Already the recipient of a major investment from Ford of $US500 million ($A744 million), as well as other injections from Cox Automotive and Amazon (which is also ordering 100,000 vans off the startup), the hype around Rivian suggests the Michigan-based startup could be the next “big thing” after Tesla.
Rivian has let the world in on more details about its part of the funding bargain, namely that its skateboard platforms will be produced for a new all-electric car for Ford’s luxury Lincoln brand.
In November, US media first reported that Lincoln, Ford’s luxury brand, should work on a high-quality electric SUV based on the Rivian platform.
Confirmed to CNN Business by a spokesperson for Rivian, it is understood that the skateboard platform for the Lincoln will be produced at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois factory.
Whether it will be Ford or Rivian that will assemble the vehicles is not yet clear, nor what form the vehicle will take.
Rivian itself has two electric vehicles in the pipeline, the e-pickup truck R1T and the e-SUV R1S, which are expected to go into production in late 2020 with first deliveries to start in 2021.
In San Francisco over the weekend, Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe said that the long-range and high-performance all-electric R1S SUV and R1T utes will come at a price lower than previously promised.
The new electric vehicle for Lincoln will be its first foray into zero-emissions vehicles, and will join its plug-in hybrid Aviator and Corsair SUVs.
Ford is also set to release its all-electric Mustang Mach E from late 2020 and it is rumoured that more than 30,000 reservations have already been taken for the all-electric crossover.
All in all, it has (as of January 2019) 16 all-electric vehicles planned including an electric Ford F-150.
The US car giant has also partnered with German carmaker Volkswagen that will focus on commercial vans and utility vehicles, as well as autonomous technologies.
At the announcement of the Ford/VW partnership, CEO Jim Hackett also said that another “big surprise” could also be expected in 2020.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.