Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 99 posts

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#81

Post by freehunter »

therealforsen wrote: post #79
freehunter wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're conflating need with desire... and you're also wrong. Not everyone who drives a pickup needs a pickup. That's pretty apparent by the fact that the F-150 is the highest selling vehicle in the US while less than 20% of Americans live in rural areas. Plenty of people buy pickup trucks and also live in the city. Even living in the countryside, most people in rural areas don't need (or even own) pickup trucks. And…

> Plumbers, construction workers, contractors, lawn care/snowplows. You say an electric pickup truck is a great status symbol, but I doubt it is to the majority of people in those professions you just mentioned. The people who view pickup trucks as a status symbol want massive and loud ones. Electric cars are very light, and very quiet.

>The people who view pickup trucks as a status symbol want massive and loud ones.

Sometimes, but not always. The F-150 Platinum is neither massive nor loud but it costs $60,000. The base price of an F-150 is around $28,000, so the Platinum is status symbol of wealth and comfort.

If the F-150 can be used both by construction workers looking for something basic and cheap as well as rich people looking for a luxury car, I don't see that changing just because you swapped the V6 for an electric motor.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#82

Post by jschwartzi »

cptskippy wrote: post #73
chewyland wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised it even has a spare. Really surprised.

Why? To me this truck is like the Mercedes G Class, it isn't meant to be practical or realistic. It's a status symbol meant to perpetuate an image. It has to meet all of the expectations one would have of a pickup truck even though it will never be used like one.

I would use the shit out of this thing as a pickup truck. It meets all my needs for something I can drive to a trailhead fully loaded with other hikers.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#83

Post by linuxftw »

I've been an electric car naysayer for some time. I just don't think the price to value is there. However, with proper towing and payload, these could have a large impact on the job-site truck market. It's common to have to travel > 60 miles each way for construction type jobs, and this much range would fit the bill.

Bed just needs to be longer. At $61k and about $25k (roughly) in fuel savings over an F250 diesel over 250k miles, this could potentially be a huge win.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#84

Post by cptskippy »

jschwartzi wrote: post #82
cptskippy wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? To me this truck is like the Mercedes G Class, it isn't meant to be practical or realistic. It's a status symbol meant to perpetuate an image. It has to meet all of the expectations one would have of a pickup truck even though it will never be used like one.

I would use the shit out of this thing as a pickup truck. It meets all my needs for something I can drive to a trailhead fully loaded with other hikers.

I'm not saying there isn't a market for electric trucks, I'm just saying that few people are in the market for an electric pickup truck in the $100k+ price range for off-roading.

Judging by the specs on these things, I'd honestly be surprised if they could produce these for less than $125k.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#85

Post by sangnoir »

RankingMember wrote: post #63
TylerH wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's likely that Amazon and GM want far more control in the car manufacturing process than someone like Elon Musk would be willing to give. So it's not so much why Amazon and GM aren't willing, but that Musk isn't. Rivian makes superb trucks, but it's incredibly small right now and not likely to last a long time without some kind of deep-pocket investment... especially considering its business strategy is as much an…

> Rivian makes superb trucks I want EV makers to succeed, but these vehicles haven't even launched yet (won't until 2020), so how can you say that? We'll know what kind of truck they really are once the general public gets their hands on them.

Not parent, but we can make judgements on the specs alone - 180 kWh battery, 400+ mile-range, one motor per wheel (with possibility of left and right wheels going in opposite directions - they could theoretically reduce turning radius to almost 0 like a forklift or tank). That sounds superb to me.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#86

Post by bronco21016 »

whalesalad wrote: post #13
bronco21016 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that for all steering? That sounds like a tremendous waste of tires.

When you are not on pavement it makes sense. The vehicle steers like a normal truck most of the time but has the ability to steer in place if necessary. Sand, snow, gravel etc...

Makes sense. My intial reading left me thinking it ONLY used differential wheel speed to steer.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#87

Post by RankingMember »

sangnoir wrote: post #85
RankingMember wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rivian makes superb trucks I want EV makers to succeed, but these vehicles haven't even launched yet (won't until 2020), so how can you say that? We'll know what kind of truck they really are once the general public gets their hands on them.

Not parent, but we can make judgements on the specs alone - 180 kWh battery, 400+ mile-range, one motor per wheel (with possibility of left and right wheels going in opposite directions - they could theoretically reduce turning radius to almost 0 like a forklift or tank). That sounds superb to me.

> we can make judgements on the specs alone

Can we? The vehicles we've seen are concepts. We know nothing of the build quality, reliability, safety, or a multitude of other characteristics of a mass-production version of these vehicles. A hand-built concept vehicle built in extremely low volumes for press outings (what they have now) would be expected to be impressive, but the real test is whether all of those wonderful specs make it to mass production in a safe, reliable, high-build-quality package (...that doesn't bankrupt the company in the process).

The automotive industry is littered with the corpses of companies who touted killer concepts w/ insane specs but couldn't make it happen, or did, and the production vehicle was but a shadow of the concept. Tesla is amazing in that it didn't become one of these companies. That Rivian can mass produce these vehicles to the touted specs for the given prices should not be assumed, and to look at a few concept vehicles and company-provided specs and say "Rivian makes superb trucks" brings to mind George W Bush's premature "Mission Accomplished" banner from way back when. I hope for their success, but they're pretty far from the finish line right now, and getting there will be a real challenge; just ask Elon Musk.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#88

Post by yellowapple »

jschwartzi wrote: post #82
cptskippy wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? To me this truck is like the Mercedes G Class, it isn't meant to be practical or realistic. It's a status symbol meant to perpetuate an image. It has to meet all of the expectations one would have of a pickup truck even though it will never be used like one.

I would use the shit out of this thing as a pickup truck. It meets all my needs for something I can drive to a trailhead fully loaded with other hikers.

And it meets all of my needs hauling stuff around on less-than-ideal road conditions (or no road at all). It's expensive and fancy-looking, but it still looks to be quite usable.

My issues with it boil down more to the exclusively-touchscreen interface (it's the exact opposite of what I want to use while driving) and the high pricetag compared to, say, a Tacoma.

Re: Amazon, GM in talks to invest in electric pickup truck maker Rivian: sources

#89

Post by yellowapple »

cptskippy wrote: post #84
jschwartzi wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would use the shit out of this thing as a pickup truck. It meets all my needs for something I can drive to a trailhead fully loaded with other hikers.

I'm not saying there isn't a market for electric trucks, I'm just saying that few people are in the market for an electric pickup truck in the $100k+ price range for off-roading. Judging by the specs on these things, I'd honestly be surprised if they could produce these for less than $125k.

Apparently the target starting price (for baseline) is at the mid-80k range for the large battery model and closer to 60k for the medium and small battery models: https://www.motortrend.com/news/2020-rivian-r1t-ev-first-loo...

That might very well be ambitious, though, and even if they do meet those targets, that's still considerably more expensive than a Tacoma.

Post reply on HN