Rivian boss on self-driving cars: "level four is going to be here much sooner than people think" If you thought Rivian’s first act was dramatic, wait to see what CEO RJ Scaringe is cooking up next... RJ Scaringe asks as many questions as he answers. Rivian’s founder and CEO is with TG for an early drive in the new R2, on a route that skirts the company’s modernist HQ, an hour south of LA. The R2 is the smaller Rivian, the follow-up to the impressive pure electric R1 pickup and SUV. That’s succeeded where Ford’s F-150 Lightning faltered, and has proven a hit with well-heeled Musk-averse liberals in the bicoastal areas of the US. In excess of 42,000 have been sold so far. Now the R2 ramps up the ambition, spearheading Rivian’s push into Europe. It feels better than it needs to be, I venture, not quite overengineered but clearly done with care. “Where do you sense that?” Scaringe replies. In the damping, for starters, and the generally polished way it gets along the road. Dynamically it’s right up there with the likes of the new iX3, which is no mean feat given how much BMW has poured into the Neue Klasse project. Photography: Greg Pajo But Rivian’s attention to detail is everywhere. The brand message is “adventure forever”, on road and off. Scaringe talks of “brand tonality” and admires Apple in terms of how it built an entire ecosystem around its products. Rivian makes its own tents, flashlights and portable kitchens, to go with the cars. Honestly, if Apple made tents, flashlights or portable kitchens, they’d look like this. Clever, beautifully constructed, but human. Now the second act is set to begin. Production is scaling up dramatically, and a second factory in Georgia opens later this year. It’ll manufacture