Rivian’s R1T electric truck and R1S SUV have been showered with praise from reviewers, but the least expensive costs $74,800, meaning they’re not exactly bargains. Or are they? Factor in the $33,000 Rivian loses on each vehicle, and the R1S and R1T start to look like Cyber Monday deals that are available every day of the year.
That hit Rivian is taking on each EV – equivalent to the starting price of a base ICE Ford F-150, the Wall Street Journal points out in a recent analysis – is causing it to rapidly burn through much of the firm’s $18 billion cash pot. Some of that financial hurt can be put down to Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, plant running at just one-third of its full capacity to meet the 52,000-unit production estimate the company published for this year. The trucks are also more complicated to build than rivals like Ford’s F-150 Lightning.
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