Racing Towards The World's First Electric Pickup

On Friday, Rivian revealed it closed a $2.5 billion funding round, led by existing investors Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F), and T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW). Also last week, Rivian revealed its plans to build a second assembly plant in the U.S. as it moves towards beginning production of its all-electric pickup and SUV.

Investment To Date

In January, Rivian closed a $2.65 billion investment round. Last July, it gathered another $2.5 billion. Back in December 2019, it raised $1.3 billion and it gathered at least $1.5 billion before that. To date, the EV start-up has raised about $10.5 billion. The fresh part of the funding will be committed to expanding new vehicles, the company's domestic facility footprint, and rolling out its products across the globe.

The Electric Pickup

The production of its electric pickup and SUV is planned to begin at its existing plant in Normal, Illinois. However, two weeks ago, the startup notified buyers that deliveries of R1T pickup will be delayed until September whereas the R1S SUV won't come until later in the fall. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe blamed a number of pandemic-related issues including facility construction, equipment installation, and shortage of vehicle component supply as the industry is battling with semiconductor shortage. Even General Motors (NYSE: GM) has been forced to halt most North American production of its profitable full-size pickup trucks recently due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips. The production of Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ: TSLA) eagerly awaited cybertruck has been postponed for 2022 due to supply chain breakdowns. However, the delays for retail customers have not impacted Rivian's plans to provide electric delivery vehicles to its partner and investor Amazon.

The Solar-Powered Pickup

The upcoming Atlis XT electric pickup and Alpha Electric Pickup built by Hercules Electric Mobility Inc. in partnership with b (OTC: NSANF) and Atlis Motor Vehicles, respectively will be enhanced by the TerraVis solar charging system. TerraVis tonneau cover system is a recently introduced fusion of cutting-edge solar power, storage, and delivery, developed by the revolutionary and already established tonneau-cover manufacturer Worksport Ltd (OTC: WKSP). The prototype will be fine-tuned and validated with the expertise of the Ontario Tech University by the end of the year, with production expected to accelerate in 2022.

Auto Industry Keeps Poaching Tech Executives

GM brought on Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) and Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) executives to support its connected, autonomous, and electric transformation. Stellantis (NYSE: STLA) has hired Ned Curic, Amazon's vice president of Alexa Automotive who previously worked at Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) as its first chief technology officer.

Although the exact date of the world's first electric pickup is unknown as well as the winner of the race, it is beyond clear already that it will be a majestic vehicle tech-wise with a variety of body shapes scheduled to come to the market.

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Image by (Joenomias) Menno de Jong from Pixabay