Meet Rivian founder R.J. Scaringe, who comes equipped with a $3 billion war chest and Tesla in his headlights
and the temperature in Normal, Illinois, just a few hours south of Chicago, is well below freezing. The small pond in front of Rivian Automotive’s assembly plant has turned to ice, the grass is covered with frost and there is snow in the forecast. It’s not much warmer inside the plant. Nearly the entire 2.
With the emergence of Rivian, the electric vehicle market is no longer a one-horseless-carriage race. Indeed, the 2020s are gearing up to be the decade of the EV. According to research at Oppenheimer, EVs and plug-in electric hybrids accounted for a mere 2.2 percent of all U.S. vehicles sold in the last quarter of 2019. And only a third of those were purely electric. But that is changing rapidly. While only 5.
After graduating with his doctorate in 2009, Scaringe returned home to Melbourne, Florida, where he founded the company that became Rivian. He and his team spent four years developing a speedster-like EV before Scaringe found what he thought was an obvious gap in electric vehicles and one that spoke to his outdoorsy interests—a truck and a luxury SUV.—a chassis that contains the battery pack, suspension, electric motors for propulsion and a computer to control it all.
“The opportunities [in the EV market] are pretty substantial,” says Ed Kim, a market analyst for AutoPacific, an automotive research and consulting firm based in California. If Rivian becomes a threat to Tesla dominance, it could energize the category and set up a true EV rivalry.
Rivian hopes the Ford alliance will allow the company to grow beyond its own consumer electric vehicle offerings. For its part, Ford is seemingly doing it to keep the company’s options open, as it often does, to pursue the best option with which to achieve its electrification goals: 40 electric vehicle models by the end of 2022.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rich People Driving Again? Elon Musk Says Tesla Use Up To Nearly Pre-Covid LevelsRich people driving again? Elon Musk says Tesla's use is up to nearly pre-Covid-19 levels
Read more »
Top business news: Facebook, Silver Lake, BTIG, Tesla - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »
Analysis: Tesla is not valued as a tech company or auto company - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »
Here's how the all-new Ford F-150 pickup truck could stack up against the Tesla Cybertruck - Business InsiderBusiness Insider is a fast-growing business site with deep financial, media, tech, and other industry verticals. Launched in 2007, the site is now the largest business news site on the web.
Read more »
Owners of Ailing Energy Trader Hit Back at Critical ReportThe family owners of distressed energy trader Hin Leong Trading claimed unfair treatment after a report alleged serious irregularities, including a $3 billion-plus overstatement of its assets.
Read more »
IMF's Georgieva says virus crisis could ultimately test $1 trillion war chestInternational Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday that the global economic crisis spurred by the coronavirus could ultimately test the Fund's $1 trillion in total resources, 'but we're not there yet.'
Read more »