There have been reports of Rivian pulling the Dual Standard configuration from the R1. Rivian officially confirmed this in an email to customers titled “Dual Standard is ending.” Currently, the Dual Standard configuration R1T starts at $72,990. The R1S Dual Standard starts at $76,990. If you remove the Dual Standard configuration now, the R1T starts at $79,990 and the R1S starts at $83,990 — a $7,000 increase across the board.
Rivian is also offering a final lease incentive to clear inventory: a 2026 R1 Dual Standard can be leased starting at $749/month for 36 months, with $3,000 off the lease. However, leases must be approved by March 19 and vehicles delivered by March 31, 2026.
Now, there are many reasons why this is happening. One of the big reasons is that owners like Kyle Conner from Out of Spec have had battery issues with the LFP pack. Specifically, Kyle reported his battery dropping from 4% to 0% suddenly, stranding him — and he confirmed the battery had been fully charged before the drive, ruling out a simple calibration issue. He’s done a video on it, and many others have shared similar issues. Rivian has been contacting affected owners and advising them to charge to 100% regularly to help the battery recalibrate, but months later, the issue has not been fully resolved across the fleet — even on vehicles running the latest software updates. This suggests the problem isn’t something that can be fixed with an over-the-air update alone.
I also have some other theories about why they are doing this. Is it because they want to simplify manufacturing by offering fewer configurations, especially with the R2 nearing delivery? Are they having difficulty sourcing the LFP battery — worth noting that the LFP pack is assembled overseas and shipped as a module to Normal, IL, meaning it doesn’t qualify for the federal EV tax credit? Or maybe they no longer want to offer the LFP battery pack, even with the R2?
Is the price difference between a fully loaded R2 too close to the starting price of the R1? At the time of writing, Rivian has not fully announced pricing for the R2. The full reveal — including pricing, options, trim configurations, and the launch of the online configurator — is happening on March 12, 2026, at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Based on a leaked Ars Technica article that was briefly published and then pulled at Rivian’s request, the R2 Launch Edition (Performance trim) is set to start at $57,990, plus a $1,495 delivery charge. This would be the dual-motor AWD version with a 656 hp powertrain, an 87.9 kWh battery, and approximately 330 miles of range. It’s worth noting that Rivian has also quietly removed the original “$45,000 starting price” language from their R2 website ahead of the reveal, signaling the base price will likely be higher than initially announced when the R2 was first revealed in March 2024. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit that existed at the time of that original announcement has since been eliminated, which complicates the pricing picture further.
If you look at the price difference between the Model Y and the Model X — the new Model Y Performance starts at $57,490 (note: prices including destination fees are slightly higher at $59,130) while the 2026 Model X starts at $99,990 — the difference is about $42,500. Previously, the Model X used to start at $79,990, so there’s now a much clearer pricing gap between the two vehicles. If the leaked R2 pricing is accurate, the Launch Edition at $57,990 would sit about $22,000 below the R1S Dual at $79,990 — a similar relative gap to what used to exist between the Model Y and Model X before Tesla widened it. Is it safe to assume Rivian is following Tesla’s playbook with its pricing strategy?
I have a Day One reservation for the R2. I’m excited for this vehicle, but since picking up the R1S and the Model Y Juniper, I’m not so sure anymore. I’m happy and satisfied with both vehicles. We’ll see — pricing and more information are being announced by Rivian on March 12th, at SXSW.
Check out the first time I saw the Rivian R2 at Rivian Space in Pasadena.
What do you think about Rivian pulling the Dual Standard? Smart move or a mistake? Drop your thoughts in the comments below. And if you have a Day One R2 reservation, I’d love to know — are you still holding onto it after today’s pricing reveal? Subscribe to stay updated as we continue covering the R2 launch and everything Rivian in 2026.
