Rivian, despite nearing bankruptcy – a situation salvaged by its partner Volkswagen, a major rival to Tesla in the electric vehicle market – is taking a contrarian stance on battery technology. The company’s founder and CEO, RJ. Scaringe, receives a multi-million dollar salary comparable to that of Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk.
Despite its agreement with Volkswagen, Rivian’s CEO is completely rejecting a technology that guarantees over 1,700 km of autonomy and is of interest to the German group.
1,700 km, but a technology this CEO doubts: “it won’t last”
Although another of Volkswagen Group’s partners already offers over 1,700 km of range for its vehicles thanks to this technology, the CEO of Rivian, Tesla’s largest competitor in the U.S., doesn’t believe in it. He sharply criticizes it as “an intermediate technology” and states that his company “will never manufacture one.”
The Rivian CEO made these statements in an interview with the American television channel ABC, where he also pointed out that Tesla’s role as the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles in the United States is not due to the company’s merits, but rather to the “extreme lack of choice” suffered by Americans. He compared this situation to that in China.
Yet, his most significant statements concerned the technology of electric vehicles with extended range, for which only Leapmotor currently offers a model in Spain: the C10 REEV, which has already been tested.
This is a technology that is attracting many manufacturers, including Volkswagen, its main partner. Brands like Xpeng – also a Volkswagen partner and preparing a potentially Spain-bound affordable SUV – already sells models with this technology in China, offering over 1,700 km of range, specifically 1,704 km.
However, this isn’t enough for the CEO of Tesla’s biggest rival, who, while acknowledging the reason “some [manufacturers] are betting on it,” maintains that this technology “wouldn’t make sense” for Rivian, as “it’s not consistent with our brand.”
But RJ. Scaringe reserved his harshest criticism for the end, not hesitating to describe the extended-range electric vehicle technology as having a “complex architecture” and predicting a limited future for it: “it won’t last,” he said.
While the CEO of Tesla’s biggest rival doesn’t believe in this technology, which already offers over 1,700 km of range, Rivian has unveiled what is expected to be the competitor to the Tesla Model Y: the Rivian R2, a 4.72 m long SUV – 4.75 m for the Tesla – offering up to 531 km of range.
