At the recent Bank of America Securities Summit, Rivian CFO made many important announcements that have left fans and investors excited
Not the one to sit on its laurels, Rivian is now building up the momentum after a successful first quarter of the year. The carmaker actually has a lot of action coming up, right from the second-gen R2, sustained profitability and more. Speaking of these, Claire Rauh McDonough, the CFO of the company, made a string of announcements at the recently held Bank of America Securities Summit.
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Rivian R1
The most important among all the announcements at the summit is the company’s plans for the R1. The carmaker looks all set to become profitable by H2, 2024, which will come at the back of the success of the R1 lineup and the van. While the exact number of pre-orders has not been disclosed, McDonogh announced that all the orders taken prior to the price increase in March will be completed by mid-2023. As for the orders post the price increase, the deliveries extend “well into 2024.” The top executive further revealed that the carmaker currently doesn’t plan to increase the base price of the R1. The CFO further notes that the company plans to manufacture 85,000 vehicles per annum by 2026.
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Rivian R2
McDonogh even revealed a few things about the next-generation ‘R2’ trucks. It may be noted that until now, all that was known about the vehicle was that it would be a more affordable model. This is something that was earlier divulged by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. Now, though, the CFO has revealed that the production of the R2 will commence in 2025-2026 with a production target of 200,000 units in 2026. The carmaker would want to double this number for the next production target. It’s also been revealed that the R2 would lock horns with the likes of the Tesla Model Y. Hence, a base price of $40,000 is something that can be safely estimated. McDonogh even revealed that the R2 will be a global offering, which means Rivian would no longer remain a strictly North American brand. Industry watchers opine that the Europe could be the carmaker’s next market.
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Electric Delivery Van (EDV)
The production of the Electric Delivery Van (EDV) is among the top-most priorities of the carmaker. Reaffirming the carmaker’s focus, McDonogh stated that the EDV enjoys an “enduro-motor” priority over the dual-motor R1 vehicles. It’s noteworthy that the van has already received two production upgrades in the first quarter of this year with the integration of the new motor and the company’s new Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery pack. Other than the above announcements, Rivian has even revealed its intentions of upgrading the Adventure Network charging infrastructure. The company hopes to benefit from the incentives in the “Federal Charging Fund” to improve its charging network. However, to be eligible for aid, the company will have to open its network to all EVs, a la Tesla Supercharger network.
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