At its first Investor Day on Thursday, Rivian gave several insights into the EV maker’s future. CEO RJ Scaringe explained how Rivian’s software-defined EVs, built from the ground up, and other in-house tech are evolving for its next-gen vehicles.
Check out the latest from Rivian’s 2024 Investor Day below.
The next growth stage
Rivian held its first Investor Day on Thursday. In a Tesla-like presentation, Scaringe outlined Rivian’s roadmap to profitability.
A Rivian is not just any other vehicle. Rivian’s Adventure Vehicles were built from day one to improve over time. “On day 300, it’s a better vehicle,” Rivian’s CEO said during the event.
Perhaps, more importantly, Rivian is learning to build them at a “significantly” lower cost, passing the savings onto buyers.
After building an authentic luxury EV brand, Rivian is making its vehicles more accessible. Rivian shut down its Normal, IL plant in April to improve efficiency. Scaringe said the updates and supplier negotiations have resulted in “significant cost improvements.”
The company cut out 100 steps from its battery-making process, over 50 components from the body shop, and 500 parts from the design.
Its focus on a scalable, flexible platform, built from the ground up, is paving the way for its future EVs.
Rivian outlines R2, future plans during 2024 Investor Day
Rivian introduced its smaller, cheaper R2 electric vehicle in March. Starting at $45,000, Rivian’s R2 is nearly half the cost of the R1S and R1T models.
After scoring over 68,000 reservations in less than 24 hours, Rivian’s R2 is expected to significantly expand its market.
Rivian’s R1S is already one of the top-selling EVs. Through the first three months of 2024, Rivian’s R1S was the fourth top-selling EV in the US, behind only Tesla’s Model Y, Model 3, and Ford’s Mustang Mach-E.
According to Scaringe, it’s also the top-selling large vehicle in California, electric or gas. The tech and features driving demand will translate to a lower price point in the R2, R3, and beyond.
Rivian is consolidating ECUs, harness length, and electrical parts to cut costs. In addition to supplier negotiations and more efficient manufacturing, Rivian is confident R2 will help drive profits.
Rivian plans to begin R2 production in Normal in early 2026. Although initially Rivian planned to build R2 at its new GA plant, the move will help save $2.25 billion. More importantly, it will help get R2 to market earlier.
The new partnership with Volkswagen shows the flexibility of Rivian’s platform. Rivian’s head of software, Wassym Bensaid, said the platform can be scaled up or down for more variants.
Bensaid explained how Rivian is focused on getting its software and hardware into more EVs globally. With software at the heart, Rivian’s vehicles will continue improving over time.
Since launching, Rivian has rolled out more than 30 OTA updates, adding over 500 features. It continues to take feedback to add new features like Snow Mode and Launch Mode.
Rivian’s platform enables continuous improvement and can be used for new functions, like autonomy. Using AI and machine learning, the software constantly takes in information, analyzes it, and improves via OTA updates.
Scaringe explained how Rivian’s new Enduro and Ascend drive units, built in-house, are driving down costs while improving performance.
The new Ascend motor is paving the way for future improvements for the R2 and further generation vehicles.
Top comment by Pedro
I think with the infusion from VW - and another validation of Rivian's software (also Canadien Post Office) - and the recent $875,000,000 grant from the state - are doing well. The main thing is that they are leveraging and learning from experience, and applying that to present and future vehicles in a focussed way (hello tesla, anyone home?).
The flexible scale-able platform seems similar to KIA/Hyundai's approach. Amongst legacy, they are doing fantastic things and really exploiting the modularity that EVs enable. Of course they have a lot more capital, but Rivian seems to have a good strategy here to build up manufacturing and volume.
I look forward to hearing more about the van and sales predictions. The Canadien PO order for rolling chassis, seems to open another potential market for OEMs to adapt the chassis/software stack to their own uses. Should be interesting.
I like it.
Maximus, or “Enduro Gen 2,” the drive R2 and R3 drive units, is focused on cost savings with less labor and parts. The side-mounted inverter optimizes packaging.
Rivian has also significantly reduced the number of parts to support lower costs. For example, the R2 has 65% fewer parts than the R1S.
Despite its cheaper price point, the EV maker promises that R2 will still have the essence of a Rivian.
Check back for more updates from Rivian’s 2024 Investor Day below.
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