<h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.5; font-size: 2.4em; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; color: var(--iq-title-text); letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Rivian Electric Vehicles</h1>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Until a few years ago, Rivian (formerly Avera Automotive) was a car company, and one that had been thought to be a potential competitor to Tesla. Rivian has since changed its focus and is now focused on developing a holistic ecosystem of electric vehicles, including cars and trucks. It has hired dozens of people from Ford, Tesla and McLaren Automotive to develop these vehicles, but has not yet produced a single car.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Rivian is a relatively young company with a lot of work ahead of it to prove its ability to produce high-mileage, durable SUVs and trucks. However, it has a high potential for success. In fact, Rivian is targeting consumer pickup trucks, which are often seen as the first step towards an all-electric future.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Rivian has been able to secure funding from a number of major investors, including Ford, Amazon, BlackRock, T Rowe Price, Cox Automotive and Pario Ventures. Those investments, which come together to form a total of $6 billion, should help the company continue to grow. But there is no guarantee that Rivian will be able to meet its delivery targets, as the company faces many obstacles and has a relatively small amount of runway.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Despite its potential, Rivian has faced many challenges, which include manufacturing issues and battery supply shortages. These have led the company to scale back near-term production plans. The company is now focused on building a network of charging stations and service centers across the country. The company expects to roll out the first two EVs sometime in 2021. It is also focusing on a second plant, which is planned to be located in Georgia.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">In March of this year, Rivian was sued by Illinois dealership groups, who accused the company of not having sufficient production capacity to support a large number of vehicle deliveries. According to Bloomberg, Rivian plans to cut hundreds of jobs, representing about 5% of the company's workforce of over 14,000 workers. That is likely to have a minimal impact on manufacturing employees, who will be able to maintain their positions.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">In April of this year, Ford invested $500 million in Rivian, which will allow the company to begin manufacturing electric trucks. Rivian's vehicles are designed to be environmentally friendly and have safety features built in. The company will have to demonstrate that it can produce durable and safe SUVs, but it will also have to prove its ability to make large quantities of trucks.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Rivian has also received grants for bringing jobs to Southern Illinois. In November, Rivian brought in singer Rihanna for a test drive. It has also attracted the attention of Saudi Arabia's Jameel family, who invested $450 million into the company.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; color: #585858; font-family: Poppins, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: #ffffff;">Rivian's CEO, Chase Scaringe, is more conservative than his counterpart at Amazon. During his time at MIT, Scaringe earned a PhD. He also has connections with the Jameel family of Saudi Arabia. That means he has a few decades to build the company before he retires.</p>