The R1S is the second consumer car to come out of California-based EV startup Rivian. Rivian specializes in rugged, high-end EVs for the outdoorsy types, and the R1S is its second consumer model.
During the most recent earnings call, Rivian said that they had over 90,000 reservations for R1T and R1S vehicles. Now, Rivian says the 90-plus has increased to around 98,000 reservations. Rivian, an electric-truck startup, announced Thursday on the companys second-quarter earnings call that nearly 200 reservations had been made for its R1T pickup and the R1S SUV by June 30. The other EV company launched its first vehicle, an R1T electric truck, late last year.
Rivian has received a number of significant aids, including $700 million from Amazon in 2019, followed by $500 million from Ford months later. Rivian, a hot electric car company with backing from both Ford and Amazon, reported net losses of $1.71 billion for Q22022 on revenues of $364 million. Less than two weeks ago, Rivian Automotive, an electric truck manufacturer, was held accountable in the quarterly losses reported by both Amazon and Ford Motor Co., both of whom invested billions only to have their shares in Rivian plummet earlier this year. Aug 11 (Reuters) – Rivian Automotives start-up company predicted on Thursday that it would have large annual operating losses, while also saying that several of its current models would fail to qualify for a new federal tax subsidy.
Startup Rivian Automotives noted that its premium R1 line of pickup trucks and SUVs are unlikely to qualify for the tax incentives in a new energy and climate bill passed by the US Senate. Rivian, which won a race to offer the first fully electric pickup, is rolling out Rivians fully electric SUVs amidst serious questions over whether Rivian will meet its ambitious goals. Rivian Automotive said deliveries of its first all-electric pickup began Sept. 14, and that its SUV, the R1S, will follow later this year.
Rivian did not break the results by model, but it is expected that the R1T EV pickup will make up the bulk of 4, and that a handful of R1S EV SUVs will make up the remainder, along with some delivery vans for Amazon. Rivian does not give the breakdown of R1T trucks vs. its EV Delivery Vans (EDVs) being built for Amazon. Rivian produced 4,401 vehicles in its Normal, Ill., production plant, and delivered 4,467 vehicles in the past quarter. Rivians vast factory in Illinois could have produced 150,000 vehicles annually, but this year, it is expected to turn out only 25,000 vehicles.
While startup electric truck maker Rivian is downsizing its overall staff, it is still planning to hire an additional 1,500 workers and add a second shift at the downstate facilitys regular site by the end of the third quarter. Rivian laid off about 6% of its 14,000 employees, about 800, last month, citing the need to reduce costs in an effort to accelerate the development of the future versions of its R1T and R1S vehicles. After struggling with continued supply chain constraints, delayed orders, and increased prices earlier this year on both its R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV, electric-vehicle startup Rivian has now dropped its Explore Base Package on both vehicles – including those on existing preorders. New York (CNN) Rivian has dropped the Explore Package as an option on its R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV — meaning that the EV manufacturer is getting rid of its lowest-priced options.
Early reservations for its R1T pickup have been strong, despite the controversial price increase, showing Rivian is enjoying a strong demand among consumers for its vehicles, too. Rivians tie with Amazon, as well as its successful R1T pickup truck, gives it a solid shot at competing successfully in the fast-expanding electric car space.
The midsize SUV is the second-sweetest niche of the market after compact crossovers, so Rivians may very well be selling more of its SUV-style R1S than its pickup-style R1T. Overall, the R1S SUV is a nice, comfortable, capable family-size SUV, which is probably going to start showing up at wealthy households once Rivians is able to get it out there. In its Oct. 1 filing announcing the plans to launch the Rivian Automotive IPO to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Rivian said that it plans to begin marketing and starting deliveries of its R1S SUV, starting in December. In 2017, Rivian announced that Rivian was building electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-up trucks on a platform, which executives said could be modified for future vehicles or adapted by other companies.
Rivian raised $2.85 billion during 2019, with four large investments, including an investment from Ford of $500 million in April, who plans to utilize Rivian skateboards for new battery-electric vehicles, and an investment round from T Rowe Price of $1.3 billion announced in December, with plans for R1T trucks and the R1S SUV R1S SUV in late 2020. The earliest fully electric pickup trucks, the Ford(F) beat Tesla(TSLA) and GM(GM) to the punch, while the EV electric truck market is heating up.