How Do I Buy a Rivian Truck? Automaker Produces First EV Pickup

Electric vehicles provide a much more eco-efficient way of transportation. They have the potential to significantly reduce the world’s carbon emissions and have less of a carbon footprint. President Biden has been an avid supporter of electric vehicles. He pointed out that China has surpassed the U.S. in the race for electric vehicles. NIO, one of the top electric vehicle manufacturers in China, has been successful in recent years and has been deemed a global competitor to Tesla.

There are multiple companies that have electric cars available to purchase in the U.S. including Ford, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, and of course Tesla. However, none of these companies have an electric pickup truck available in the U.S. Many companies are developing electric pickup trucks, but they aren't commercially available for U.S. consumers. One company beat all of them to the punch—Rivian Automotive Inc.

With President Biden’s executive order last month, he aims to have 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. be zero-emission vehicles by 2030. Those vehicles can include battery-electric models, plug-in hybrids, or fuel cell electric. This adds to President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda and Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. He wants to increase manufacturing opportunities and decrease pollution.

Rivian is a private company that makes electric vehicles for both off-road and on-road driving. Founded in 2009, the company currently offers an SUV, the R1S, and a truck model, the R1T. On Sept. 14, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe announced on Twitter that the company had its first customer for the R1T truck. Rivian is the first EV company to offer an electric truck commercially.

Rivian has received support from various companies throughout the years. It received a $500 million investment from Ford in April 2019. Rivian also got an investment from Amazon that year worth $700 million. Ford and Amazon have continued their investments. Both companies were involved in leading a funding round earlier this year and Rivian raised a reported $2.5 billion.

Ford’s partnership involves using Rivian’s unique skateboard platform build for its EV models. Amazon has been testing out delivery services with Rivian’s electric vehicles. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly even has used a Rivian truck himself.

Currently, Rivian has the R1T and R1S models for sale on its website. However, the company says that online orders won’t start being delivered until January 2022. The truck model starts at $67,5000, while the SUV model starts at $70,000.

Rivian filed for an IPO in late August. While you might not be able to purchase shares at the IPO price, the company plans to go public around Thanksgiving. So, the stock should be on the public market by the end of the year. Rivian hopes to have a valuation of approximately $80 billion.