GM Looking to Invest in Electric Pickup Maker Rivian: Report

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Rivian Automotive made a big splash at last year’s Los Angeles Auto Show with its fully electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV, and General Motors apparently liked what it saw.

According to sources who spoke to Reuters and Bloomberg, GM is interested in acquiring a piece of Rivian’s action. The Detroit automaker, which recently expressed interest in building an electric pickup of its own, is reportedly in talks to invest in the Plymouth, Michigan-based company.

GM isn’t alone in thinking Rivian has the right stuff. Amazon is also in talks with the fledgling automaker, sources say. The combined investments, if made, would see Rivian valued somewhere between $1 billion to $2 billion, with GM and Amazon holding minority stakes in the company.

What’s in it for GM? A dedicated electric platform and long-range battery packs, for starters. Rivian plans to license its chassis to other automakers, and GM doesn’t want to be left behind by rival Ford. It would also prefer to avoid the huge development costs and lengthy timeline associated with such a project.

Last month, Ford officially confirmed plans to build an electric version of its F-150 pickup.

Rivian’s R1T is no slouch. According to the company, the truck fields a quartet of electric motors driving each wheel, with a total output of between 402 and 753 hp, depending on configuration. Its battery packs would come in three flavours: 105 kWh, 135 kWh, and 180 kWh, with range pegged at over 400 miles on the high end. Even the lowliest pack would prove sufficient for 230 miles of gas-free driving, Rivian claims.

While EV startups are nothing new, Rivian has a lot of things going for it. For one, it’s not just a Silicon Valley office flinging out wild promises with little interest in the complexities associated with actually building a vehicle. In 2017, Rivian bought the old Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Illinois for a rock-bottom price. It’s not a hollowed-out shell, either.

In a November interview with Automotive News, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said bringing the plant online won’t be all that expensive.

“We’ll spend about one-tenth what you’d normally spend on a plant — about $150 million,” he said.

“We’re lucky. We have a very large stamping operation in the facility, with some of the largest presses in North America. You could never spend $100 million to build up a stamping operation if you were starting with a clean sheet. And we got that for free. And all those presses have a lot more capacity than we can immediately use. So we’re in the process of negotiating to have a supplier actually come in and operate the presses inside our plant.”

Rivian’s engineering center and HQ sits in close proximity to America’s automotive nerve center and a multitude of suppliers, while its two California facilities handle the batteries, electrical hardware, software, and (of course) self-driving technology. To any observer, Rivian looks like a viable, pragmatic automaker. No emergency tent building, etc.

Naturally, GM didn’t confirm the talks, though it did sing the company’s praises.

“We admire Rivian’s contribution to a future of zero emissions and an all-electric future,” the automaker said in an email to Reuters. The news agency’s sources claim a deal could come as early as this month, though Bloomberg reports an announcement could come on Friday.

[Images: Rivian Automotive]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Trackratmk1 Trackratmk1 on Feb 13, 2019

    The CEO's mother in law is a Florida state senator and his father is a defense contractor who's funded his whole business on SBA loans. They know a thing or two about fundraising.

  • TomLU86 TomLU86 on Feb 13, 2019

    GM would "also prefer to avoid the huge development costs and lengthy timeline associated with such a project." Fascinating! While I was impressed Rivian was able to obtain the funds to acquire the Normal IL plant (Mitsu Eclipse, Plymouth Laser, etc), and even more impressed with their stamping plant, I would think that a large automaker the size of GM, even GM itself--on a bad day!, would be able to develop a new platform for LESS than new company. There are soooo many things to be done, so many things to mess up. That's why Tesla is struggline..it's not rocket science, but it isn't easy. The big carmakers have had these lessons. Not to mention the massive bureaucracy now present, that one must confront to be able to legally sell a vehicle. If this, "...also prefer to avoid the huge development costs and lengthy timeline associated with such a project." is a reason, it's pretty lame, IMO.

    • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Feb 13, 2019

      No carmaker has unlimited resources. VW has committed double-digit billions of dollars toward EVs, and so far, they're the only serious comparison to Tesla's investment. *If* Rivian has any reasonable lead on an electric truck, it saves GM that much trouble developing their own. Heck, even the Bolt EV has had teething problems with its early batteries. Ideally, I'd want to marry the Tesla battery and drivetrain technology with the coachworks from GM, Ford, H/K, or VW. What strikes me as odd is that Rivian has never produced a vehicle - only a couple of impressive functional concepts. That's a very long way from solving the production issues associated with high volume, so I'm not sure what Rivian actually brings to the table for GM.

  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.
  • ToolGuy Ford is good at drifting all right... 😉
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