Rivian’s boss isn’t afraid of the potential release of Tesla’s Cybertruck, a long-pledged electric truck that boasts a higher number of reservation requests than Rivian has cars on the road.
That’s because R.J. Scaringe doesn’t see the product from the electric-vehicle pioneer as a direct competitor to Rivian’s own electric pickup truck, the R1T.
“If you were to think of the Venn diagram of customers, there’s probably not a lot of overlap,” said R.J. Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and chief executive, during last month’s Code Conference, hosted by The Verge, when asked about his thoughts on Tesla’s version of a pickup truck.
A self-professed gearhead who dreamed of making his own vehicles – yet also concerned how traditional gas-fueled cars contribute to climate change – Scaringe founded Rivian in 2009 as an eco-friendly automaker. Outside its production of zero carbon emissions adventure vehicles, Rivan has supported the EPA’s higher emissions standards for automakers across the board and hopes to eventually decarbonize its own supply chain operations. Scaringe aims to have his company’s second manufacturing facility, to ideally be up and running in Georgia by 2026, as a “fossil-free plant.”
The southern-California based company, however, has yet to turn a profit and just missed short of its 2022 production goal of 25,000 vehicles. While Rivian is on track of meeting its 2023 production goal of 52,000 vehicles, that number is still nowhere close to the maximum production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year that the company’s manufacturing facility in Normal, Ill., is capable of.
Chris Pierce, a senior analyst with Needham, agrees there’s no direct comparison between the Cybertruck and the R1T. He often sees Rivian’s R1Ts on the road in northern California, where he lives. He likened these drivers as “soccer mom types” who “wanted something they could put their kids, their stuff in. It worked out that this truck was available, and they liked, of course, helping the environment.”
Tesla’s Cybertruck has a pointed, trapezoidal appearance and public displays show that it is reminiscent of a military vehicle.
“I just don’t feel like they’re competing with the same customer,” he said.
Although there’s nearly two million reservations for Tesla’s Cybertruck, Pierce said that number doesn’t mean much since there’s no “stringent requirement” to pre-order the truck – all it takes is a $100 deposit.
Tesla first revealed its Cybertruck back in 2019 with an estimated price around $40,000 and a driving range of 500 miles. Though production has been pushed back several times, Tesla as of late has hinted of an imminent launch.
Rivian’s pickup truck, first produced and delivered in late 2021, has a starting price of $73,000 and driving range of around 400 miles. Initial excitement from investors that Rivian could rival Tesla tempered after the company failed to reach its 2021 production target of 1,200 vehicles followed by a continued production underperformance in 2022. Rivian has since seemed to find its production footing and owners of the R1T are overall satisfied with their purchase, according to a consumer report from J.D. Power.