Elon Musk: Rivian Will Be THE END Of Tesla - What do you think?
Friday, December 3, 2021 | Chimniii Desk
Key Highlights
- Rivian acquired the factory and its manufacturing components for $16 million in January 2017, with the intention of establishing it as the company's primary North American manufacturing location.
- According to the business, early prototype testing revealed the vehicle could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0–97 km/h) in less than three seconds, wade through 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) of water, and climb a 45-degree slope.
- The first "customer car" rolled off the assembly line in September 2021 and was delivered to a client.
- Rivian is now the world's third most valuable automaker, behind Tesla ($1.046 trillion) and Toyota ($262.54 billion).
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Rivian Is Going To Be THE END OF TESLA – Elon Musk: With Tesla releasing their patents and blueprints for the entire world to use and learn from, all of the world's leading automakers have developed their own responses to the EV demand.
However, one question that appears to be easily consistent in the minds of many people is this: Where are the start-up companies? As was Tesla in the early 2000s? To that, we have the ideal response.
Join us as we dissect Rivian Automotive Incorporated, Tesla's new direct competitor. Introduction To Rivian was founded in 2009 by CEO Robert "RJ" Scaringe.
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After changing its name from Mainstream Motors to Avera Automotive and then Rivian Automotive in 2011, it began focusing on autonomous electric vehicles. Rivian acquired a significant investment and expanded rapidly in 2015 after showcasing their concepts and establishing research labs in Michigan and the Bay Area.
A portion of this investment was used to relocate the company to the San Francisco Bay Area, closer to its suppliers in Silicon Valley. Since Rivian's initial focus was exclusively on electric vehicles, they set out to create a "entire ecosystem" of connected devices.
Their initial model was to be a sports vehicle, but they quickly shifted to trucks and SUVs. The R1 was a mid-engine hybrid coupe with 2+2 seating created for the US market by design director Peter Stevens.
The body was constructed using a ground-breaking modular capsule design with easily interchangeable body panels. Production was expected to begin in late 2013 or early 2014, with a possible diesel hybrid variant and a racing version dubbed the R1 GT for a Brazilian one-make series.
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On the basis of the platform, a four-door sedan and crossover have also been suggested. In 2011, a hatchback-style prototype was also unveiled, but its connection to the R1 is unknown.
These plans for performance vehicles sounded good at the time and continue to do so, but according to Rivian leadership, trucks and other heavy vehicles in that class could benefit more from the instant torque and theoretically unlimited torque provided by electric motors.
This was coupled with the realisation that customers would readily accept such trucks and SUVs with instant torque. Rivian's Rise By September 2016, Rivian was in talks to acquire a manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois that was previously owned by Mitsubishi Motors.
Rivian acquired the factory and its manufacturing components for $16 million in January 2017, with the intention of establishing it as the company's primary North American manufacturing location.
Rivian's decision to acquire a nearly-complete facility rather than build a new manufacturing facility has been compared to Tesla's acquisition of the NUMMI facility in California. After all, acquiring your own manufacturing facility is critical for production to begin and actually generate revenue.
Purchasing a fully equipped facility also significantly reduced costs, and Rivian was fortunate not to have to make too many changes to facilitate production. Rivian began to grow as investments began to pour in. Rivian employed approximately 100 people at the end of 2016, and had increased to 160 by August 2017.
Rivian announced in December 2017 that it had completed and was testing its alpha prototypes. Rivian unveiled its first two models in the same month: the A1T, an electric five-passenger pickup truck, and the A1C, an electric seven-passenger SUV.
Both vehicles were unveiled in November 2018 at the Los Angeles Auto Show, with production set to begin in 2020, with the truck being the first to hit the streets.
Both vehicles were marketed as semi-automated and capable of traversing difficult terrain, with the company indicating that its next generation of vehicles will be completely driverless. Rivian employed 250 people at the start of 2018.
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As of February 2019, Rivian employed 750 people across its locations in Michigan, Illinois, California, and the United Kingdom. Around 50 of those employees were located in Normal, putting Rivian ahead of schedule for local job growth.
By November 2020, Rivian expects to employ approximately 3,000 people. R1T Rivian Now that we've established what kind of company Rivian is and where they stand, let's look at the strategies they're employing in their battle with Tesla for market share.
To begin, we'll look at the Rivian R1T. The Rivian R1T is an all-electric, battery-powered, light-duty pickup truck that was designed from the start as a complete vehicle.
The 2018 concept design was intended to be off-road capable, with 14 inches (360 millimetres) of ground clearance and an 800 horsepower electric motor, with the most expensive vehicles expected to travel approximately 450 miles (720 kilometres) on a single charge.
According to the business, early prototype testing revealed the vehicle could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (0–97 km/h) in less than three seconds, wade through 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) of water, and climb a 45-degree slope. These design objectives were met in large part with the 2021 production vehicle release.
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According to Rivian, the autonomous features of the vehicles were developed to enable "car-sharing." The first "customer car" rolled off the assembly line in September 2021 and was delivered to a client.
Initially, the Rivian R1T was available in three different battery capacities: 105 kWh, 135 kWh, and 180 kWh. The Rivian R1smallest T's battery has a range of 230 miles, the medium battery has a range of 314 miles, and the largest battery has a range of more than 400 miles.
Additional batteries can be added to the R1bed for increased range. If there is no available charging infrastructure, such backup/auxiliary batteries can be charged via another R1T. Rivian R1S and Amazon Delivery Van Rivian R1S and Amazon Delivery Van Rivian is also developing a model called the R1S.
The R1S is a sport utility vehicle based on the first generation of the Rivian platform. As of 2018, the R1S design is expected to share 91 percent of its components with the R1T due to a shared electric chassis.
The chassis, which is divided by a battery, houses the braking, suspension, and cooling systems. Rivian's low centre of gravity chassis is characteristic of an electric vehicle skateboard, allowing for easy customization to accommodate a variety of body types.
It features similar power figures and powertrain configurations to the R1T, but with the ability to be adjusted for regular tarmac use, as the majority of people who purchase SUVs these days do not do so for off-roading.
Rivian's bespoke Amazon Delivery Van design surprised many when it was first announced, but it was a clear indication of the company's ambitions. Amazon announced a massive acquisition of 100,000 delivery van trucks in 2019, with the first vehicles scheduled to arrive in 2021.
Amazon estimated that 10,000 electric vans would be operational by 2022, but the deal's required 100,000 Rivian vehicles would not be delivered until 2030.
The van will be available in three sizes, with the smallest holding 14 m3 (500 cu ft), the largest holding 20 m3 (700 cu ft), and the smallest holding 25 m3 (900 cu ft) of cargo.
All of the vans will be built on the same platform as the Rivian R1 vehicles, including the same basic electrical and network architecture, ECUs, and battery pack design, and will utilise the same basic single-motor e-axle drive unit as the Rivian R1 entry-level product.
The van will be built exclusively for Amazon, with a steel chassis and a "low-feature-content" manufacturing process to keep costs down. The Present and the Future of the Company Rivian's $142.08 billion market capitalization surpassed Volkswagen's $139.52 billion valuation this month, following a 7.69 percent surge in the stock price during early trading hours.
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Rivian is now the world's third most valuable automaker, behind Tesla ($1.046 trillion) and Toyota ($262.54 billion). In just five trading days, Rivian has risen to become the world's third most valuable automotive manufacturer.
Rivian has only delivered a few hundred R1T trucks, the company's first all-electric vehicle. However, Amazon is a significant financial backer of the startup, having disclosed a 20% stake in the company in its most recent 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
This month, Rivian began its initial public offering (IPO) at a price of $78 per share. On the other hand, the company's stock began trading publicly at 1 p.m. ET, trading significantly higher than the initial price. Shares increased by over 60% to more than $120 per share.
When they became available for public trade, they settled for $106.75, a premium of 37% over their initial value. Additionally, they are only now beginning to generate revenue from sales, as industry observers and investors have noted.
"It's truly mind-boggling when the company has yet to generate any discernible revenue," Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said of Rivian's valuation. Clearly, Rivian has gotten off to a great start and will continue to soar to new heights.
Additionally, we can see how the partnership with Amazon and the assistance it provides will soon prove invaluable to Rivian's ability to continue manufacturing existing vehicles while also developing new ones.
Considering the type of company Rivian intends to become, we can be confident that they will succeed in providing stiff competition to Tesla. Elon Musk would be wise to improve his team's performance.
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