One of the more exciting electric vehicle startups on the market today is Rivian. Not long ago, the automaker began producing its first customer vehicles, with deliveries expected to begin this month. Rivian is also getting ready to go public and recently filed paperwork for its IPO.
I'll admit, some of what Rivian was promising with the R1T all-electric pickup seemed a bit... gimmicky. Not pointless, nor useless, but enough to make you wonder whether, had the American EV startup opted to leave those features out, could the 2022 R1T have been even more affordable?
Here's a spoiler: the 2022 Rivian R1T is really, really good. Not just "good for the first attempt of a brand new automaker," or even "good for one of the first all-electric pickups," but just really good, period. For a truck that once seemed almost certainly destined for the vaporware pile, that's frankly astonishing.
Rivian is an electric vehicle startup that is producing an electric pickup truck and electric SUV. The vehicle maker created a significant buzz with the design features of its electric vehicles and a massive investment from Ford, among other companies. The first customer Rivian pickup rolled off the assembly line recently, and vehicles will soon begin delivering to customers.
Rivian has been busy for several months building pre-production vehicles at its production facility. The big push for the electric vehicle startup is to get its first vehicles into the hands of customers. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe tweeted yesterday that the first customer vehicle rolled off the assembly line after months of working on pre-production vehicles.
Rivian has announced the official EPA range numbers for its first R1T and R1S, and it's a healthy showing for the all-electric pickup truck and SUV. The figures are for the 2022 R1T Launch Edition and the 2022 R1S Launch Edition, both with the automaker's "Large Pack" battery.
Rivian has revealed plans to go public, with the Amazon and Ford backed electric vehicle manufacturer taking the first step toward listing. The news, confirmed in a terse statement by Rivian this morning, follows the automaker's latest bumper funding round earlier in August, which saw the company's total raise exceeding $10 billion since 2019.
Of all the start-up electric vehicle manufacturers, one of the most anticipated is Rivian. The company has shown off very interesting and appealing SUV and truck models so far that are completely electric. Rivian is backed by Amazon and Ford, among others. A new report is circulating claiming that the electric vehicle maker is in talks with ministers in the UK to build a factory there.
Rivian has closed another funding round, with the electric vehicle company adding a further $2.5 billion to its coffers as it readies its first EV pickup. The new round - which brings Rivian's total raise to roughly $10.5 billion so far - saw Amazon, Ford, and others increase their stake in the automaker, along with some new names.
The Rivian R1T electric pickup has been delayed again, with preorder customers being informed that it'll be another two months before their truck is ready. The Amazon and Ford backed startup had told buyers that the R1T would ship this month, that itself a delay from the original timeline; now, Rivian has admitted that it won't be ready to ship the pickup EV until September.
If I was picking a vehicle to go camping in, I think I'd want to take the keys to a Rivian R1T electric pickup. It's hard not to watch Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe's walkthrough video of the EV truck's slide-out camp kitchen and not start imagining great food in the great outdoors.
With most of the world pushing consumers to go to electric vehicles rather than traditional combustion-powered engines, electric automakers are coming out the would work. While almost every traditional automaker is getting into the electric vehicle game in some form, there are several new companies that are electric from the get-go, such as Tesla and Rivian.