R1T “Performance” pickup, low cost battery, improved Amazon truck

It’s hard to ignore American electric car maker Rivian these days, even with the constant hype of Tesla news.

What drives all this? Rivian stock price – was on a hot streak that started on June 26th. As of Friday (when it fell), the stock had risen more than 90 percent during that period.

Rivian’s third-quarter earnings announcement on July 3 reignited the rally. As widely reported, Rivian said it delivered 12,640 vehicles in the second quarter, up 59% from the previous quarter and 183% from the same quarter a year earlier, beating analysts’ estimates. The company also said it expects to deliver 50,000 vehicles in the fiscal year, more than double the nearly 20,000 units delivered in fiscal 2022.

But there is a lot behind this increase including:

Pros include:

• New dual-engine models: New R1T dual-motor pickups (via Electrek). Available now on Rivian’s online configurator. These two models sit below the top-of-the-line four-motor all-wheel-drive model. The dual-motor model uses Rivian’s internal Enduro drive units, CEO RJ Scaringe noted in a recent Bloomberg interview. The new dual-motor “Performance” all-wheel drive offers many of the benefits of the four-motor model at a lower price. (Updated to reflect clarification of dual-engine models.)
• Enduro drive unit: The new enduro drive unit, which began production in February… “represents for us… a complete embodiment of what we believe we can achieve in terms of both product engineering as well as our manufacturing engineering teams,” Scaringe said during the first-quarter earnings conference call. .
• LFP battery and IRA compatible batteries: Rivian is moving to lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery packs, leading to lower costs. Future batteries will be IRA compliant, allowing customers to get the full $7,500 tax credit, which is not currently possible on Rivian vehicles.
• R1 improvements: “When we think about the (Amazon electric van) experience…with the Enduro ramp and the LFP integration,” CEO Scaringe said on a first-quarter earnings conference call, referring to the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV. “And that 25% (cost) reduction has a real impact.” , and we expect to see something similar in R1 as we look at the next two quarters at the beginning of next year.
• Future Platform R2: “Rivian’s business will grow disproportionately” based on the upcoming R2 platform scheduled for release by 2026, according to Scaringe, as “the R2 platform represents a significant step up in scale at a much lower price point, and a much larger addressable market,” he said recently. to Bloomberg, adding that R2 will now be the “primary focus” for Rivian.
• Trucks equipped with Enduro drive unit and LFP battery: Amazon now has 5,000 Rivian-manufactured electric delivery vans (EDV) on the road in the United States, the e-commerce company said earlier this month. Amazon will begin rolling out electric delivery vans to drivers in the summer of 2022. Plans call for having 100,000 electric vans on the road by 2030. During the first-quarter earnings conference call, Scaringe said that “100% of… vans are moving to an LFP package configuration.” And the Enduro Drive Unit… The introduction of the Enduro battery pack (drive unit) and LFP into the EDV has enabled us to reduce the EDV bill of materials by approximately 25%.”
• Who in Europe: Amazon has also brought the vans to Europe and recently announced that more than 300 vehicles will hit the road in Germany.
• Rivian gains a foothold in key markets: Rivian is catching up in key markets. Trendy recreational spots like Lake Tahoe have become hotspots for rural people. A sign that buyers of outdoor adventure and off-road recreational vehicles — a key market segment — have bought into the Rivian story.
• Analyst’s comments (Mizuho): Rivian noted that strong momentum in the first half of the year could push EV deliveries higher than expected, says Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh. The analyst increased his price target on Rivian stock from $27 per share to $30 per share and reiterated a Buy rating.
• Analyst comments (Wedbush): Upgrade price target from Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, citing a “major turning point” in production (via Yahoo Finance). Ives raised his stock price target to $30 per share from $25.

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