A new report from Reuters suggests General Motors and Amazon are in talks to invest in the Plymouth, Michigan-based electric vehicle company Rivian. The deal would give both a minority stake in Rivian, according to Reuters’ sources. Rivian made a splash at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November when it unveiled the R1S and R1T—an electric crossover and truck, respectively.
News of the deal comes just days after General Motors CEO Mary Barra gave a vague non-answer when asked about the development of an electric Chevrolet Silverado. During GM’s 2018 earnings call she said, “We believe in an all EV future so you’ll have to stay tuned.” An investment in Rivian with Amazon could give Rivian a value of $1-$2 billion. A deal could be announced as soon as this month; however, Reuter’s sources cautioned the deal could fall through.
Questions about GM’s development of an electric Silverado or pickup truck came after spy photos of an electric Ford F-150 emerged. The Dearborn automaker not only confirmed an electric F-150 is on the way but also said a hybrid version was in development as well.
General Motors hasn’t been shy about its electrified plans. The automaker plans to release 20 new EVs by 2023 with a new electric crossover from Cadillac spearheading the company’s electric strategy. However, General Motors plans to build its electric vehicles on an all-new, scalable EV architecture that wouldn’t fit a pickup truck well. That’s where the Rivian R1T could assist.
GM investing in Rivian could give it access to an electric pickup truck without diluting the Silverado brand. That is, until, electric pickup trucks deliver the same performance as today’s gasoline-powered trucks, and Chevrolet can build, market, and sell them for a healthy profit. The R1T Rivian revealed in Los Angeles boasted up to 400 miles of range, a three-second sprint to 60 miles per hour, the ability to wade up to three feet of water, and a quad-motor design for all-wheel drive.
Comments
Rivian seems to be doing things smart. They didn’t announce much of anything about themselves until they had a product nearly ready. Tesla has struggled to hit the unrealistic timelines they set out years in advance.
Rivian also doesn’t have mass production experience, another area that Tesla continues to struggle.
Rivian doesn’t have huge supplier contracts helping keep costs down.
GM can help with all of those things, including providing a plant to build a Chevy/GMC/Cadillac truck on the same line as a Rivian. And Rivian can help GM by having a well thought out and unique truck and more importantly full size electric platform.
Of the eTrucks currently announced (ie currently vaporware) the Rivian, to me, holds the most promise and would earn my purchase. The truck looks great, but damn does the SUV look flatout amazing, especially in the green it has been shown in. It’s a modern Tahoe.
I don’t think there’s any way they can get those down the same line with the GM trucks with how different the designs and production volumes will be on those trucks. I would think that contracting out the production would probably make the most sense, at least until volumes pick up. Someone like AM General might have interest.
I agree though it looks like a million bucks, would be a good move for GM, although I’m not sure if getting into bed with Amazon is incredibly reassuring. Hopefully they fall out
not saying the same line as current fullsize trucks. but GM has idle plants, or plants that can handle another line, or if Rivian ever bought the old Mitsu plant in Illinois i think it was.
The GM fullsize T1 platform can’t support EV effectively. They would need a fullsize EV platform, Rivian would provide that.
Rivian rolls their own version down the line, and GM makes theirs.. just like how GM and Toyota did the Matrix/Vibe.
They’re already in bed with Amazon through their Prime, deliver to your car, program.
Rivian already has a manufacturing facility in Illinois and is already hiring for positions at the facility.
What Rivian doesn’t have is a dealer or service network. Perhaps Amazon will be their point of sale channel and GM’s Cadillac stores could be their delivery and service network?
Additionally, Amazon could be an exciting long-term partner in subscription services.
“What Rivian doesn’t have is a dealer or service network. Perhaps Amazon will be their point of sale channel and GM’s Cadillac stores could be their delivery and service network?”
Rivian doesn’t need to make themselves suffer with a dealer network. Letting dealers dictate product and total allocation will cause Rivian to over-produce and then pile on rebates to move unsold units. If Tesla can sell and service cars without signing a single franchise agreement, it would be incumbent for Rivian to do the same. They should defiantly leverage that advantage.
Secondly, GM might have reservations about servicing non-GM cars in their service centres, although it could be argued that GM didn’t have any problems servicing Suzuki vehicles when they had a tie-up decades ago.
While I like that GM is willing to invest, I hope this isn’t going to stop them from offering a full EV version of the Silverado like Ford will with the F-150.
i think if they offer an EV truck it wont be called Silverado. There is a lot of people (Joe America) who hate the idea of an electric truck.
Not only because of that, but simply for the trendy “Tesla effect” it would make sense to brand an EV truck new and exciting.
Revive the Escalade EXT as an electric only offering?
Yes!! Just electrify a Cadillac truck.
Ford doesn’t seem to think so. They went public with it.
This has the potential to be a win-win-win for Rivian, GM, and Amazon.
Rivian can provide a well developed electric truck that GM can license and brand as Chevrolet and/or GMC. GM can then continue to focus their EV platform development resources on creating EV Crossovers. Win for GM.
GM can provide a facility that can produce the Rivian branded and GM branded EV Trucks at truck industry scale volume, with experienced workforce and time-proven manufacturing systems and purchasing on a GM scale (lumped in with common components for GM’s other upcoming EVs), as opposed to a start-up scale. This will accelerate Rivian’s move down the cost curve Win for Rivian.
Amazon can either work with Rivian to also get a branded product, built at GM scale and cost position OR Amazon can arrange preferential pricing to acquire Rivian vehicles for use in Amazon warehousing / delivery operations. Win for Amazon.
The Rivian pickup has an electric motor at each wheel, for the 4 wheel drive model. With a range of 400 miles, this truck closes the range gap between ICE engines and EV’s.
This should be a good move for GM to invest in Rivian, as EV technology continues to improve.
However, I still think load issues would have an impact on the potential range.
Rivian and Amazon make for great partners as GM tries to shift into a next-generation automaker on par with Toyota quickly and Tesla excitement among a considerable portion of the population.
GM and each of it’s brands, especially Chevy and Buick, need to stand for something other than medicore quality and deep discounts and technology like Rivian, Cruise and partnerships with Amazon could have a halo effect.
Until the next big breakthrough in battery technology, an electric Silverado would be a joke.
Sound like to me that Amazon will be the seller imitating Tesla.
How fast can I charge it? Can I get full range in less than 5 minutes?
This proposed investment tells me that GM is nowhere near- despite what Barra says- close to introducing or producing a dedicated EV platform. If you are the supposed leader, you do not have to rely on start-ups.