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Ford announces $500M investment in Rivian, plans to build a BEV on Rivian's platform


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It's almost a cottage industry in the press these days to announce roughly on a monthly basis that there is a 'definite Tesla killer' right around the block. Tesla is simply years ahead of everybody else in relation to several issues. First of all, in terms of the critical triad of battery, electronics, and integrated operating systems (they even have their own computer chips), Tesla has a really sizable lead. Secondly, they have a simply huge if not utterly dominant position in charging technology and charging infrastructure (12K chargers worldwide, not including destination chargers which are free for all Tesla autos). 

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18 minutes ago, mlhm5 said:

It's almost a cottage industry in the press these days to announce roughly on a monthly basis that there is a 'definite Tesla killer' right around the block. Tesla is simply years ahead of everybody else in relation to several issues. First of all, in terms of the critical triad of battery, electronics, and integrated operating systems (they even have their own computer chips), Tesla has a really sizable lead. Secondly, they have a simply huge if not utterly dominant position in charging technology and charging infrastructure (12K chargers worldwide, not including destination chargers which are free for all Tesla autos). 

Wow - 6.5 years between posts.  That must be a record.

Tesla has a huge advantage except in 2 places:   profitability and sales volume.   Tech doesn't matter if you can't stay in business.

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42 minutes ago, sullynd said:

Wasn’t there an article a while ago that Rivan had prototypes on the road with F150 bodies?  Any chance the F150 BEVs that had been spotted were all Rivans?

Ford's said their BEV F-150 is still based on the F-150 chassis so some of the mules were certainly Fords. I wouldn't be shocked if Ford's F-150 mule and Rivian's F-150-bodied mule look pretty different, considering one is trying to hide it's Ford identity while the other is trying to hide that it's a Rivian by using a Ford body.

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10 minutes ago, Moosetang said:

Ford's said their BEV F-150 is still based on the F-150 chassis so some of the mules were certainly Fords. I wouldn't be shocked if Ford's F-150 mule and Rivian's F-150-bodied mule look pretty different, considering one is trying to hide it's Ford identity while the other is trying to hide that it's a Rivian by using a Ford body.

I'm pretty sure somebody here said the BEV F150 was on a completely different chassis.

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1 hour ago, mackinaw said:

Maybe they'll use the "skateboard" for a SUV, and not a pickup.  Rivian did show off a SUV too.

Sure... ?

47687331991_f1f5e5fe72_b.jpg

 

I think this is a pretty smart investment. If Ford is really far ahead in F-150 EV development as they seem to be, this investment means Ford can now block Rivian from working with another car company, basically just locked out GM and FCA from catching up.

And if Ford has been bluffing and F-150 EV is really not ready for prime time, then this will help them move faster.

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I personally got to explore these new models at the NY Auto Show press days and I was impressed with their design and engineering! The pickup esp, with that unique middle storage section btw the bed and passenger compartment was esp cool, as the drop down door even doubles as a step/seat. It really is a great new lifestyle PU. So now hearing of Ford's investment is great to me!

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43 minutes ago, bzcat said:

Sure... ?

47687331991_f1f5e5fe72_b.jpg

 

I think this is a pretty smart investment. If Ford is really far ahead in F-150 EV development as they seem to be, this investment means Ford can now block Rivian from working with another car company, basically just locked out GM and FCA from catching up.

And if Ford has been bluffing and F-150 EV is really not ready for prime time, then this will help them move faster.

Haha, actually I love the idea of Ford making an EV Flex.

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Anyone else remember how people kept saying Ford used Toyota’s HSD in the Escape Hybrid when it came out because of their patent sharing deal?  That’s my concern here - with Ford is developing their own BEVs will people assume all Ford BEVs are by Rivan?

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1 minute ago, sullynd said:

Anyone else remember how people kept saying Ford used Toyota’s HSD in the Escape Hybrid when it came out because of their patent sharing deal?  That’s my concern here - with Ford is developing their own BEVs will people assume all Ford BEVs are by Rivan?

Well by that logic the Ranger should be called the Ford Ranger by Flex-N-Gate since they stamp and build 70% of the body parts. It's going to come down to who does most of the engineering work. 

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13 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Well by that logic the Ranger should be called the Ford Ranger by Flex-N-Gate since they stamp and build 70% of the body parts. It's going to come down to who does most of the engineering work. 

Lol.  Except nobody knows what Flex-N-Gate is or that it makes much of the body.

People will hear on the news that Ford spent $500M on electric maker Rivian to build trucks/products.

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1 hour ago, sullynd said:

Anyone else remember how people kept saying Ford used Toyota’s HSD in the Escape Hybrid when it came out because of their patent sharing deal?  That’s my concern here - with Ford is developing their own BEVs will people assume all Ford BEVs are by Rivan?

Would that be a bad thing? It’s almost like they could advertise that as a feature. If you slapped “powered by Tesla” or “powered by Rivian” on any other manufacturers EV, I bet it would have instant credibility.

Edited by T-dubz
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7 minutes ago, T-dubz said:

Would that be a bad thing? It’s almost like they could advertise that as a feature. If you slapped “powered by Tesla” or “powered by Rivian” on any other manufacturers EV, I bet it would have instant credibility.

Except Rivian is still a relative unknown.  Tesla is obviously known.

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8 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

Except Rivian is still a relative unknown.  Tesla is obviously known.

Getting big names like Amazon and Ford as partners with Rivian will help Rivian increase awareness of their company and brand. 

I agree it's tough competing against Tesla though. That company's brand reputation is incredibly strong.

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6 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

Getting big names like Amazon and Ford as partners with Rivian will help Rivian increase awareness of their company and brand. 

I agree it's tough competing against Tesla though. That company's brand reputation is incredibly strong.

Right.  I was countering the point that you brand it as "powered by Rivian".  You'd only consider that if said powertrain company is a powerhouse/known brand (i.e. Cummins diesel in Rams).  Amazon/Ford's partnerships will certainly increase awareness, but that doesn't mean they'd benefit from slapping "powered by Rivian" on the product.

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5 hours ago, Anthony said:

Supposedly Ford and Rivian have been in talks for the past 6 months and this is not an exclusive deal for Ford / Rivian.  Supposedly that is why it did not work out with GM, thewy wanted exclusivity.

Not sure what that means... Ford is getting a board seat on Rivian so it's pretty exclusive in the sense that Ford will know what Rivian is doing and that means other car companies will probably not want to work with Rivian.

 

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