EVwire brief: Rivian's newly published 2025 Impact Report shows the R2 has already beaten the company's own 2030 carbon footprint goal, four years ahead of schedule.
The R2 Performance with Launch Package has a cradle-to-grave carbon footprint of 211 g CO2e/mi (131 g CO2e/km) over a 200,000-mile (321,900-km), 10-year functional unit, according to Rivian's companion R2 Circularity, Energy & Carbon Footprint report, which was released alongside the company’s broader 2025 Impact Report.
That's 50% lower than Rivian's R1S Launch Edition, and Rivian's 2030 goal was to get any Launch Edition vehicle's footprint down by half. Charge R2 entirely on renewable electricity, and the number drops further, to 111 g CO2e/mi (69 g CO2e/km), a further 47% cut from R2's own grid-mix baseline.
R2's sustainability numbers, per Rivian's dedicated R2 report:
Carbon footprint, grid mix: 211 g CO2e/mi (131 g CO2e/km), 50% lower than the R1S Launch Edition
Carbon footprint, 100% renewable charging: 111 g CO2e/mi (69 g CO2e/km), a further 47% cut
Battery cell carbon intensity, cradle-to-gate: 60 kg CO2e/kWh
Recycled and bio-based content: more than 550 kg (about 1,200 lb), roughly 25% of R2's mass
Weighted-average recycled content: 44% aluminum, 36% steel, 21% polymers
Raw Material Extracted: 13,100 kg (28,900 lb) mobilized for a production R2, versus 19,900 kg (43,900 lb) for a hypothetical all-virgin-material R2, a 34% cut
ICE crossover point: R2 becomes cleaner than the average 2023 gasoline vehicle somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 miles (32,200-40,200 km) of driving
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Rivian has published life-cycle carbon footprint studies of its vehicles since the original R1 line, but this is the first time it has paired the company-wide Impact Report with a standalone, model-specific deep dive, and R2 is the one it picked.
This is understandable, as R2 is Rivian's bet on volume. The vehicle quite literally carries the bulk of the company’s near-term sales and production plans. Interest in the vehicle has been healthy, with Rivian recently stating that it has already logged 150,000 test drives this year, the majority of which are for the R2.
Here’s the Rivian’s R2 report:
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Unlike some of the behavioral metrics automakers report on themselves, Rivian’s methodology has outside eyes on it. Both reports follow ISO 14040 and 14044. The R2 study was independently reviewed by Dr. Christoph Koffler and Dr. Michael Faltenbacher of Sphera, who signed off in September 2026.
Rivian also chaired the SAE J3341 task force. That disclosure framework was finalized in August 2026, and the R2 paper is the first LCA to include the J3341 addendum.
Context:
Production of R2 currently runs out of Rivian's original plant in Normal, Illinois, where the automaker is now the second-largest employer in McLean County. Rivian had invested more than $2 billion in the site by early 2024, including a 1.1-million-square-foot expansion it built specifically for high-volume R2 production.
A second plant, in Stanton Springs North, Georgia, broke ground in 2025 and is planned to add 300,000 units of annual capacity in its first phase, split between R2 and the upcoming R3.
Beyond the R2, Rivian's 2025 report shows its total Scope 1 and Scope 2 market-based emissions falling from 175,754 metric tons of CO₂e in 2024 to 135,166 metric tons in 2025. Total Scope 3 emissions also declined from 4.14 million to 3.39 million metric tons, while emissions intensity per vehicle manufactured fell from 87 to 83 metric tons of CO₂e.
Rivian's broader renewable-energy program also expanded. The company had 475 MW of renewable energy under contract in 2025, up from 237 MW in its 2023 baseline, toward a 2 GW target for 2030. Rivian says it had powered 1.33 billion miles of driving with 100% renewable energy by the end of 2025.
Here is Rivian’s general 2025 Impact Report for the full details:
Source: Rivian's 2025 Impact Report and R2 Circularity, Energy & Carbon Footprint report.
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