Rivian burst onto the scene in 2021 with the R1T, the first electric pickup truck to reach customers in the United States. The company followed up with the R1S three-row SUV, both built on a skateboard platform at its factory in Normal, Illinois. These aren’t city EVs — Rivian designed them for off-road capability with quad-motor all-wheel drive, adjustable air suspension, and a tank-turn mode that spins the truck in place.
The commercial side of the business is equally ambitious. Rivian developed a custom electric delivery van (EDV) for Amazon, which ordered 100,000 units as part of its Climate Pledge commitment. Thousands of these vans are already on the road delivering packages in cities across the U.S. The partnership represents a massive guaranteed revenue stream and a real-world testing ground for Rivian’s commercial platform.
Rivian raised $13.7 billion in its 2021 IPO — the largest of that year — and has invested heavily in manufacturing scale. The company broke ground on a second factory in Georgia (though timelines shifted) and launched second-generation R1 vehicles in 2024 with improved efficiency, a new electrical architecture, and in-house drive units. With roughly 17,000 employees, Rivian is working to reach positive gross margins by improving production efficiency and cutting material costs per vehicle while expanding its Rivian Adventure Network of DC fast chargers.
