Rivian’s big plans are undeterred by EV policy changes under Trump, says CEO RJ Scaringe
"The future of transportation will be electric," Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said. Rivian's "flagship space" in San Francisco opened its doors to the public Jan. 24. ·Automotive News
SAN FRANCISCO — Rivian Automotive is accelerating its plans to become a mass-market automaker despite the likely repeal of broad electric vehicle incentives by the Trump administration, CEO RJ Scaringe said.
“I don’t think we’re particularly worried about any of it because whatever happens will be equally applied to all,” Scaringe said at a preview of Rivian’s new San Francisco showroom Jan. 23. “I started the company with the view of making highly compelling products and none of my decision to start Rivian had anything to do with what the policy was going to look like.”
Rivian is expecting repeal of the $7,500 consumer tax incentive and the likely end of automaker tax credits for battery production, Scaringe said. “I think in the end it’s sort of like there’s small speed bumps along the way and it’s on us to respond to whatever that environment is.”
While the loss of tax breaks will likely set back the broader EV industry, Scaringe said the long-term trend of vehicle electrification is unstoppable and Rivian is a key player pushing U.S. progress. Rivian launched its first vehicle in late 2021.
“We’re really talking about U.S. leadership in the future of technology as it pertains to transportation,” Scaringe said. “This is not a political thing. It’s not like the left wants to move to electrification. It’s that the future of transportation will be electric.”
Rivian has been on a roll lately in securing funding for its expansion plans after burning through billions of dollars to develop its platform for software-defined vehicles, to establish its first factory in Normal, Ill. and to build out its retail and service network.
The Irvine, Calif., automaker closed a $6.6 billion loan deal with the U.S. Department of Energy in the waning days of the Biden administration Jan. 16. The loan will support construction of a second assembly plant near Atlanta.
It’s unclear if the Trump administration will try to cancel the Department of Energy loan to Rivian, according to analysts.
When asked about that, Scaringe said: “We signed a legally binding agreement with the Department of Energy, to be clear. And, of course, that loan has a whole host of conditions that we negotiated over the last couple years.”
Separately, Rivian completed its $5.8 billion joint venture agreement with Volkswagen Group announced in November. Rivian’s advanced electrical architecture and software will be integrated into future vehicles from multiple VW brands, the companies have said. The joint venture is headquartered at Rivian’s offices in Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Rivian’s near-term goal is to scale its production from about 50,000 vehicles annually to hundreds of thousands before the end of the decade, the company has said. The next step is expanding its lineup from the R1T pickup and R1S crossover, which start above $70,000 including shipping, to more affordable models.
The EV brand is on track to launch the R2 crossover, starting at around $45,000, in the first half of 2026 out of its Illinois plant. A less expensive crossover, the R3, will follow after the Georgia plant opens in 2028, Rivian has said. Combined, the two plants will have annual production capacity in excess of 600,000.
One side effect of the likely loss of the EV tax breaks, which were established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is a pullback in electric vehicle development by legacy brands, to their detriment, Scaringe said.
“The challenge with some of these short-term changes, for the world and for the U.S. leadership in technology, is that it will cause some manufacturers to invest less in electrification,” Scaringe said. “And I think that’s probably good for Rivian from a competitive landscape, but bad for the world.”
Some legacy automakers may be tempted to lean into combustion-engine vehicles to maximize short-term profits, he said.
“If you’re optimizing purely for profitability in the next 2 to 3 years and you’re a traditional legacy manufacturer, you can see how you can very easily make a spreadsheet case of ‘Let’s double down on combustion or hybrids,’” Scaringe said. “I think that is a big miscalculation for the long term.”
Impact of possible tariffs on trading partners
In addition to a shift in EV policy, Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on key trading partners, such as Mexico, could be a more immediate threat to the U.S. auto industry, he said.
“The auto industry, uniquely for the United States, is dependent on Mexico for a lot of our supply chain,” Scaringe said. “It’s not as if it’s one supplier. It’s like many, many, many hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in Mexico in production capacity for supply chains that supply all of us, that will need to get remapped or will just carry a higher cost.”
Trump said he plans to implement 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico by Feb. 1. The three countries belong to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Trump negotiated in his first term to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“It’s hard to predict how that’s going to go,” Scaringe said of the tariff threat. “Fortunately for us, we do have a lot of content that’s built in the United States. But when the supply chain gets more expensive, especially when you look at Tier 2s, Tier 3s, it ripples to everybody.”
