Rivian’s cheaper R2 SUV became its best selling vehicle in its first full quarter on sale, outselling the R1 SUV, the R1 pickup and the delivery van, and helping the company to record deliveries of 19,248 vehicles in the third quarter. A second production shift is ramping, cheaper R2 variants priced down to 45,000 dollars arrive next year, and cost of goods sold per vehicle fell by more than 12,000 dollars from the prior quarter, though Rivian still loses money on each vehicle it sells.
The software side carried unusual weight this quarter. The joint venture with Volkswagen contributed 354 million dollars of third quarter software revenue, and Volkswagen will also license the underlying technology of Rivian’s AI assistant under an expansion of the venture. Scaringe dismissed reports of integration problems with Volkswagen as noisy, said the relationship is very positive, and said the first Volkswagen vehicle carrying Rivian technology, a low cost electric vehicle for Europe, remains on track for a 2027 launch. Rivian also acquired Third Dimension AI to strengthen its Autonomy+ driver assistance offer, for an undisclosed price.
Autonomy is also a funding mechanism. Uber is investing up to 1.25 billion dollars in Rivian through 2031, including an initial 300 million dollars, contingent on autonomy milestones, and Scaringe said the company is very confident it will hit a milestone this year that unlocks a 250 million dollar tranche. The partnership targets a 2028 launch of driverless R2 robotaxis on Uber’s network, beginning in a couple of cities and expanding to roughly 25 over about 18 months.
That mix, vehicles ramping, a German licensing customer paying hundreds of millions a quarter, and milestone based autonomy funding, is a different company from the pure electric vehicle maker Rivian listed as. It also concentrates risk in two counterparties’ execution, which is why the Volkswagen integration reports Scaringe was answering matter beyond their accuracy.