Rivian has been telling people the R2 matches Tesla Model Y efficiency, and Out of Spec went out to check. The video plays back the source of the claim, comments from a Rivian executive at an R2 media event describing the R2 as being as efficient as a Model Y on a watt hours per mile basis despite its shape and capability. Out of Spec then ran a Rivian R2 Performance and a Tesla Model Y Performance side by side on the same day at 50, 60, 70 and 80 mph, plus a low speed city simulation. Every tire was set to 42 psi with the same gauge, climate control was matched at 68 degrees, and the cars swapped positions between legs to cancel out drafting. The R2 used more energy in every single test.
The explanation Out of Spec offers for the original claim is a testing one. Reading the EPA documentation, the presenter says the R2 appears to have been certified on the full five cycle test while the Model Y went through a shorter procedure that is then derived into a five cycle equivalent, and he is careful to say he is not an EPA rating expert and cannot certify that reading. If that is right, the combined figures being compared were never produced the same way. This matters beyond these two cars, because buyers routinely compare EPA range numbers across brands as though they came off the same equipment. Worth keeping in perspective: the R2 is being measured here against one of the most efficient electric SUVs on sale, and Out of Spec says so repeatedly on camera. We covered the same channel's 80 mph range and charging run in the R2 yesterday, where the charging performance was the standout.
The numbers are consistent enough to be boring, which is the point. Out of Spec reports the R2 using roughly 18 percent more energy than the Model Y at 50 mph, around 26 percent more at 60, about 20 percent more at 70 and roughly 26.5 percent more at 80 over the longest and cleanest loop of the day. The city simulation was supposed to be the R2's best chance, since its front motor decouples with a clutch and the Model Y spins an induction motor it cannot fully disconnect, but the video puts consumption at 1.6 kWh for the Model Y against 1.9 kWh for the R2 over the same low speed loop, about 25 percent apart. Because the two speedometers and odometers disagreed slightly, the comparison was run on kilowatt hours consumed rather than the in car efficiency readouts, which is the more defensible choice.
The controls are worth spelling out, because efficiency tests usually fall apart on the details. Both cars started at effectively the same state of charge after sitting long enough to reach ambient battery temperature, both ran climate control at the same setting with rear vents off and two people aboard, and the R2 was left in its Conserve mode while the Model Y ran Chill. Speeds were matched to GPS rather than to the speedometers, which read differently in each car. The two vehicles alternated leading and following on every leg and held a wide gap to avoid drafting. The R2 in the test had roughly 1,000 miles on it and the Model Y just over 2,000, which Out of Spec acknowledges is a small advantage to the Tesla. The presenter also notes he could not eliminate the difference between how each manufacturer calculates consumption internally, which is the honest limit on any test run without charger side metering.
Bottom line: Rivian should stop making this specific claim. Not because the R2 is inefficient, because it plainly is not for a tall box with real capability, but because the comparison invites a test that the car cannot pass and a channel with a stopwatch will always run it. Efficiency was never why anyone was going to buy an R2 over a Model Y. Space, ground clearance, the way it looks and the way it charges are. Sell those. Marketing a number that a side by side afternoon can disprove just hands your competitor a headline.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.