Page 90 - Forbes - USA (March 2020)

After graduating with his doctorate in 2009,
ROAD WARRIORS Scaringe returned home to Melbourne, Florida,
where he founded the company that became Riv-
ian. He and his team spent four years developing
a speedster-like EV before Scaringe found what
he thought was an obvious gap in electric vehi-
cles and one that spoke to his outdoorsy inter-
ests—a truck and a luxury SUV.
88 Scaringe also spent nearly a decade develop-
Elon Musk R.J. Scaringe
ing its innovative skateboard platform—a chas-
CEO, Tesla Founder/CEO, Rivian
sis that contains the battery pack, suspension,
E BORN
G electric motors for propulsion and a computer
N Pretoria, South Africa Melbourne, Florida to control it all. Finally, in November 2018, Rivi-
I
R AGE an unveiled its two prototypes at the Los Angeles
A
C 48 37 Auto Show: The R1S, an electric SUV that seats
S
NET WORTH
seven, and the R1T, an electric pickup truck. The
.
J
. $39.3 billion $1 billion so-called “adventure vehicles” look like the love
R
CARS PRODUCED TO DATE children of a Range Rover—rugged, capable and
•

E 900,000-plus 0 luxurious—and are packed with the latest ame-
L
I EDUCATION nities such as internet connectivity and a host of
F
O B.S., University of B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic driver-assist safety features.
R Pennsylvania; B.S., Institute; M.S. and Ph.D., MIT,
P the Wharton School Sloan Automotive Lab The company expects to deliver an ambitious

E MARITAL STATUS 20,000 units (combined truck and SUV) in 2021
H
T Twice divorced, five sons; Married, and 40,000 in 2022, which could translate to ap-
now dating pop star Grimes three sons proximately $1.4 billion and $2.8 billion, respec-
SUPERHERO ALTER EGO tively, if all goes according to plan. By comparison,
Tony Stark Clark Kent Tesla sold 25,000 units of the Model X in 2016, its
TWITTER FOLLOWERS first full year of release.
31 million 10,600 Beyond its first two releases, Scaringe says

TYPICAL TWEET there will be three more vehicles in the Rivian
“And, no, I’m not an alien . . . “Great work team.” portfolio by 2024. Though he is cautious about
but I used to be one.”
providing details, Scaringe admits that one will
be smaller in size and all will be considerably
lower in price. It’s a strategy akin to what Land
Rover does with its Defender and top-of-the-
line Range Rovers—i.e., the same base model
pared to Musk’s manic Tony Stark, is confident he with fewer amenities. And if Scaringe can truly
can overcome any perils or roadblocks. After all, keep the price below $50,000, it will cause far
Rivian is built for treacherous terrain. worse headaches for Musk than a broken shat-
terproof window on his Franken-vehicle, the
Cybertruck.
R starting his own car company ket—by one estimate it represents nearly 80% of
.J. Scaringe first dreamed of
Tesla, of course, now dominates the EV mar-
sales in the United States—and Rivian will face
when he was in high school. But
unlike most teenage gearheads stiff competition in the luxury battery-powered
with the same ambition, Scaringe SUV segment from other automakers. The R1S
backed it up by studying engineering. His vision SUV will enter a market in the fall that includes
changed in 2007 while attending MIT’s presti- the Mercedes-Benz EQC (starting at $67,900);
gious Sloan Automotive Lab, where he attained the Audi e-tron SUV ($74,800); the Jaguar i-
a doctorate in mechanical engineering and the Pace ($69,500); and, of course, the Tesla Model
skills he would need to build the vehicle he imag- X ($84,990). Other automakers such as Hyun-
ined in his head. “As I became increasingly aware dai and Kia will offer more affordable options,
of how many problems were born out of the au- such as the Kona EV, starting at $37,190, and JOHN RAOUX/AP; CARLOS DELGADO-AP
tomobile—geopolitical, climate, air quality and Niro EV, starting at $38,500, respectively.
more—it became a huge source of internal con- Rivian should be without real competition in
flict for me,” he recalls. So he scrapped his plan the truck category, however. Despite Tesla’s high-
for a gas-powered sports car for one that was bat- ly public debut of the Cybertruck, it’s not expect-
tery-powered, much like Tesla’s original Roadster. ed to be produced until 2022. And both Ford and

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