Rivian successfully launched its IPO and now has almost $12 billion (on top of $10.5 billion raised previously) to expand its EV business.
According to Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe (via US News), the company has to grow quickly and reach a volume of at least 1 million electric vehicles per year by 2030. That’s a level of today’s Tesla.
“”We better be growing at least that quick; certainly before the end of the decade is how we think about it,” Scaringe said in an interview ahead of Rivian’s market debut on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.”
Today, the company produces its EVs at its only manufacturing site in Normal, Illinois, acquired several years ago from Mitsubishi and upgraded.
This site is technically equipped for 150,000 vehicles annually, but after an upcoming upgrade it should be ready for 200,000 per year.
All three types of EVs announced so far: the Rivian R1T and Rivian R1S, as well as the Rivian EDV vans will be produced in Normal. The R1T has been ramping up since September, while the other two will follow in December.
The long-term plan for Rivian is to have a total of four assembly plants around the world, including one additional factory in the U.S. and probably one in Europe and one in China. The second factory in the U.S. is expected to also produce in-house developed battery cells (potentially in-house developed).
All those things sound ambitious, but let’s not forget that this company is the first to launch a modern all-electric pickup truck with a 300+ mile of EPA range, which was not imaginable a decade ago when the first generation Nissan LEAF with a 24 kWh battery struggled with 100 mile range (it was rated at 73 miles EPA).
