Rivian R2 70-MPH Highway Range Test: Does It Live Up To The Hype?

The R2 is Rivian’s make-or-break moment. Here’s how it handled a highway range test in the Colorado mountains.

Photo by: State Of Charge

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Jul 6, at 3:23am ET

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The results of the first Rivian R2 highway range tests are here.
InsideEVs contributor and State of Charge host Tom Mouloughney drove a Launch Edition R2 in Colorado at a constant 70 mph.
The estimated range of the Rivian R2 that’s currently shipping to customers is 330 miles.

The Rivian R2 is the California startup’s most important product—it’s the key to long-term success, so it has to be excellent. The first reviews pointed out that Rivian did a bang-up job with the R2, nailing pretty much everything, but now that the first units are making their way to customers, the big question is: can this EV drive the distance?

InsideEVs contributor and State of Charge host Tom Moloughney got his hands on a customer-spec R2 Performance Launch Edition and drove it at a constant 70 miles per hour on the highway to see how far it would go.

The spec sheet claims the 87.9-kilowatt-hour battery pack in the R2 can deliver up to 330 miles of range on the combined cycle when the car is fitted with all-season tires. That figure drops to 307 miles when choosing the all-terrain tires that Rivian offers, and it reaches 276 miles when AT tires and highway-only driving are taken into consideration.

So, with all of this in mind, Tom fully charged the R2 at a Walmart DC fast charger and set off on one of Colorado’s twisty mountain highways. When doing highway range tests, it’s best to drive on a road that’s as flat as possible, but that just wasn’t the case this time, with an elevation change of about 1,800 feet during the early morning drive.

This, coupled with the stubby tires, set a pretty unforgiving stage for the R2.

At 50% state of charge, the car had traveled 130 miles, with an estimated efficiency of 2.79 miles/kilowatt-hour and an energy consumption of 47 kWh.

In the end, the R2 finished with 259.4 miles under its belt and 4 miles left on the guess-o-meter. It used 88 kWh of energy and had an average efficiency of 2.97 miles/kWh. That’s 6% less than the EPA’s highway estimate for this particular car, but still a pretty good result, considering the elevation change. On the New Jersey Turnpike, where Tom usually does his 70 mph range tests, the R2 will likely match its EPA numbers because the elevation change for that route is just 300 feet.

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The 2027 Rivian R2 Performance is powered by a pair of electric motors, one on each axle, delivering a healthy 656 horsepower and 609 pound-feet of torque. That’s a lot of power for a mid-size SUV, and it helps the R2 sprint from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.6 seconds.

Right now, the R2 costs $59,485, but more affordable versions will go on sale later this year and early next year, with Rivian quoting a starting price of $46,495 for the entry-level R2 Standard Rear-Wheel Drive model that’s due in late 2027. This version will be powered by a smaller capacity battery and will be able to deliver over 275 miles of range on a full charge, according to Rivian.