Rivian wants to carve out huge slice of EV market

An upstart new brand has set itself an ambitious target that would see it as one of the world’s most dominant car producers.

Rivian R1T

Electric ute maker Rivian has set itself an ambitious target.

The company’s founder RJ Scaringe says the emerging electric vehicle maker is aiming to take 10 per cent of the EV market in under 10 years, according to Reuters.

This is a massive jump for a company that only produced about 1000 vehicles in 2021.

Rivian wants to account for one in 10 EV sales by the end of the decade.

Semiconductor shortages and production issues have further hampered the burgeoning maker’s ability scale up early this year. Scaringe told the Wolfe Research conference that he believed the chip shortage would be a problem for the rest of the year.

Despite these setbacks, Scaringe believes the company is making progress and the brand’s Illinois assembly plant is ramping up nicely.

First Rivian R1T electric pick-up truck rolls off the production line in late 2021.

Scaling up vehicle production is notoriously hard. Tesla boss Elon Musk famously said he was in “production hell” when trying to increase production of the Tesla Model 3.

Scaringe says the brand would need to build out its portfolio to allow it to reach that 10 per cent market share according to Reuters.

It currently has two models entering production: the R1T electric pick-up truck and the R1S electric SUV.

The R1T has a substantial order list of more than 50,000 and has beat the rival Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla CyberTruck to maker by a considerable margin.

Rivian R1T pick-up has beat established players to market.

It also has some big time investors including Amazon, which has a reported 20 per cent stake in the company and a standing order for 100,000 electric delivery vans.

In November, 2021, Rivian announced it had raised $11.9 billion in its initial public offering. It set its share price at $US78 ($106) in the largest IPO since 2014 when China’s online giant Alibaba went public.

Its share price is current $US67.56 ($93).

Rivian claims its R1T will have some pretty impressive performance. The truck will tow up to 4500kg and have a claimed range of up to 640km.

Rivian R1S SUV.

The Rivian R1T will be available in several variants and have a choice of either 135kWh or 180kWh battery packs with theoretical ranges of 500km and 640km.

All are all-wheel drive — electric motors power each wheel, with torque vectoring to ensure optimum grip.

Power figures vary with specification: the smaller battery makes 563kW/1120Nm and the larger battery pack prioritises range over power, making 522kW/1120Nm.

The ute will have an 800kg payload and a wading depth of up to a metre.

The good news for Aussie tradies is that it’s expected to be sold in Australia.

In 2019, a Rivian spokesman Chris Wollen told News Corp Australia the ute would be developed in right-hand drive for overseas markets.

“We know that there’s markets that will be into these vehicles and the adventure positioning and Australia fits that perfectly. We know we’re nicely suited for Australia so it’s an important market for us,” he said.