- Rivian’s autonomous driving push is kicking into high gear.
- Point-to-point driving arrives soon and eyes-off comes in 2027.
- Automaker also announced new delivery vans for Amazon.
Rivian has released its second-quarter financial results, and things are looking up for the automaker. Jumping right into the numbers, revenues were up 27% to $1.658 billion. The company also achieved a gross profit of $179 million, which was $385 million more than a year ago.
More: For $50 A Month, Rivian Will Make You A Passenger In Your Own EV
Despite a glimmer of good news, Rivian still expects to lose $1.8-2 billion this year. CNBC notes that’s down slightly from a previous estimate of up to $2.1 billion.
Putting the financials aside, the automaker announced Amazon now has over 40,000 electric delivery vans, and they recently surpassed one billion miles (1.6 billion km) traveled. The company also confirmed they’re developing new variants to support the online retailer.
According to Rivian, they’re working on models with all-wheel drive as well as a larger battery pack. The latter is “expected to offer a 30% increase in range,” which would equate to around 210 miles (338 km/h). The all-wheel drive variant, on the other hand, appears aimed at markets with snow as well as rural areas with muddy dirt roads.
As a refresher, the current Delivery 500 and 700 are front-wheel drive and offer a range of up to 161 miles (259 km). Pricing starts at $79,900, and the larger of the two can hold up to 652 cubic feet (18,463 liters) of goods.
Besides talking about Amazon, Rivian said they expect to begin rolling out “point-to-point advanced assisted driving capabilities by the end of this year.” This is an evolution of their current Universal Hands-Free driving system, which works on more than 3.5 million miles of roads in the United States and Canada.
If everything goes according to plan, eyes-off driving will arrive in 2027. A Level 4 robotaxi could then follow in 2028.
The company delivered 12,194 vehicles in Q2, and the R2 launched on June 9. Rivian is still ramping up production, but CEO RJ Scaringe said “I believe R2 will be a game changer for our customers and a driver of Rivian’s long-term growth and profitability.” He added the “U.S. automotive marketplace is starved for high-quality EV choice, and I believe R2 is an attractively priced option for everyday adventures that will resonate with a broad set of consumers.”
