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Dan Mears, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n Rivian\u2019s entry into the Metro Detroit market at 780 East Big Beaver Road in Troy comes as it launches its most important vehicle to date: the R2 SUV aimed at the heart of the compact SUV segment, the largest in the United States.<\/p>\n It is where Tesla became a household name with its volume Model Y SUV selling 400,000 units alongside top, gas-fired sellers like the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. With the R2, Rivian \u2015 heretofore a maker of $75K-plus luxury vehicles \u2015 hopes to hit similar volumes and become a mainstream hit.<\/p>\n \u201cRivian was selling the lifestyle message and pairing their cars with the idea of adventure and off-roading because that’s a very fun-sounding use case,\u201d said California-based auto analyst Karl Brauer of iSeeCars.com. \u201cBut it’s also antithetical to what a lot of these EVs are good for, including track-focused EVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5. When you consider the (range) logistics of getting to a place that you have to go to enjoy a lifestyle event \u2015 whether a racetrack or an off-road park \u2015 that’s one of the biggest disadvantages of an EV.\u201d<\/p>\n Other EV companies not named Tesla have struggled to gain profitability. Silicon Valley-based Lucid, for example, which has thus far made critically acclaimed EVs \u2015 if low-volume ones like the Air and Gravity \u2014 recently hired AlixPartners to help get its financial house in order.<\/p>\n Tesla\u2019s Supercharger network remains the big dog, and all OEMs \u2015 including Rivian \u2015 are switching to NACS charging ports (from CCS) to take advantage of Tesla convenience.<\/p>\n