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Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

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Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#81

Post by nickik »

x3haloed wrote: post #56
nickik wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only actual reason I have heard is that Cybertruck makes it harder to load from the side. However I have heard why the utility of the frunk, integrated Ramp, the automatic cover, active suspension and so on would not make up for that.

Right. You tell me which truck you'd rather load boxes and furniture into. https://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TeslaElectri...

The Cybertruck can go much lower then most trucks because of active suspension. So clearly the Cybertruck.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#82

Post by ctdonath »

greglindahl wrote: post #47
Gibbon1 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just lowering fleet emissions, it's also while consumers are stupidly fixated on price commercial looks at TCO. EV's TCO is lower. There is also something I learned about golf carts. For consumers being able to gas up a car is a convenience. For fleet operators having to deal with fuel is a pain in the ass they do not want.

Most EV owners with at-home or at-work charging appreciate the convenience of not having to go to "gas stations" other than during long trips. This is an issue that the general public has yet to fully think out... every EV thread on HN has a few folks talking about how it's impossible to take a long trip in an EV because they'd have to spend time charging during it. And these same folks are usually not considering ho…

Finally someone else notices.

Major benefit is the car is "topped off" every morning, so charging time is practically zero most of the time.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#83

Post by luckydata »

x3haloed wrote: post #20
thdrdt wrote: post #6

The Rivian is a truck you need, the Tesla is a truck you want. And the Revian will be road legal in Europe.

I think it's actually quite the opposite. If you need a truck for its utility which one makes more sense? The Cybertruck is less expensive, has more range, bigger payload, higher towing capacity, access to the best charging network in the world. Why would you buy a Rivian instead? The only reason I can think of is that it looks more conventional. If you need a truck, you buy the Tesla. If you want a lifestyle truck t…

the problem with the Cybertruck is going to be its size, it's humongous, it's in the same class as a Ford F-250. Going to be hard for a lot of folks to find the space for that behemoth, especially for the people that like to camp but don't have hard core needs like farmers and construction workers. I think Rivian will have the suburban-outdoors people market down pat if they ever manage to actually ship and the car doesn't suck.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#84

Post by judge2020 »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #9

> On Monday, Rivian announced it had raised $1.3 billion in its fourth funding round of the year, led by T. Rowe Price, bringing its total for 2019 to nearly $2.9 billion. > Rivian has been quietly developing vehicles for a decade, but it seized the industry’s attention in late 2018, when it unveiled a pair of eye-catching, high-end electric trucks. Rivian raised $2.9 billion over four funding rounds in the span of o…

Sound familiar?

> Tesla was founded in 2003

https://www.tesla.com/about

> By January 2009, Tesla had raised US$187 million and delivered 147 cars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla,_Inc.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#85

Post by threeseed »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #60
KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's strange about this? When it doesn't have anything to show investors shy away. Prove its chops with some impressive prototypes and investors rush in.

I am skeptical that Rivian has "proven its chops". Consider Magic Leap, a company with a some impressive prototypes that used its $2.6 billion of funding to… sell 6,000 headsets, out of a goal of one million. https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/06/report-magic-leaps-early-d...

You really think Amazon and Ford would place such large orders for vehicles if Rivian hadn't "proven its chops".

And Rivian is a variation on a proven technology. Magic Leap is a completely new one. Not comparable in the slightest.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#86

Post by threeseed »

jfim wrote: post #55
unlinked_dll wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strange thing is running a business for a decade without bringing a product to market. Prototypes be damned, they aren’t revenue.

It's manufacturing, not software. While one can produce one million copies of a binary for cheap and no lead time, producing one million physical objects requires setting up production lines, quality control checks, rework stations, warehousing, supply chains and controls, and so on.

Not to mention all of the regulatory requirements at the state and federal levels across many countries.

Selling a car isn't far off trying to sell a medical device.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#87

Post by threeseed »

fastball wrote: post #12
jcims wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I think the innovation here is in the business model, not the engineering. I really do like the four motor design on the Rivian platform though. It opens up a lot of possibilities for improved performance/handling/safety and off-road capability. The 'tank turn' demo is kind of a gimmick but also not - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzwM8KE2L3I Edit: Add mecanum wheels and you could strafe (at least until they f…

Could you not do that with the three-motor cybertruck?

No. You can do a different manoeuvre but it isn't a tank turn.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#88

Post by threeseed »

loceng wrote: post #7
thdrdt wrote: post #6

The Rivian is a truck you need, the Tesla is a truck you want. And the Revian will be road legal in Europe.

Tesla could relatively rapidly release a comparable competitor if it becomes obvious they are losing a large market share for certain segment.

Model Y is basically a clone of the Model 3 and it's still not out.

You simply can't rapidly make a new car. Years at minimum.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#89

Post by threeseed »

electriclove wrote: post #63
jakelazaroff wrote: post #9

> On Monday, Rivian announced it had raised $1.3 billion in its fourth funding round of the year, led by T. Rowe Price, bringing its total for 2019 to nearly $2.9 billion. > Rivian has been quietly developing vehicles for a decade, but it seized the industry’s attention in late 2018, when it unveiled a pair of eye-catching, high-end electric trucks. Rivian raised $2.9 billion over four funding rounds in the span of o…

It is yet another effort (fuel cell, Nikola, lucid, workhorse) by the existing industry to divert attention and money away from the few players (mainly Tesla) that are actually delivering battery electric vehicles. /tinfoil

Few players ?

There are are dozens and dozens of companies delivering EV vehicles including big players like VW, BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, Audi, Volvo etc. Could be even hundreds based on what what little we know from all of the skunkwork projects.

Re: Rivian's platform approach to electric vehicles helped it raise $3B this year

#90

Post by threeseed »

hourislate wrote: post #66
jakelazaroff wrote: post #9

> On Monday, Rivian announced it had raised $1.3 billion in its fourth funding round of the year, led by T. Rowe Price, bringing its total for 2019 to nearly $2.9 billion. > Rivian has been quietly developing vehicles for a decade, but it seized the industry’s attention in late 2018, when it unveiled a pair of eye-catching, high-end electric trucks. Rivian raised $2.9 billion over four funding rounds in the span of o…

I've stopped paying attention to all these auto manufactures like Rivian, VW, etc. All they do is keep announcing how they are going to take the industry by storm but yet never release a product or are working on it. Meanwhile Tesla pumps out a few thousand vehicles a month and the media makes it sound like it in big trouble. Ford, GM, VW are junk.I wouldn't buy any of their vehicles ICE or Electric. I worked for For…

Not sure what you are talking about.

VW Group has already released a car which is in the hands of customers today i.e. Porsche Taycan. And there are plenty of EV cars today from the big auto manufacturers e.g. Audi, BMW, Mercedes. Some of which even outsell all Tesla cars in a country or two.

And it's hilarious to see you go on about car companies pre-announcing products when Tesla did exactly the same with the Cybertruck, Model Y, Roadster, Semi.

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