Depending on how you do your accounting, some would say Tesla still doesn't make any money.

 

Rivian will survive, if not as a standalone company, than as an acquisition target by one of the legacy car makers or one of the conglomerates like Stellantis.

 

If ongoing cost is your concern, I'd just fix your Toyota and keep driving it while things in the EV sphere settle out a bit. Either way (Ford or Rivian) you are paying a boatload of money in depreciation as the market shifts to EVs. You'd spend less replacing parts on your Toyota. If you feel you need an electric vehicle, I think I'd stick with the Ford. Not as slick and uses more kw to get where you are going, but it has the Ford name behind it and that has to count for something when thing ago wrong. Rivian isn't Tesla and doesn't have its market cap. When trying to keep you head above water, it's hard to innovate for fix problems - you are just trying to push more units out the door to keep the investors happy. I'd be nervous buying into that - regardless of how slick the product is. Also, what is the service network like for Rivian. If you break down on the road, then what?

 

This thread has two camps just like the real world. Early adopters and the traditionalists, sounds like you are an early adopter. Personally I would never consider the Lightning simply because it is a platform conversion and not a dedicated platform. Look at it the other way, would you buy a Taycan that had been converted to ICE? Answer is no because there would be too many compromises on the platform.

If you want to buy from a traditional manufacturer then wait for the new Silverado/Sierra from GM. Otherwise the Rivian is a great option and pretty universally lauded. In addition their sales are accelerating even in this market plus they have the delivery van business to drive revenue as well. The R1S has quite a long wait new, but they are available used with near zero miles at MSRP. The R1T I believe you can get pretty quickly.

 

I had to make a quick trip to Los Angeles over this past weekend. Saw several Rivians along the way - including seeing my first Amazon van. One Rivian owner appeared to have a rolled up hang glider on a rack in back. Didn't see any Lightnings.

Last night when I was Supercharging at Harris Ranch, a "Release Candidate" Cybertruck rolled in. It was incredible watching dozens of folks jump out of their cars, especially the kids, run over and check it out. Lots of photos and selfies were taken! Whether you like the post apocalypse styling or not, it is going to be a big hit.

 

Fixed by paintless dent removal instead. https://www.thedrive.com/news/41000-...s-dent-removal

 

Part of what differentiates Rivian is they can pump out over the air updates that significantly alter and improve the vehicle. Just a few things that were software updates: 360 surround view, camp mode, kneel mode, car wash mode, updated nav with ABRP integration, the drive mode/suspension setting adjustment. This is a website actually tracking the software releases: https://rivian.software/
No traditional OEM can match the software updates.

 

Rivian has reduced their loss per vehicle from $139k in Q3, 2022 to $33k in Q2, 2023. Meanwhile Lucid is losing over $300k per vehicle and has just a fraction of the sales volume of Rivian. I'll add in that Rivian is expanding their Rivian Adventure Network DCFC network.
https://electrek.co/2023/10/03/rivia...%20car%20built.
https://rivian.com/experience/charging#map

 

Go read up on rivianforums.com, rivianstories.com, and Rivian reddit. You'll read all the good AND the bad.

 

They need to send out an update to enable Apple Car Play and Android Auto. A real shame you can’t update the vehicles for SXM, as iirc there is no built in sat antenna. Yes I know that SXM can easily be streamed, but when you’re out in the ‘Wilds’ with no cell service there’s no streaming.

 

I'm looking forward to Rivians Q3 financials to see their progress. I don't have any financial interest either way. But this is a fascinating time in automotive history.

Is anyone tracking where the Rivian Amazon delivery vans are being deployed? I have not seen one in the Bay Area yet. The one I saw last weekend was in Bakersfield.

Cory Steuben, formerly President of Munro Associates, just started work at Lucid. Be interesting to see how much of an impact he has at Lucid to help get them profitable. He'll have to deal with Rawlinson's ego. But then, he's already had to deal with Sandy Munro's ego for years.

 

Not tracking deployment, but did see one in a seemingly random rural area of Michigan in April of this year.

Looked pretty cool, IMO…

 

My understanding is quite a few thousand have been deployed. Good video giving an overlook.

 

Cool video - thanks.

Local delivery seems like the IDEAL use case for EVs.

Still can’t believe that the USPS decided against EVs for most of their next generation of trucks..

 

We are seeing some of the Amazon Rivian vans here in the KC area, although we do have a Rivian Service/Delivery centre in Olathe so that may well figure in.

I suspect the R2(?) SUVs when they are in production will sell like hotcakes if they have a true 300 mile range, and start at around $60K. Same demographic that buys Macans may well be looking at what’s available in a family BEV, so let’s hope Porsche doesn’t go insane pricing the Macan EV. Futile wish, I know! 😎