However, the path has not been easy. Rivian is projected to lose $3.6 billion in 2025, and has wasted nearly $25 billion over the past eight years. It has spent more money than almost every other pure EV maker over the same period. Rivian’s IPO was the largest worldwide in 2021 and one of the largest in US history, valuing the company at more than $100 billion in a matter of days. Its stock has fallen from a high of $130 to around $16. Since the R1 went on sale in 2021, Rivian has sold 175,000 cars. In the same period, Tesla has sold 8 million.
But in 2024, Volkswagen Group committed up to $5.8 billion to co-develop software and electrical architecture technology with Rivian in a giant joint venture. This year, Uber announced it would invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian to build and deploy 50,000 fully autonomous robotaxis.
Regardless, the company needs its new R2 SUV to work. Don’t just sell, but sell in large numbers.
I sat down with Scaringe for a candid, wide-ranging discussion about what happens if the R2 fails, why the R1 launched with dead-end technology, how to compete with China, the failure of the Cybertruck, and the merits of buttons inside cars. But we started on easier ground: their thoughts on the most polarizing EV of 2026. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Jeremy White: What do you think of Ferrari’s Luce?
RJ Scaringe: the way johnny [Ive] and mark [Newson] The approach design is incredibly deliberate, so none of the decisions on that car are unintentional. Through that lens, you have to look at it in a different light. It’s definitely different than what people expect.
However, do you like loos?
Would I buy it? I don’t have a Ferrari. There are a few things about it that I really like. The interior parts are absolutely amazing, like how beautifully executed the haptics, switches, buttons are. You can see Johnny’s fingerprints on it.
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