Electric Truck Maker Rivian: Here's What You Should Know

Electric truck startup Rivian has received a major investment from some well-known companies.

The $1.3 billion in new funding, announced on Monday, was led by asset management firm T. Rowe Price with Amazon, Ford, and funds managed by investment firm BlackRock also participating.

The latest investment, along with the $1.55 billion in previous funding from Amazon, Ford, and Cox Automotive, have helped to propel Rivian into the spotlight in the burgeoning electric vehicle market. The company plans to build pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, along with delivery trucks for Amazon.

With its funding, Rivian says it will be able to move into 2020 with the money it needs for its plan to start selling an all-electric pickup truck and sport utility vehicle (SUV) late next year. But it also puts Rivian on a path to do much more.

Read on to learn more about Rivian:

What are Rivian’s plans?

Rivian, founded in 2009, has big plans for the electric vehicle market. It has said it would premiere the R1T all-electric pickup truck and R1S all-electric SUV in late 2020—both with ranges of up to 400 miles on a single charge.

Unlike electric vehicles from Chevrolet and Tesla, Rivian’s are designed for driving on-road and off-road. The company has promised that its R1T would be able to tow and haul loads that are similar in size to what gas-powered pickup trucks can handle.

An important element of Rivian’s car production is its “skateboard,” a chassis that can be used in different kinds of vehicle that lets the company avoid having to design different ones for each vehicle. That could ultimately speed up manufacturing times and reduce costs.

Rivian is accepting pre-orders for the R1T, which costs $69,000, and the R1S, which is $72,500.

Are Rivian and Tesla competitors?

Earlier this year, Rivian and Tesla weren’t direct competitors. While both companies make electric vehicles, Rivian is focused on pickup trucks and the market for people who want to go off-roading or camping with their vehicles. Tesla, on the other hand, has been focused on sedans.

But just last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk upended that when he unveiled the Cybertruck, a new all-electric pickup truck that Tesla plans to start selling in 2021.

The companies may also find themselves competing for logistics. That’s because Tesla is working on Semi, an all-electric truck that is designed to compete with diesel-powered 18-wheelers and is said to be ready for production in late 2020.

Rivian isn’t believed to be working on a Semi competitor, but it has signed an agreement with Amazon to produce 100,000 delivery vans that Amazon will use starting in 2021.

Why have Amazon, Ford, and T. Rowe Price invested in Rivian?

Rivian’s CEO didn’t say exactly why T. Rowe Price invested, but he did say that the significant funding shows faith in the company’s “team, products, technology and strategy.”

Meanwhile, Amazon made its $700 million investment this year a few months before CEO Jeff Bezos said that Rivian would produce 100,000 delivery vans for Amazon. The first of those vans are supposed to be ready in 2021. Amazon is quickly expanding its logistics business. It’s unclear whether those vans would replace existing vehicles or be used to expand its fleet.

In April, Ford invested $500 million into Rivian and said that it would work with Rivian to build a new vehicle based on Rivian’s skateboard chassis. The companies didn’t say when the Ford-Rivian vehicle would be ready.