Back in January, we told you about a patent filed by Rivian concerning the manufacturing of electric bikes. E-bikes are, much like the electric vehicle segment in general, growing in popularity around the world. Now, a new interview with Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe suggests that e-bikes are going to play a large role in the future of the automaker.
First spotted by the folks over at Electrek, Scaringe was recently interviewed at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022. During that interview, a heavy focus was placed on the future of Rivian. Specifically, the CEO talked about smaller vehicles and how roughly half of the company is working on ‘what’s next.’
That includes improved components but also e-bikes. When specifically asked about the above-mentioned patent, here’s what Scaringe said: “When you look at transportation over the next 10 to 15 years, core to part of the way we think about our product portfolio is increasingly that we go towards multimodal. We’ll be using vehicles sometimes, public transportation other times, we think increasingly e-bikes, electric assist bikes.”
More: Rivian Is Recalling Almost All Its EVs Over Front Suspension Issue
“And so”, he continued, “for us to be part of that sort of mosaic of different mobility solutions, we have a whole host of products that a number of which are pretty far from what you see here [gesturing to the Rivian R1S electric SUV].
“The e-bike space is something we’re super excited about. We haven’t announced anything or said anything there. But I do think it is going to play an increasingly important role for transportation, both in the movement of goods for commercial purposes, but also for the movement of people.”
So e-bikes won’t necessarily be designed with pleasure as the only focus. Commuter bikes or delivery bikes could very well be a major part of the plan. Electrek rightly points out that Rivian did hire the CTO of Specialized’s e-bike division earlier in the year.
Rivian is by no means the first automaker to associate itself with a bicycle. Other manufacturers have been branding bikes for decades. This year alone we’ve seen Polestar, Harley-Davidson, and Alpine all in the bicycle space, while Porsche even has a pair of e-bikes already on sale.
