Art of Gears
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Rivian’s Market Value Tops Ford and GM After Historic IPO

By Joe Capraro

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 10: Rivian electric trucks are seen parked near the Nasdaq MarketSite building in Times Square on November 10, 2021 in New York City. Rivian, an electric truck maker backed by Amazon and Ford, made its debut at Nasdaq going public with an IPO valued at close to $70 billion with 153,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $78.00 per share. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 10: Rivian electric trucks are seen parked near the Nasdaq MarketSite building in Times Square on November 10, 2021 in New York City. Rivian, an electric truck maker backed by Amazon and Ford, made its debut at Nasdaq going public with an IPO valued at close to $70 billion with 153,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $78.00 per share. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) /
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Electric vehicle maker Rivian saw its shares shoot from an initial price of $78 to a high of $116 during yesterday’s trading, giving the 12-year old company a market valuation of more than $95 billion in its first day on the NASDAQ.

This figure is the sixth highest IPO valuation in US market history and immediately puts Rivian in a neighborhood with 3M and Lockheed-Martin – and ahead of GM ($88.8 billion) and Ford ($78.4 billion). Shares were holding steady around $112 as of Thursday morning.

The 12-year old automaker produces an all-electric pickup and SUV for consumer markets, as well as commercial delivery vans. Amazon holds a 20% stake in Rivian and has ordered more than 100,000 of its vans.

Ford owns 12% of Rivian and the partnership between the two is still evolving, but similarities between the nose of the R1S and Ford’s own SUV offerings are obvious.

Rivian R1S
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES – 2019/04/17: Rivian R1S seen at the New York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) /

CEO RJ Scaringe founded the company in 2009 with the initial goal of producing an electric luxury sport coupe, but shifted focus to utility vehicles in late 2011.

Rivian found a manufacturing home in Normal IL in 2015 and produced prototypes of the R1S and R1T for the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Light and lean has its advantages, as the R1T (let’s put some of that R&D money towards better names please, Rivian) beat all other electric pickups to market with its September 15 debut.

Both the R1T and its SUV brother boast some pretty impressive specs:

  • Three battery options ranging from 105 to 180 kWh
  • Zero to 60 mph times under three seconds
  • Top speed of 125 mph
  • Range of over 400 miles (with 180 kWh battery)
  • Payload capacity of 1800 pounds
  • Towing capacity of 7700 pounds
  • Individual motors at each wheel
  • Level 3 autonomous driving
  • Quick charging: 30 minutes for 200 miles
  • A whole bunch of touchscreens

The most intriguing innovation is the individual drive system at each wheel. And like any of the computer-controlled systems on the Rivian offerings, it will continue to learn (both from its own AI and software updates) and evolve as the vehicles rack up miles.

Rivian got its first jump start from Amazon earlier this year and its second from the markets. With production models showing up in consumer driveways, it won’t take long to know if they are the next Tesla or the next Faraday Future.

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