US-based electric truck startup Rivian – the company valued at more than GM and Ford last month – has reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.2 billion but plans to build a $5 billion battery plant in Georgia.
In an earnings call yesterday, the company revealed its first set of quarterly results since it went public on November 10. Investors, however, were not best pleased with the $1.2 billion loss the company made, with its share price falling by 9.8%.
The company also said that it expected production numbers to fall a few hundred short of its 2021 target of 1,200 while its 71,000 pre-orders of its R1T and R1S trucks were not as high as expected. Back in October, the company said it had 55,400 pre-orders for the vehicles. Meanwhile, Ford said earlier this month that it had limited pre-orders for its electric F-150 Lightning pickup at 200,000.
However, Rivian did say that it had managed to deliver 386 of the 652 vehicles it has built to customers. It also plans to deliver the first of 100,000 electric delivery vans to Amazon before the end of the year.
Rivian isn’t resting on its laurels, though. The company announced it will build a new plant in Georgia. Set to be built east of state capital Atlanta, the new factory will produce trucks and batteries for Rivian, with construction beginning in summer next year with an expected production-ready date in 2024.
“As we look ahead, our Georgia facility will be critically important to our objective to accelerate the large-scale adoption of sustainable transportation,” said the company in its shareholder letter.
Rivian is also planning to invest heavily in battery technology, including everything from cell chemistry development and raw material sourcing to in-house manufacturing.
While Rivian’s IPO, which saw the company raise more than $12 billion, and rank ahead of GM and Ford as well as fellow EV startup Lucid, raised eyebrows, it now seems as though the market might be starting to correct itself.
