Rivian CEO says autonomy could enable radically different vehicle designs

In an interview with TechCrunch, Scaringe said the opportunity becomes clearer beyond the R2 and R3 models, when Rivian imagines a personally owned autonomous vehicle. “It opens up all kinds of design opportunities. It can create dramatically different experiences,” he said, adding that he is excited about what the next 10 years of transportation could enable.

The idea that autonomy and electric drivetrains would produce new vehicle shapes is not new. A decade ago, automakers and autonomous-vehicle companies showed concepts including Mercedes-Benz pod-like vehicles, Toyota’s “rooms on wheels” and a Hyundai car with legs, TechCrunch reported. Those concepts did not reach production as autonomy took longer to develop and manufacturers struggled with the realities of building and selling a new vehicle category.

Scaringe’s comments come as robotaxis operate in multiple cities and as EV motors and batteries have become cheaper, with companies including Tesla and Rivian improving large-scale production, according to the report. Rivian still faces substantial work. It is beginning to scale production of the R2 SUV, which it needs to get right to reverse years of losses, and it is a few years removed from overhauling its self-driving software approach.

Rivian has shipped a driver-assistance system that lets drivers take their hands off the wheel while watching the road. It has promised that by the end of this year the software will handle start-to-finish “point-to-point navigation” without intervention, though under driver supervision. The company is also working toward full autonomy, which it plans to deploy in robotaxi versions of the R2 SUV available on Uber’s ride-hail app.

Scaringe said most driving in the United States will remain in personally owned vehicles even if Level 4 autonomy arrives. He said 95% of U.S. miles are driven in personally owned vehicles, a share that may fall to 90% or 80% but is likely to remain the vast majority for societal and psychological reasons. That belief informs his interest in designing a fully autonomous, personally owned Rivian, he said. He declined to describe the vehicle, saying only that the model after R3 will be called R4. “We just haven’t shown what it looks like,” he said. “It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be great.”

Editor's Summary

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said autonomy could let the company design radically different vehicles and that Rivian is willing to delay profitability to develop autonomous software. Rivian has promised supervised point-to-point driving by the end of this year and is working toward robotaxi use of its R2 SUV on Uber. Scaringe expects most U.S. driving to remain in personally owned vehicles even with Level 4 autonomy.