Rivian might get billion-dollar investment from Amazon and GM

New technology is simply amazing. I can hardly believe how far along we have come in the last several years between my last new car buy and this one. Agree entirely on the long lasting nature of EV and combination vehicles. This PHEV I just bought, I really am having a problem seeing to it the ICE is on long enough to get a full warm up. I would guess just driving time considered the electric part is five times more used than the combustion side. And electric motors really they hardly ever wear out. Auxiliary things like batteries do not the motor themselves.
Leasing makes a lot of sense in a practical manner. MY best friends dad, a doc, was the first person I ever heard of leasing back in the sixties. He was very pragmatic and used a car just to transport and did not ever even wash the thing I think, though inside it was meticulously clean. In our crowd people with flash and dash cars, all lived in poor houses and the inverse seemed true as well. WE laughed at them. So he did that. Times have changed. Me, I am a relic and just could not bring myself to lease though it makes practical sense.
With all the tech I bought a additional extension of warranty for 100k miles on everything. With the price of repairs I think this is called for. Hyundai is offering a lifetime guarantee on their battery in their PHEV. As long as you own it, it is nontransferable. Could not find one though, I think there is some sort of a manufacturer problem getting the units made.
I should really just start to redo my pickup. 350 engine and all, a rebuilt would probably be for a song. Maybe that will be my next project.

 

The pickup market in US+Canada is over 3.3M units per year.

I would say the market for $75k+ pickup trucks is well over 200k units per year.

Ford Raptors and Limiteds,Ram Rebels and Limiteds, GMC Denali etc.

Rivian can absolutely sell 20k units per year. Plenty of people in the know know that TCO for BEVs is much cheaper too.

 

I understand there is a niche there. Here is where things get tricky. Those are high end trucks with a lot of power. Will Rivan have that level of power and cachet (thank you grammar Nazi for keep me correct) ro compete against the likes of Raptor or Denali ? Second, most of the trucks are sold in rural areas and states that are generally lukewarm or less than lukewarm to environment/global warming issues and may not command a premium. Third, there is less charging facilities in those areas so may not be as attractive. Not denying there is a market but unlikely it will be a cakewalk. Competitors were not ready for Tesla, they may not allow Rivian that opportunity. So I a sure Rivian will see their first a few months sell out without a problem. But as they ramp up, things may not be that easy. Again this is all speculation. I have no idea what will happen, but Rivian has their work cut out for them.

 

You are talking about trim packages. That's where every manufacturer makes their profit. Also the pickup truck is the number 1 selling vehicle in California. Ford alone sold more trucks in California than all EVs combined, over 55,000 units last year by Ford alone.

 

So esentially Rivian is competing against the most profitable segment of that markets. Makes sense as new entrant but more likely than not that Ford and others will do something to protect the turn. What the something is I do not know. The empire is going to to try and strike back.

 

I certainly hope you're right!

Go Rivian!

 

Yeah, manufacturers don't make money on a stripped down standard cab pickup with vinyl seats. That just cover overhead costs. They make their profit from carpet, leather interior, heated seats, 20" wheels, 4 doors, etc.
Ford has already announced they are coming out with hybrid and full electric versions of the F150 in fairly short order. GM has been saying they will have 22 all electric models out by around 2022. One of those models will likely be a pickup especially since passenger cars are now falling out of favor with the driving public. (in my mostly useless opinion).

 

I can't decide what's more entertaining, watching TV or reading all the baseless and mostly useless speculation on what might be in these forums.

When it happens it happens. Until then...……..

 

Has Amazon invested in a known winner like Tesla?

Here are the top 5 Tesla investers. Maybe Amazon is farther down the list ?

1. BAILLIE GIFFORD & CO 13,234,382
2. FMR LLC 8,977,568
3. PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ 8,937,685
4. CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS 8,621,712
5. PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND 8,277,080

 

You might want to re-post that question over on the grandiosely entitled "Mega Thread for Tesla Investors". Personally, not being an investor, I have no idea.

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Amazon has made lot of investments and strategic bets in retailing, IT technology, cloud computing, media and entertainment, AI etc. companies They may have not made it in the EV market till now. So what? Does not mean that they do not know what they are doing? They have the money (lots of it), they have ability to do due dillegence (lots of it), and they have technology and capabilities in abundance that Rivian can use (AI, cloud computing, brand name, executive talent etc.). Just because they are moving in to this field does not mean they are making a mistake. Or am I missing the whole point.

 

Seems rather a complex question (a logical fallacy) to me. It has only been within the last year or so that Tesla could be accurately described as a "known winner" in the financial sense. Yet the stock price has been quite inflated for years. The time to make out like a bandit by investing in Tesla was back in mid-2010 thru mid-2013, when Tesla was still very much a company with a shaky financial future, with the overwhelming majority of financial analysts predicting it would fail. Some early investors have seen their investment rise to 10x or perhaps even 12x the original value! But in 2010-2012, buying Tesla stock was very definitely a "speculative buy".

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Rivian will have more horsepower/ torque than any off road competitor.

Ford Raptor 450 hp/510 lb ft while Rivian will have 800hp/826 lb ft. Only 3/4 ton turbodiesels have more torque, dedicated heavy trailer duty trucks. Rivian isn't competing here.

Hard to say about cachet. Rivian is building their cachet as we speak.

Most trucks are purchased in the suburbs not rural areas. Especially the high end trucks Rivian is competing with. ~46M Americans live in rural areas. 175M Americans live in suburbs, and they have much more disposable income.

Rivan isn't selling Prius trucks. Compromised hairy shirts for environmentalist. They are selling the best trucks that happen to be electric.

Suburbs and rural area population has access to home overnight charging. By Q4 2020 when Rivian launches CCS highway 100 KW-350 KW fast chargers will be much more developed and probably quite adequate for the vast majority of prospective Rivian buyers.