Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Thursday, October 23rd.

Today on Forbes, R.J. Scorange is betting his new electric SUV will make Rivian the next Tesla.

Rivian has had a rocky time since it began selling electric vehicles in 2021.

It missed initial volume goals, leading to back-to-back years of weak sales.

Then there have been post-COVID parts shortages, inflation, and steel and aluminum tariffs.

And now, it's facing a federal administration that's no fan of EVs.

But CEO R.J. Scoringe says he's more optimistic than ever ahead of the company's next

major product launch, the R2 small electric SUV that will go head to head with Tesla's top

selling Model Y.

He told Forbes, quote, I'm very, very biased, but I think R2 is going to drive a step change

in overall EV adoption, not too different from what happened with Tesla.

Rivian is starting up production of the R2, which will be tens of thousands of dollars cheaper

and smaller than Rvian's current RSUV and R1T pickup,

with U.S. sales to begin in early 2026. It's priced from $45,000, which is below the current

average selling price for all new U.S. vehicles. Rivian will have the capacity to build

more than 160,000 R2s annually at its normal Illinois factory

that currently makes its R1 models and EDV commercial vans that Amazon and other companies use.

Aside from being priced in line with the top-selling U.S. small crossover category,

Scoringe says the R2 will stand out for both its tech inside the

cabin, 300-mile range, and ability to actually handle off-road driving. After the challenges of the

last few years, it needs to be as good as he claims, and a hit with consumers. Ed Kim, president and chief analyst for industry researcher

Auto Pacific, said that its rivians, quote, make-or-break vehicle. The R1 SUV was a big and

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