SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Rivian has agreed to settle a 2022 class-action lawsuit by paying $250 million to some shareholders who had alleged that the electric vehicle maker defrauded investors over vehicle prices when it went public, according to a court filing on Thursday.

The lawsuit claimed that Rivian, during and after its blockbuster 2021 initial public offering, concealed that it had underpriced its EVs, leading to unpopular price hikes later.

“The company denies the allegations in the suit and maintains that this agreement to settle is not an admission of fault or wrongdoing,” Rivian said in a separate filing on Thursday.

“However, settling will enable Rivian to focus its resources on the launch of its mass market R2 vehicle in the first half of 2026.”

Rivian, known for its R1S electric SUVs and R1T pickups, is set to launch a smaller, more affordable R2 SUV to expand its market share at a time when EV demand in the U.S. is expected to plummet after a key tax credit expired last month.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and Mike Scarcella in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Leslie Adler and Muralikumar Anantharaman)