Is Rivian the Up coming Tesla? Investors Bet Big on Electrical Truck Maker

Another large craze reshaping the vehicle industry is autonomous cars and trucks. On Tuesday, Cruise, a unit of G.M. that is working in that place, introduced it experienced lifted $2 billion from Microsoft, G.M., Honda and other traders. Rivian and Tesla are also doing the job on automated-driving technological innovation.

Rivian is distinct from Tesla in a number of respects. Tesla so much has developed by selling sporty sedans, a kind of automobile that is slipping out of favor with customers. Tesla intends to get started creating an oddly angular, futuristic pickup, the Cybertruck, this 12 months. But it has not but place major concentration on the vehicles and S.U.V.s that make up 75 percent of the passenger automobile current market in the United States.

Rivian, on the other hand, is targeted on making “adventure” automobiles that proprietors can consider off road, an strategy that usually means Rivian will not normally compete head to head with Tesla.

“There’s a perception that this is winner get all, and which is just mistaken,” Mr. Scaringe said. “Consumers want to have various makes, unique flavors. Our achievements is not at all mutually exclusive to others’ achievement.”

Rebecca Puck Stair is the form of car customer Rivian hopes to appeal to. A film site scout in Albuquerque, she has been fascinated in purchasing an electric powered vehicle for a number of decades, but requires substantial floor clearance and four-wheel generate for assignments that just take her into the desert.

“That didn’t exist in the market,” she mentioned. “A Tesla doesn’t fit my needs.”

About a calendar year ago, she listened to about Rivian for the to start with time and set a deposit down on an S.U.V. the subsequent working day — like Tesla, the corporation does not prepare to market by way of dealers. Ms. Stair has noticed the Cybertruck, but the style and design is not for her. “It just screams ‘obnoxious person truck,’” she stated, laughing.

Rivian’s truck and S.U.V., which get started at $67,500, appear far more regular, as if they could have been built by Land Rover.