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Rivian Raises Another $1.3B In Investment From Amazon, Ford And Others

Michigan based electric vehicle maker Rivian has attracted a ton of interest and investment since debuting its R1T electric pickup and R1S electric SUV at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The company recently got another steep cash injection of $1.3 billion thanks to Tesla shareholder T. Rowe Price, along with Amazon and General Motors‘ crosstown rivals at Ford Motor Company.

This new round of investments comes after Rivian raised $700 million in a round of funding led by Amazon back in February and another $500 million from Ford in April. Automotive marketing and retail company Cox Automotive also dumped $350 million into the company back in September.

In a statement, Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe said this latest round of investments “demonstrates confidence in our team, products, technology and strategy,” and said the company is “extremely excited to have the support from such strong shareholders.”

Rivian R1S

Rivian will manufacture its R1T and R1S models at a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois starting next year. Customer deliveries of the vehicles are expected to start toward the end of the year. Both the R1T truck and R1S SUV will have a starting price of $69,000. Both will get up to 400 miles of range from a single charge, depending on the model chosen, and will have a max towing capacity of around 11,000 lbs.

In addition to its own products, Rivian is also developing a new, unnamed electric vehicle for Ford and is working on an electric delivery van to be used by Amazon. The e-commerce giant has ordered 100,000 of the full-size electric delivery vans, which will hit US roads in 2021.

The Rivian R1T is seen as one of the strongest potential competitors to the new Tesla Cybertruck. Ford will also compete in the electric pickup space with its upcoming battery powered F-150, while GM is working on an electric pickup of its own, too. It’s not clear if GM’s electric pickup will be a Chevrolet, GMC or if it will fall under another brand. GM has said its electric pickup will go on sale in the fall of 2021 – about one year after sales of the Rivian R1T are set to begin.

GM had previously approached Rivian about potentially becoming a minority stakeholder in the company, however talks broke down as the deal would not had allowed Rivian to license its technology to other automakers.

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Source: The New York Times

Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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Comments

  1. Ain’t the future great! GM authority is a great authoritative source for all things electrification. What we see in this article are serious contenders racing to get tomorrow’s desired products to the marketplace.
    That product of course is the electric truck and SUV.

    Reply
  2. Whether they make it to market or not those vehicles are better looking than anything GM makes save for the Vette…

    Reply
  3. That Tank Turn the Rivian can do is simply amazing. They will sell every single one they can make.
    Ford unfortunately Beat out GM in obtaining the Skateboard from Rivian probably because GM wanted to be the only customer as opposed to Fords acceptance of Amazon getting in on Rivian as well. This is working out great for Rivian though.
    Very happy that another American Startup is about to take off. Ford, GM, and especially FCA have a lot of catching up on the BEV Segment. Hopefully GM is sandbagging some serious BEV’s within the next 12 months.

    Reply
    1. GM is not dumb. GM likely wanted to get a look at Rivian’s technology and scope. They probably didn’t see any benefit investing in Rivian, versus what they already have planned.

      Reply
      1. @Geoff
        I would really love to believe that. But I seriously doubt that.
        The proof is in the fact that GM is working on FWD BEV Skateboards for some reason.
        All the Annalists and Pundits and Auto Makers all say RWD Derived Platforms just make way more sense but are more expensive due to the fact that you need to add AWD in colder climates. GM is obviously going the Cheaper Route. I know RWD Based BEV Platforms will be on offer by GM as well but just saying.

        Reply
    2. I too believe that Ford may be poised to leap frog over Tesla like you believe because of the Rivian acquisition as a possible subsidiary brand name along with Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, etc. . But GM will drive hard deals at the marketplace and back their products to the hilt with parts, shop manuals, trained techs, accessible modular engineering that’s reliable and easily maintainable for long duration driving operations and maintenance costs down down down down. Mankind will lose it’s engineering skill-sets because of this new level of efficiency and reliability.
      I’m very excited about all of this and I’m not particularly loyal to any brand save being US built with as many US parts as possible too. Let’s see who wins this race!

      Reply
      1. I think Tesla is about five to six years ahead of anyone. Just wait until we see their new Gen Battery and Motor Technology they will be showcasing in a couple of months.
        I am just hopeful GM can attain that coveted second spot like how Google sells more than Apple but most people view Apple as the best. I doubt anyone will surpass Tesla anytime soon.

        Reply

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