Rivian IPO: 5 things to know about the Amazon-backed electric-vehicle maker

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +2.08% and Ford Motor Co. F, -1.08% are among Rivian’s backers. The EV shaper has raised $10.5 cardinal since 2019 aft respective concern rounds, with the latest a $2.5 cardinal backing circular successful July, led by Amazon.com’s Climate Pledge Fund, Ford, and T. Rowe Price funds, among others.

Besides an electrical pickup motortruck and an electrical SUV, Rivian besides plans to marque electrical transportation vans for Amazon and person its ain charging network. Its IPO comes aft respective EV startups person gone public, and arsenic the marketplace is astir to invited respective electrical pickup trucks and SUVs.

Here are 5 things to cognize astir Rivian:

Its CEO is ‘obsessed’ with cars and astatine archetypal wanted to make a sports car

Founder and Chief Executive Robert “RJ” Scaringe has been “obsessed with cars” since his younger years increasing up successful Florida, helium said successful the IPO prospectus.

He decided to recovered Rivian, however, erstwhile helium realized that the entity of his emotion was “the root of galore of society’s biggest biology challenges,” helium said.

He started from scratch, with “no money, nary team, nary technology, nary suppliers, nary brand, nary accumulation infrastructure,” Scaringe said. The archetypal thought was to physique an “efficient sports car,” but that didn’t consciousness right, helium said.

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Tesla Inc. TSLA, -0.44% famously started disconnected making an costly and exclusive electrical sports car and utilized the wealth (and buzz) to make cheaper EV sedans and yet subdivision retired to different auto-body styles and prices.

By 2012, however, Rivian had moved distant from the sports-car thought and soon began focusing connected electrical SUVs and pickup trucks, aiming to “establish Rivian arsenic the marque for progressive lifestyles,” Scaringe said.

Its programme with Amazon.com transportation vans “serves arsenic our flagship exertion for the commercialized abstraction and positions america to prosecute a scope of different sizes, usage cases, and markets,” helium said.

Scaringe has kept a debased illustration connected Twitter, keeping his tweets strictly constricted to his EV business.

Like a celebrated competitor, Rivian besides wants to skip dealership income

Rivian launched its R1T, a two-row, five-seat pickup truck, successful September. It plans to motorboat an SUV, the R1S, successful December. Wider income of the motortruck and the SUV are expected to statesman successful December and January.

The institution calls the flagship autos “electric escapade vehicles” arsenic susceptible of “rock crawling” and of leaving sports cars successful the rearview mirror.

Like Tesla, Rivian is selling its vehicles straight to consumers, skipping dealership networks, and asking for a refundable deposit erstwhile radical configure their conveyance connected its website.

Related: How car makers similar Ford and GM are reimagining the aboriginal of car buying

The pickup motortruck starts astatine $67,500 for a basal trim and tin spell 314 miles betwixt charges.

Rivian is promising a R1T with a scope of much than 400 miles by January. Add-ons for the motortruck see a camping room that slides retired the truck’s broadside and a camping tent.

The SUV starts astatine $70,000 and Rivian is making five- and a seven-seat models, with a camping structure arsenic 1 of its add-ons. Rivian said it had 48,390 R1T and R1S preorders successful the U.S. and Canada arsenic of September.

Rivian besides said it plans to present 100,000 electrical “last mile” vans to Amazon by 2025.

Losses person mounted arsenic the concern grows

Perhaps not surprisingly, Rivian has ne'er made money, and doesn’t expect to crook a nett successful the “foreseeable future” arsenic it invests successful its business.

Rivian mislaid $426 million, oregon $4.35 a share, successful 2019, and went connected to suffer $1 billion, oregon $10.09 a share, past year. For the archetypal six months of this year, Rivian mislaid $994 million, oregon $9.84 a share. That compares with a nonaccomplishment of $3.77 a stock successful the archetypal six months of 2020.

Also not surprisingly, it has been spending astir of its wealth connected probe and development, with R&D expenses rising to $683 cardinal successful the archetypal six months of this year.

Total operating expenses, including R&D arsenic good arsenic wide expenses, reached $990 cardinal successful that clip span, up from $381 cardinal successful the year-ago period.

“We judge that we volition proceed to incur operating and nett losses successful the aboriginal portion we grow, including pursuing our archetypal procreation of revenues from the merchantability of our vehicles,” Rivian said successful its prospectus.

As of June, Rivian had conscionable $3 cardinal successful debt. It issued $2.5 cardinal successful unsecured elder convertible notes successful July, expecting those to beryllium converted into banal successful transportation with the IPO. The institution said it had nary borrowings nether its revolving-credit installation arsenic of September.

Its mill is successful Illinois, and utilized to marque vehicles for a Japanese car maker

Rivian makes its vehicles astatine a mill successful Normal, Illinois, which Rivian bought successful 2017. The works was Japanese car shaper Mitsubishi’s lone U.S. factory, and much than 1,000 radical were near without jobs erstwhile the car shaper decided to adjacent it successful 2015. Before that, the works was a JV betwixt Mitsubishi and Chrysler.

Rivian says the mill tin grip the accumulation of astir 150,000 vehicles a year. It plans to grow capableness to 200,000 vehicles a twelvemonth by 2023 “as good arsenic physique further home and planetary factories.”

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The Illinois works is vertically integrated, with the “vast majority” of stamping done successful house. Battery packs and drive-unit assembly is besides done successful house, Rivian said.

The institution works with much than 300 suppliers, prioritizing those person to the plants to chopped down connected costs, it said.

Elsewhere successful the prospectus, Rivian says that it relies connected third-party spot manufacturers and, similar different car makers, has faced the aforesaid shortages that person been plaguing the industry.

Rivian has its office successful Irvine, Calif.

Stores? Try ‘experience spaces’

If immoderate of its strategies look akin to Tesla’s, Rivian appears to beryllium taking a leafage from Chinese EV shaper Nio Inc. NIO, +1.32% erstwhile it comes to its stores.

Nio calls its showrooms and the similar “Nio Houses,” and they are not conscionable places to bargain the company’s EVs. Instead, Nio says its club-style spaces are meant to bring imaginable and existent customers unneurotic to socialize, work, and play. Nio’s archetypal House extracurricular of China opened past week successful Norway.

Rivian wants to connection 4 “experience spaces” for its aboriginal and existent owners.

Its “Hubs” volition beryllium imperishable stores successful large cities “meant to bring an appreciation of the outdoors to municipality centers,” the institution said. “Seasonal Spaces” volition beryllium impermanent stores successful “targeted locations.”

“Outposts” volition beryllium located adjacent tourer spots and purpose to connection cogwheel and conveyance rentals arsenic good arsenic a abstraction to showcase the cars, the institution said.

“Preserves” volition beryllium located farther retired “in nature” connected onshore the institution plans “to conserve and save, portion besides providing the Rivian assemblage an accidental to bask them,” the institution said.

To powerfulness those plans, the institution plans to found its ain web of charging stations arsenic good arsenic connection charging spots successful hotels and different locations. It besides plans to connection fleet charging for its commercialized customers, which would travel with bundle and different tools for fleet management.