How to Spot an EV Worth Your Money Today
The Inside EVs Podcast with RJ Scaringe | February 13, 2026
If you’re shopping for an electric SUV or truck right now, you’ve probably noticed something frustrating: there are maybe three genuinely great options under $50,000 in the entire United States. Everything else either costs a fortune, compromises on range, or simply doesn’t deliver the experience you’re hoping for.
Most coverage of the EV market focuses on quarterly sales numbers, tax credit drama, or which manufacturer is losing the most money per vehicle. That misses what actually matters to you as a buyer: Which EVs are worth your money today, and which companies are building the vehicles you’ll actually want to own in five years?
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has spent the last 16 years answering exactly those questions—first as an MIT-trained engineer with a dream, now as the leader of a company selling the best-selling premium electric SUV in America. In a wide-ranging conversation on The Plugged In Podcast, Scaringe revealed what’s actually working in EVs right now, where the industry is heading, and exactly what you should be looking for when you’re ready to make the switch.
Here are the five critical lessons from someone who’s already won over tens of thousands of EV buyers—and what they mean for you.
What Makes an EV Worth Buying Today?
A great EV succeeds not because it’s electric, but because it’s exceptional. The vehicles worth your money combine genuine capability (off-road performance, towing, storage) with driving dynamics that beat comparable gas vehicles, all wrapped in thoughtful design that makes daily life easier. If the primary selling point is “it’s electric,” keep looking.
1. Why Most EV Advice Gets It Completely Wrong
You’ve heard the arguments: EVs are too expensive, charging infrastructure isn’t ready, the technology keeps changing. Scaringe has a different take, and it’s backed by real data from over 100,000 Rivian owners.
The problem isn’t EVs. The problem is mediocre EVs.
“There’s a single huge market share dominant player,” Scaringe notes, referring to Tesla’s roughly 50% hold on the U.S. EV market. “We really need choice. The Model Y is a great vehicle, but we need to have a wide choice. Ideally there’s three or four or five or six or ten other great choices in order to draw in the other 92% of buyers who aren’t buying electric today.”
What this means for you: When you test-drive an EV, you’re not just evaluating whether it’s electric. You’re evaluating whether it’s genuinely better than the gas alternatives at the same price point. If it’s not, skip it. The market is finally producing vehicles that don’t ask you to compromise.
2. The $45,000 Question: What You’ll Actually Get From Rivian’s R2
Rivian’s upcoming R2 SUV—starting at $45,000—represents the single most important EV launch of the next 18 months. Here’s what Scaringe revealed about what you can actually expect:
“The cost on the vehicles… is less than half of R1. And the bill of materials is about half of R1. So it’s about 80% the size of an R1, but well under half the cost. What that allows is a price point where the price-to-value ratio is really strong.”
But here’s the practical reality for buyers: Like the R1 before it, most R2s will sell for above the base price. Scaringe was candid about this:
“Our average selling price of an R1 is around 90, meaning customers end up buying higher spec. We think not to that degree, but a similar phenomenon will exist on R2 where your average selling price is going to be a bit higher than 45.”
The competition isn’t what you think. Scaringe doesn’t see R2 as primarily competing with other EVs:
“The vast majority of what folks are going to be considering as an alternative… are going to be ICE vehicles, all priced at very similar levels. The average transaction price of a new car in the United States is around just under $50,000.”
That means R2 is competing with:
- Jeep Grand Cherokees ($39,000-$60,000)
- Toyota RAV4s ($28,000-$38,000)
- Honda CR-Vs ($29,000-$36,000)
- Subaru Outbacks ($28,000-$42,000)
- Ford Broncos ($34,000-$60,000)
Why this matters for your buying decision: When you cross-shop an EV against gas vehicles, you’re not comparing apples to oranges anymore. You’re comparing vehicles that should stand on their own merits. The electric powertrain becomes a bonus, not the main event.
3. The EV Pickup Truck Myth That’s Costing Buyers
If you’re considering an electric truck, you’ve probably assumed they’re all competing for the same customer. Scaringe revealed why that assumption is wrong—and why it matters for your purchase.
“The R1T, we made a whole series of design decisions… The first was that this is not a work truck. That’s a huge decision.”
Here’s what that means in practice:
| Truck Type | Primary Use Case | Key Features | Who Actually Buys It |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifestyle Truck (Rivian R1T) | Weekend adventures, sports equipment, daily driver | Air suspension standard, shorter bed to fit in garages, sports car acceleration | Cross-shops with sports cars, not work trucks |
| Work Truck | Job sites, towing heavy loads regularly | Longer bed, higher payload capacity, simpler suspension | Commercial customers, tradespeople |
| Full-Size Traditional Truck | Daily driving plus occasional towing/hauling | Maximum size, traditional bed lengths, variety of trims | Broad market, but rarely cross-shops with R1T |
The numbers back this up: “The number of people that are surprising, but a high cross-shop product with an R1T more so than R1S is a sports car,” Scaringe said. “People are looking at it as a weekend vehicle. It’s my fun thing. And I’m going to buy a sports car or I’m going to get this car that’s faster than the sports car, but it also can carry my surfboards and all my gear.”
What this means for you: If you’re in the market for an electric truck, ask yourself honestly how you’ll use it. If you need a dedicated work truck, the options are different than if you want a lifestyle vehicle that happens to have a bed. Don’t let comparison tests that pit a diesel GMC against an R1T fool you—those customers rarely overlap in the real world.
4. The Technology That Actually Matters (Beyond 0-60 Times)
EV discussions often devolve into spec-sheet comparisons: range, acceleration, charging speed. Scaringe pointed to something far more important for your long-term ownership experience: the underlying software architecture.
Here’s the problem with most traditional vehicles:
| Architecture Type | How It Works | Real-World Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Domain-Based (Most Legacy Automakers) | Hundreds of tiny computers, each running isolated software written by different suppliers, communicating over slow networks | Difficult to update, expensive to maintain, features are locked at factory |
| Zonal Architecture (Rivian, Tesla, Chinese EVs) | Few powerful central computers running unified software, modern networking | Over-the-air updates improve vehicle over time, faster feature development, lower cost |
Scaringe described the old approach vividly: “A field without seeds, just a system of weeds. It’s all these little computers popping up. Nothing’s architected as a system.”
Why this matters for your next car purchase: The vehicle you buy today should improve over time. If the automaker can’t update the software meaningfully because they’d have to coordinate with five different suppliers to change a single feature, your car will feel dated in three years. If they’ve built a modern architecture, your car will feel fresh in five.
This isn’t theoretical—it’s why Rivian just signed a $5.8 billion deal with Volkswagen Group to provide this technology across their brands, from $22,000 ID.1 city cars to flagship Porsches and Audis.
The buyer’s checklist:
- Can the vehicle get meaningful over-the-air updates (not just navigation maps)?
- Does the automaker have a track record of adding features after sale?
- Is the interface responsive, or does it feel like a tablet from five years ago?
5. The Autonomous Future: What’s Real, What’s Hype, and When You Can Stop Paying Attention
Self-driving technology has been “five years away” for a decade. Scaringe offered the most grounded timeline yet from a major automaker, based on Rivian’s complete rewrite of their approach.
“We’re at the precipice of starting to see the delivery of now capabilities that map to all this infrastructure we built,” he explained.
Here’s Rivian’s actual roadmap, with timing:
| Capability | Timeline | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-free highway driving | Launched | Already available, reduces fatigue on long trips |
| Hands-free everywhere | 2026 | Vehicle handles all driving, but you must watch the road |
| Hands-free, eyes-off point-to-point | Late 2026 | True self-driving in defined environments—you can use your phone, read, etc. |
| Broad eyes-off capability | 2030-2031 | Most driving situations handled autonomously |
The key shift: Rivian abandoned the old “rules-based” approach (where humans program every possible scenario) for an end-to-end neural network trained on real driving data. It’s the difference between giving someone a rulebook versus letting them watch thousands of hours of expert drivers.
What this means for your buying decision today:
- Don’t pay a huge premium for “full self-driving” promises that require today’s hardware
- Do pay attention to which automakers are collecting and learning from real-world driving data
- Understand that true eyes-off driving is still years away for everyone, despite marketing claims
The Truth About Chinese EVs and What It Means for American Buyers
You’ve probably heard that Chinese EVs are cheaper and more advanced. Scaringe confirmed both—with critical context.
“We own one” (a Xiaomi SU7), he said. “It’s an impressively well done vehicle. If you’re in China and thinking, ‘I want to buy a car,’ this is a really nice value proposition. It drives nice, it’s well executed, the finish is great.”
But will you be able to buy one in the U.S. anytime soon? Almost certainly not, and here’s why:
“It’s inconceivable that we would allow Chinese manufacturers to operate without any tariff, but then simultaneously not allow US manufacturers to make stuff in China without a tariff. It’s fairly suicidal, basically.”
The more likely scenario: Chinese brands eventually build factories in the U.S., competing on technology rather than cost. “Then they’ll win not on cost—because the cost will be the same or very nearly the same—and the win on tech.”
What this means for you: The technology race is real. Chinese EVs are genuinely impressive, and their presence is pushing every automaker to improve. But your buying decision in the U.S. for the next several years will be between American, European, and Korean brands—all of whom are racing to match Chinese tech while building vehicles for American roads and American buyers.
Common Mistakes Buyers Make When Shopping for EVs
Drawing from Scaringe’s observations about the market and Rivian’s customer data, here are the pitfalls to avoid:
Mistake #1: Treating EVs as a category, not a collection of individual vehicles
Just because an EV exists doesn’t mean it’s good. The market is full of “compliance cars” built to satisfy regulations, not to delight drivers. Judge each vehicle on its own merits.
Mistake #2: Overweighting tax credits and incentives
“Q4 is going to be a transition quarter where people’s expectations around things like lease price are going to get reset,” Scaringe noted. The crazy deals—$19/month Nissan Leaf leases, $20,000 off a Honda—are disappearing. Buy based on the vehicle’s value, not temporary subsidies.
Mistake #3: Assuming all electric trucks are the same
As discussed, R1T buyers cross-shop with sports cars, not work trucks. The Ford F-150 Lightning buyer is different from the Chevrolet Silverado EV buyer. Know which category fits your use case.
Mistake #4: Ignoring the software story
“The most expensive categories of things in the car is electronics and all the associated pieces,” Scaringe said. A vehicle with modern architecture will improve. A vehicle with legacy architecture will stagnate.
Mistake #5: Waiting for “perfect” battery technology
“There’s a lot of noise in solid-state around commercial readiness that’s maybe an exaggeration of reality,” Scaringe said. Current batteries (NMC and LFP) will dominate for the next decade. They’re good enough. Don’t wait for the next breakthrough.
Key Takeaways: What to Remember Before You Buy
- The best EVs win on being great vehicles first, electric second. If the electric part is the main selling point, the vehicle probably isn’t ready for prime time.
- Rivian’s R2 at $45,000 will reset expectations for what an affordable EV can deliver. But expect real-world prices to average $50,000-$55,000 as buyers option up.
- Electric trucks aren’t a monolith. The R1T’s closest competitors aren’t other trucks—they’re sports cars and weekend vehicles. Know how you’ll actually use it.
- Software architecture matters more than 0-60 times for long-term satisfaction. A vehicle that improves over time beats one that’s frozen at the factory.
- True hands-off, eyes-off driving is coming, but not until the end of the decade. Don’t pay today for promises that require future hardware.
- Chinese EVs are legitimately impressive, but won’t be sold here directly. Their influence will be felt through improved competition and technology pressure on all brands.
- The $7,500 tax credit disappearing isn’t the end of EVs. “In 2025, we were worried about the $7,500 credit slowing down electrification,” Scaringe reflected. “In 2035, we’ll look back and wonder why we worried.”
The Bottom Line
The EV transition isn’t slowing down—it’s just entering a new phase. The easy growth, fueled by early adopters and generous incentives, is over. What comes next is harder but more meaningful: converting the 92% of buyers who haven’t made the switch yet.
For you, that means the next three years will bring more genuinely great options at more accessible prices than the entire previous decade combined. The vehicles that succeed won’t ask you to compromise on capability, style, or driving pleasure. They’ll simply be better machines, and the fact that they’re electric will be almost incidental.
As Scaringe put it: “The end state’s really clear.” The only question is which vehicle gets you there.
Related Post
*The information provided on this site is for general informational and educational purposes only. All content, including articles, guides, and opinions, is not intended to be, and should not be taken as, professional advice.
*Podomline may earn a small commission if you buy through these links—at no extra cost to you. Thank you