Page 88 - Forbes - USA (March 2020)

open workspace, accessible to all, with a cafete-
ria, polished concrete floors and lots of natural
light, just like the floor plan at Rivian’s research
and design center in Plymouth, Michigan. The
concept for both offices was to merge industri-
al and outdoor aesthetics that mirror the com-
pany’s brand—an automaker that builds sustain-
able vehicles usable in off-road settings. Rivian,
86 which was founded in 2009 but is finally releas-
ing its first vehicle this year, also has operations
in San Jose and Irvine, California, where it devel-
E
G ops its technology and batteries.
N “When we’re done cleaning, painting and in-
I
R stalling the equipment,” says Rivian’s 37-year-
A
C old founder and CEO, Robert Joseph Scaringe
S
(better known as just R.J.), “we will eventually
.
J I
. be able to produce 250,000 vehicles per year by
R
mid-decade.”
•

E Starting an independent car company is not
L
I easy. Among the roadkill in automotive history
F
O are Preston Tucker, who challenged Detroit in
R
P the late 1940s, and John DeLorean, who failed to

E take the Motor City back to the future in the early
H
T 1980s. Producing a line of mass-market vehicles
in the 21st century is even more difficult than it
was for Tucker and DeLorean, and considerably
more perilous in the EV category.
With the emergence of Rivian, the electric ve-
hicle market is no longer a one horseless carriage
It’s 8 o’clock on a January morning, and the race. Indeed, the 2020s are gearing up to be the
temperature in Normal, Illinois, just a few hours decade of the EV. According to research at Op-
south of Chicago, is well below freezing. The penheimer, EVs and plug-in electric hybrids ac-
small pond in front of Rivian Automotive’s as- counted for a mere 2.2 percent of all U.S. vehicles
sembly plant has turned to ice, the grass is cov- sold in the last quarter of 2019. And only a third
ered with frost and there is snow in the forecast. of those were purely electric. But that is changing
It’s not much warmer inside the plant. Near- rapidly. While only 5.1 million electric cars were
ly the entire 2.6 million-square-foot facility is a sold worldwide in 2018, that figure is expected
construction zone, undergoing a massive $750 to surge throughout the decade—21 million units
million renovation to prepare for the end of the are projected to be sold in 2020, 98 million in
year, when it expects to start rolling out battery- 2025 and 253 million in 2030.
powered trucks, vans and SUVs. So minor details Building a new EV, however, requires investing
like heat are not exactly a top priority. in cutting-edge research into components like
The only finished area—a second floor at the battery packs and powertrains. The only compa-
front of the building that overlooks the factory— ny that has been remotely successful is, of course,
is where the plant’s previous owner, Mitsubishi, Tesla—and even it has had a rough go of it.
had its executive offices. Back then, access to this “We spent a lot of time looking at and un-
floor was restricted to the suits. Now it’s a giant derstanding how different [automakers] were

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Company Elon Musk joins Tesla goes
DRIVE founded as chairman Roadster Musk becomes Model S public with
CEO; first
TESLA by Martin after investing prototype Roadsters debuts. $1.7 billion
Eberhard
TIME and Marc in its $7.5 million unveiled. delivered. market
Series A.
cap.
Tappenning.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
TESLA AND RIVIAN R.J. Scaringe
RIVIAN launches
Mainstream Motors.

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