Rivian

As part of a deal with the White House, Tesla agreed to open part of its expansive, exclusive charging network to owners of other EV brands. The automaker made good on that promise a few weeks ago, opening a new world of possibilities for owners tired of searching for a charger in vain. Rivian has gone a step further for its owners with a new over-the-air update that adds Supercharger locations to its vehicles’ navigation systems. 

Like many automakers, startup Rivian is having trouble getting vehicles into buyers’ hands. Extreme demand for some products combined with ongoing supply chain difficulties have caused wait times to balloon, but Rivian has a plan. The automaker reached out to Teslarati to explain its new R1 Shop, which it says will drastically shorten delivery times on its R1T and R1S EVs.

On Monday, Rivian announced a plan to sell $1.3 billion in bonds as a way to cope with rising production costs.

The news comes just days after the company addressed rumors that it might build as many as 62,000 vehicles through 2023. Despite credible reporting, Rivian said its official production forecast remains set at the original 50,000 electric vehicles by year’s end.

Mr. Guy wrote yesterday about how Ford F-150 Lightning owners are using their trucks for so-called "truck stuff" as much, if not more, than owners of internal-combustion engine F-150s are.

Despite earning accolades with its two new electric vehicles, Rivian has struggled to meet demand and has raised prices in recent months to account for rising materials and production costs. The automaker is taking action to improve its lot in 2023, however, as a recent letter obtained by Teslarati shows, its efforts to simplify product offerings early in the year.

Over-the-air (OTA) updates have made it relatively easy for automakers to add new vehicle features and improve or fix existing functions. The technology is especially impressive with EVs, where companies can make tweaks that impact major vehicle characteristics like range and performance. With its most recent OTA, Rivian made significant improvements to the R1S and R1T, making them more efficient and friendlier for people living where the air hurts their faces in winter.   

Rivian and Mercedes-Benz Vans signed a memorandum of understanding to create a new joint venture for building electric vans in September. But the deal seems to have fallen apart, with reports confirming that the EV startup has pulled the plug just a few months into the planned partnership.

I mentioned that Rivian was facing job cuts during today's QOTD, and here's the skinny.

The North American International Auto Show, aka the Detroit Auto Show, isn’t taking place in January anymore. It’s set for a move to September.

But that didn’t stop the traditional North American Car and Truck of the Year award ceremony from taking place at [s]Cobo Center[/s] Huntington Place this morning.

Rivian may be experiencing more production delays. Maybe this is why it now apparently has a delivery-time estimator on its build site?

Rivian is planning on adding a feature to its online configurator that estimates the time of delivery of the customer’s vehicle.

It’s mild news, to be sure, but it’s the week of Thanksgiving.

While no one around this neck of the woods would call themselves experts in finer points of the stock market, we do know how to add. Talking heads at the Wall Street Journal are reporting Rivian has set an initial share price of $78 for its IPO, a heady sum to be sure. What drives this story to another dimension is they’ve allegedly sold 153 million shares at this price.

For those keeping track, that means they raised nearly $12 billion – making RIVN the biggest listing so far in 2021.

Start-up EV automaker Rivian has been accused by a former employee of having a “boys club” atmosphere while she worked there.

Laura Schwab, who was in charge of sales and marketing, claims the company has a “toxic bro culture” that led to mistakes being made, and when she pointed it out, she was fired.

A VIN decoder appears to have revealed the names of Rivian’s planned vans.

Barely a month has passed since Rivian’s CEO first posted pictures of the company’s fully certified, in-production R1T electric pickup rolling down the Normal, Illinois assembly line. The R1T is here, it’s real, and it’s got the blessing of the NHTSA, EPA, and CARB to prove it – but the fact that the R1T made it to production more-or-less as promised isn’t what I’m here to talk about today.

Instead, I want to talk about how a brash, spunky startup managed to beat not just Ford, and not just GM, but every single established automaker to market to deliver the first modern electric pickup truck … and the answer might not be what you expect.

The lawsuits continue against EV startup Rivian. Though it hasn’t built any vehicles to date, the company has an aggressive plan to manufacture its “Tesla killer” vehicles at the former Diamond Star Motors plant at Normal, Illinois, and sell its wares directly to customers via nine showrooms across the nation. Various parties take issue with both the building and selling facets at Rivian, and the company has lawsuits with dealers in Illinois as well as Tesla.