Rivian CEO eyes expansion into broader range of commercial electric vehicles

DETROIT: Rivian Automotive Inc is planning a broader range of electric commercial vehicles in a variety of shapes and sizes, and expects to be building millions of EVs a year at multiple plants after 2030, Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe said.

Speaking with Reuters ahead of Thursday’s formal unveiling with Amazon of the large EDV-700 delivery van, Scaringe said “there will be a host of other applications in the commercial space” based on the so-called RCV platform that underpins the Amazon van that Rivian is building in Normal, Illinois.

“We’re thinking about many other aspects of the commercial space outside of last-mile delivery (including) cargo and work vans,” Scaringe said. “We’ve had a whole host of discussions with other customers.” He didn’t identify the other potential customers.

Scaringe’s vision for Rivian mirrors that of Elon Musk for Tesla Inc , which also struggled in its first decade and a half before revenue and profits started to surge. Musk has said he expects Tesla to build 20 million EVs annually by 2030.

Rivian has struggled to meet production targets for its R1T pickup and R1S utility vehicle, and recently said it had delayed some programs - including the overseas launch of the R1S - and could trim head count in order to reduce costs.

The California startup reported it had more than $16 billion in cash at the end of the first quarter, but analysts have said the current cash burn rate could rapidly deplete that.