Rivian CFO: Company Plans Simpler, Cheaper Battery Configurations
Rivian’s truck and SUV are two of the more compelling EV options on sale now, but the automaker wants to streamline its operations to increase volume and reduce costs. Company CFO Claire McDonough recently shed some light on how Rivian plans to get there.
McDonough’s comments came during an automotive conference hosted by Barclays. The CFO noted that the company’s early days were shaky as it navigated the pandemic and production delays of its first consumer product, the R1T pickup. Many of those challenges appear to be behind Rivian now, as the company is also pushing forward with commercial vehicle deliveries.
McDonough said that Rivian plans to introduce a new standard battery for the R1 vehicles that lowers the starting price to appeal to a wider audience. The simplified structure will reduce costs by thousands of dollars and be easier to build. That could mean Rivian models with much more reasonable prices. It’s very easy to spec an R1T or R1S to well over $100,000 now, so any easing of that pricing will almost certainly help Rivian boost sales.
Having said that, the automaker faces significant challenges on the horizon. It had the first electric truck on the streets, but Ford quickly followed with the F-150 Lightning. Tesla finally got a few Cybertrucks out the door last week, and GM has two electric pickups coming soon. Ram isn’t far behind and will bring two electrified pickups to market in the next couple of years, so Rivian’s block is about to get much more crowded.
[Image: Rivian]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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The Electrek article is a lot of marketing-speak (after all, it is the CFO), and no technical detail. I find other articles mentioning LFP batteries coming to Rivian in 2024 (it looks like there were plans to add them this year, but that didn't happen).
EV maker is trying to lower prices. In other news, water is still wet.
The R1T has good specs, but it appeals to a different buyer than the electric trucks from Ford, Tesla, or the mythical truck from GM. (Between the two Rivian products, I slightly prefer the R1S SUV.)
It's interesting that at this point, the R1T continues to outsell the Lightning in this still-tiny market. The R1T buyer is less likely to try doing all truck things all the time, so customer satisfaction will be higher.
https://www.greencars.com/expert-insights/rivian-scores-best-for-ev-customer-satisfaction
To my surprise, the above article claims that EV truck makers have done a good job communicating the effects of towing on electric trucks. I don't believe that, but maybe Rivian is doing this better than Ford.
To my original point, the Ford buyer is more likely to expect their electric truck to do all truck things all the time, and that will lead to disappointment.
Simpler? Cheaper? I object.