A Tesla Model Y Just Humiliated the Rivian R2 in a Range Test. On a Smaller Battery.

A side-by-side highway range test has the Rivian R2 finishing well behind the Tesla Model Y, even though the R2 carries the higher EPA rating of the two. The test was run by Out of Spec Reviews, which drives vehicles at a steady 70 mph from full charge until they stop, and both cars were dual motor performance trims running together in the same conditions.

On paper the R2 should have won comfortably. It is rated at 330 miles versus 306 for the Model Y, a 24 mile advantage. In the actual test the 2027 Rivian R2 managed 253 miles, roughly 77 per cent of its rating. The Model Y went 310.1 miles, slightly beating its own EPA number at 101.3 per cent. That leaves the R2 finishing 57 miles behind a car it was supposed to beat.

The efficiency numbers explain the gap. The Model Y pulled 82.2 kWh from a smaller pack and returned about 3.77 miles per kWh once the testers corrected for its speedometer, which reads roughly 2.5 per cent optimistic and was checked against a Porsche Cayenne used as a ground truth reference. The R2 drew 89.3 kWh from a larger pack and managed 2.83 miles per kWh. So the Tesla travelled farther on less energy.

Out of Spec looked for explanations and did not find much. The weather was warm and clear, all vehicles held 70 mph without breaking, and each car took a turn leading. They also checked whether the R2’s universal hands-free driving system was draining the pack, and found it peaks at 200 watts, which even running flat out would account for less than two miles of range. Rivian has seen the results, reportedly pulled logs from the test vehicle, and has not disputed anything.

The stranger data point came when they compared the R2 to Rivian’s own R1S. The larger dual motor Max Pack R1S, rated at 410 miles and carrying about 25,000 miles of wear, covered 358.6 miles at 2.62 miles per kWh. That is more than 100 miles farther than the R2, at nearly identical efficiency, from a vehicle that is considerably bigger and heavier. You would expect the smaller R2 to be noticeably more efficient than its big sibling, and it is not.

The bigger point the testers land on is that this is less a Rivian problem than a rating problem. Automakers can choose between different EPA test cycles, which means two vehicles with published range figures can be measured in ways that are not comparable. Tesla appears to test conservatively and beats its number in the real world, while Rivian appears to chase the highest advertised figure. Buyers comparing 330 against 306 on a window sticker have no way of knowing they are looking at results from different procedures.

As for what R2 owners can expect, the takeaway was that 253 miles will be fine for plenty of people but is not the 300 miles of real world range some buyers want from a single do-it-all vehicle. Push the speed to 80 mph or add winter weather, and the testers expect that figure to drop toward the low 200s.