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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

#41

Post by x3haloed »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #26
x3haloed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not convinced that the Cybertruck prices Tesla advertised during the unveiling were anything beyond promotional.

Okay fine. As long as we're not believing announcements, then Rivian’s prices are promotional too. And so are the specs. So this conversation is pointless.

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

#42

Post by greglindahl »

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…

Can you point out comparable US-based car company startups that developed faster and by raising less? There's only one other example, so it's hard to draw any conclusions.

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

#43

Post by x3haloed »

syshum wrote: post #40
x3haloed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>> truck for its utility which one makes more sense Anyone that used thier Truck for actual work will tell you the CyberTruck is 100% not practical as a work Truck for many reasons not the least of which is the Bed (or Vault) design. The CyberTruck seems to appeal to Hipsters and Urbanites that want a "Urban" truck, you are not going to be seeing the CyberTruck on the Farm or Jobsite Ohh it also appeals to Gen X's th…

OK, list them out. What are the reasons that the design is impractical?

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

#44

Post by syshum »

Zanni wrote: post #16
xenospn wrote: post #5

I think most hype over EVs is a direct result of the Tesla stock price and people upset they missed their chance to buy it when it was $20. Probably nothing to do with Rivian or their tech - they just want "the next Tesla".

No, the hype is over the vehicles themselves. EVs are the future. And, as William Gibson famously said, "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed." Once you experience the quiet, convenience and power of an EV, it's hard to go back to an ICE car. We're already past the early-adopter phase. Improvements in price, range and charging infrastructure (already happening) will capture everyone else.

>>We're already past the early-adopter phase

I disagree with that, Longevity of these platforms have yet to be worked out, we are coming up on the time when the first Model S units are going to start having failing batteries. How much is that going to cost?

The Used Car market is what supports New Car sales, Tesla and other EV's are riding on the ability of people to sell off the ICE cars and buy into EV

Once EV has a large enough market share, and that is coming soon, EV resell value will become even more important, and if the cars need a repair that costs the equivalent of a new engine at year 8-10 the resell value of them will PLUMMET

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

#45

Post by greglindahl »

syshum wrote: post #44
Zanni wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the hype is over the vehicles themselves. EVs are the future. And, as William Gibson famously said, "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed." Once you experience the quiet, convenience and power of an EV, it's hard to go back to an ICE car. We're already past the early-adopter phase. Improvements in price, range and charging infrastructure (already happening) will capture everyone else.

>>We're already past the early-adopter phase I disagree with that, Longevity of these platforms have yet to be worked out, we are coming up on the time when the first Model S units are going to start having failing batteries. How much is that going to cost? The Used Car market is what supports New Car sales, Tesla and other EV's are riding on the ability of people to sell off the ICE cars and buy into EV Once EV has…

The Model S has been out long enough that there's plenty of data about used car prices and battery replacements.

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

#46

Post by nickik »

syshum wrote: post #40
x3haloed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>> truck for its utility which one makes more sense Anyone that used thier Truck for actual work will tell you the CyberTruck is 100% not practical as a work Truck for many reasons not the least of which is the Bed (or Vault) design. The CyberTruck seems to appeal to Hipsters and Urbanites that want a "Urban" truck, you are not going to be seeing the CyberTruck on the Farm or Jobsite Ohh it also appeals to Gen X's th…

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.

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

#47

Post by greglindahl »

Gibbon1 wrote: post #39
perardi wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Mild conflict of interest: I'm originally from Central Illinois, Rivian took over the old Mitsubishi plant where my dad worked, so I'm keen to see manufacturing stay around there.) I think the future earnings potential is the "platform". Which sounds like marketing hype, but I'm not so sure. The US is, at least under the current administration, not going to push for EVs, but the rest of the world is trending in that…

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 how much time they save during the rest of the year. Good thing EV sales are low enough that everyone doesn't need to be convinced of this immediately.

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

#48

Post by tartrate »

thdrdt wrote: post #33
x3haloed wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

When it comes to utility design the Rivian is far far ahead. It's not about more conventional but about more convenient. One example: you cannot throw stuff in the back of the Tesla from the side. And when it comes to towing: nobody will use an electric vehicle yet. You can buy a gas truck for half the price with the same towing capacity. A gas truck with the same price as the Tesla will have twice the towing capacit…

Do you mean that you can't throw stuff in the back of the Cybertruck when the bed cover is open? If so, why not?

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

#50

Post by landryraccoon »

syshum wrote: post #44
Zanni wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the hype is over the vehicles themselves. EVs are the future. And, as William Gibson famously said, "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed." Once you experience the quiet, convenience and power of an EV, it's hard to go back to an ICE car. We're already past the early-adopter phase. Improvements in price, range and charging infrastructure (already happening) will capture everyone else.

>>We're already past the early-adopter phase I disagree with that, Longevity of these platforms have yet to be worked out, we are coming up on the time when the first Model S units are going to start having failing batteries. How much is that going to cost? The Used Car market is what supports New Car sales, Tesla and other EV's are riding on the ability of people to sell off the ICE cars and buy into EV Once EV has…

I'm willing to bet that the EV battery longevity is even longer than advertised. I have a ten year old battery in my hybrid car and as of yet I have zero reason to replace it.
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