The electric car scene in the United States is marked by three powerful local brands that do not stop growing. We are talking about Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian, with the latter two trying to ‘hunt’ Elon Musk’s company, which has years of advantage with its range of electric vehicles around the world.
It was precisely Tesla that opened the ban this year with a general and aggressive drop in prices, to maintain its market share and maintain the productive capacity of its gigafactories. Other brands followed suit, such as BYD in China.
In North America, even Lucid Motors recently took center stage with the announcement of price cuts that reached as much as 18% on some models, which meant a reduction of up to $29,000 in the case of the Lucid Air Grand Touring.
Rivian R1T.
Rivian ‘passes’ from Tesla and Lucid and goes about his business
The other big brand of electric cars in the United States, Rivian, takes a very different path (for now). His executive director, RJ Scaringe, has wanted to make it clear, showing his confidence in the order book that his first two models currently have.
Rivian’s first electric cars arrived in 2021: the R1S SUV and R1T pick-up, both of which continue to see increased production numbers. The brand “will not give in to market pressure” and will not lower its prices to boost sales.
“We take a very methodical and thoughtful approach to how we view the prices of our cars. We feel pretty comfortable with positioning what we’ve done so far,” says RJ Scaringe, who sees “continued strong demand” for its electric vehicles.
Both R1S and R1T have a wide range of prices, which also allows them to qualify for federal aid, as they are manufactured on US soil, with local battery materials, and for having a base price of less than $80,000. In the case of the Rivian R1T, for example, the range starts at $74,800, about 68,100 euros to change.
“ We are very confident in the continued order book and great visibility into 2024 with the established order book,” says the Rivian boss, who says it will still take several months for them to meet current production rates. And meanwhile, the brand will continue to focus on what it is achieving: increasing the production chain and reducing costs. “It’s our path to profitability,” concludes Scaringe.
Rivian is expected to land in Europe this year. Everything indicates that the R1S SUV will be the first to reach our roads, at a price that should be around 36,000-55,000 euros before taxes. Subsequently, more towards 2025, a new model still in development is expected, the R2, with a more compact and affordable approach on a completely new platform, as well as an R3, a step above in size and that could arrive in a format saloon already for 2027.
