Page 17 - Forbes - Asia (April 2019)

from three major investors: the Saudi Arabia-based invest-
A slow-rolling startup, Rivian was founded in 2009 and
began to develop an electric sports coupe, much like Tesla’s
Roadster, but shelved that plan within a couple years. Unde-
terred, he changed directions once again, redefining the com-
pany’s mission around the future of mobility and focusing on
luxury utility vehicles. So why has it taken nearly a decade to
produce any vehicles? “[We’ve been] getting all of the pieces
lined up,” Scaringe says—developing the technology, putting
MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS FOR FORBES setting up a supply chain and a manufacturing system. He’s
together a strong business plan, building the organization, and
also spent years building a dream team of engineers and de-
signers, including Mark Vinnels, Rivian’s executive director of
engineering, who came from McLaren, and Jeff Hammoud,
the vice president of design and a veteran of Jeep.
To fund his electric dreams, Scaringe raised $450 million
ment group Abdul Latif Jameel, which has strong ties to MIT;
Japan’s Sumitomo Corp.; and London’s Standard Chartered
Bank. Rivian employs around 700 people, half at its engineer-
ing center in Plymouth; most of the rest at tech centers in San
Jose and Irvine, California, with a few at an engineering facil-
ity in the U.K. More will be added over the next two years as
the company ramps up manufacturing operations at its facility
in Normal, Illinois, a former Mitsubishi plant Rivian acquired
in 2017 for $16 million.
Technically speaking, the R1T and R1S are similar in using
the same skateboard-style chassis (with all mechanical com-
ponents—battery, drivetrain, suspension—contained in it).
They claim to offer outstanding performance, including more
than 600 kilometers of range, which is at least 120 kilometers
more than any other EV currently on the road or in the pipe-
line for the next two years. They promise exceptional handling
and sports car speed—both will be able to sprint from zero to
100 kmh in 3 seconds. Above all, Rivian promises genuine off-
road ability. Try driving your Tesla on the dunes of a beach or
up a rocky hill.
The pickup will have a base price around $68,000, and the
SUV will be $72,500 (and both come with a tax incentive).
Though Rivian won’t share preorder figures, the company ex-
pects to deliver an ambitious 20,000 units (combined truck and
SUV) in 2021 and 40,000 in 2022, which translates to approx-
imately $1.4 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively, in sales. By
comparison, Tesla sold 22,000 units of the Model S in its first
full year and some 25,000 units of the Model X when it debuted.
Once production starts in Normal next year, the company,
like Tesla, plans to sell directly to consumers, with a few stra-
tegically-placed display shops around the U.S. A five-passen-
ger utility vehicle is also in the works, with more models to
come later, says Scaringe, who is careful not to overpromise:
“I tend to be quiet to outsiders about what we’re doing. Let the
results speak for themselves.”
A potentially more profitable revenue stream will come
from selling Rivian’s technology to others. “We can leverage
our skateboard technology in its entirety or sell pieces of it,
such as the battery pack,” Scaringe says. Although no partner-
ships have been announced, Rivian is in negotiations with a
well-known brand that’s not a traditional automaker—but it
won’t rule out working with one in the near future—and the
company expects to get further investments of capital soon.
“R.J. has built a company that can pivot on a dime,” ex-
plains John Shook, a member of Rivian’s board and a former
Toyota production manager in the U.S. and Japan. Now that
his lifelong mission to become a carmaker is a reality, Scaringe
pany’s direction is clear, the right team is in place and the cul-
believes his priorities as a CEO include making sure the com-
ture allows people to work without bureaucracy. But if push
came to shove, the MIT engineer would rather be in the lab:
“I really enjoy working our network architecture, thinking of
our skateboard platform.” In other words, R.J. Scaringe has
just started rolling. F
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