R2 finance vs. lease comparison where I’m located (Los Angeles County), with the following assumptions for finance:
- Real-world resale value matches the 64% RV of the lease
- 4.5% APR financing for 72 months from a credit union
- Sell after 36 months
Even with the tax penalty of buying, compared to leasing where tax is only on the leased portion in CA, the effective monthly cost of financing an R2 is $961 with these assumptions versus $1,095 on a lease.
The math will swing further in favor of financing in states that tax leases on the selling price (TX, VA, MD), and of course, if you choose to keep the R2 for a longer period. Rivians tend to hold their value well.
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