Ford announced today that it would be investing $500 million in Electric Vehicle startup Rivian.  The move will gain Ford access to Rivian's flexible skateboard platform.  Ford will co-develop the vehicle with Rivian and will join the already planned Ford F-150 EV and a Mustang inspired crossover EV.  Ford will provide Rivian with industrial expertise and resources.

Rivian will remain an independent company and the investment is subject to regulatory approvals.

Rivian has shown concept versions of the Rivian R1T, an electric pickup and Rivian R1S SUV at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It plans to put these vehicle into production at its plant in Normal Illinois.

Ford's investment comes just two months after Rivian landed $700m in investment commitments from Amazon and others.  The talks between Rivian and General Motors have apparently collapsed. 

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This is awesome, but also troubling as I really would love to know why GM cannot seem to come to agreements where Ford could.

If Ford ends up using the Rivian skateboard for a full size SUV / Pickup, who knows, I could be back in a Ford in the near Future.

Excited by this!!!

GM is further along with their own platform. Maybe they didn't see the value in adding another platform from another company.

8 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

GM is further along with their own platform. Maybe they didn't see the value in adding another platform from another company.

I get that they have BEV and maybe some other full size version of BEV, but they have not shown anything yet and my gut tells me Rivian was much farther along in their skateboard than GM so I am thinking they could be value still to learn.

End result as long as GM gets a full size truck and SUV EV out is what I care about and that it is competitive.

Exciting times for the auto industry.

GM steps out and Ford steps in. What a conundrum for Dfelt. 

Now now... don't troll. 

'may you live in interesting times'.   It really is going to be interesting to see what the auto industry looks like in terms of product mix and powertrains in 5 years, 10 years, 15 years...

21 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Now now... don't troll. 

It's not wrong though! ?

55 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

GM steps out and Ford steps in. What a conundrum for Dfelt. 

Nope, non exists as long as someone else delivers full size trucks and SUVs to meet the needs of Shreks like me.

My money is the same green as anyone else. Just build what I want and like!  

***sound of crickets***

8 hours ago, ocnblu said:

***sound of crickets***

Must be that high maintenance ICE auto you drive since electrics do not chirp!  

4 hours ago, dfelt said:

Must be that high maintenance ICE auto you drive since electrics do not chirp!  

The crickets are his only friends since that’s all he seems to hear lol. Why else bother with yet more trolling remarks?

So Ford is investing in Rivian.  Good.  Maybe Ford can finally tame the silliness that is the F-Series Super Duty with that HUGE Diesel engine and replace it with a superior platform.  I am sick and tired of some truck owners insisting on all this "rolling coal" crap on any of our roads.

50 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

So Ford is investing in Rivian.  Good.  Maybe Ford can finally tame the silliness that is the F-Series Super Duty with that HUGE Diesel engine and replace it with a superior platform.  I am sick and tired of some truck owners insisting on all this "rolling coal" crap on any of our roads.

Agreed, considering that Tesla has shown not only their Semi Concept, but a real Tesla X pulling a Boeing plane that is 265,000 pounds of weight, Electric as a HD model would do wonders for Construction sites in the inner city where quiet is appreciated early in the morning when they start work.

Hasn't Toyota towed a plane with their Tundra before? Like in 2013... 

Oh sorry it was a space shuttle weighing 292,000lbs. 

Up your game Tesla. 

12 hours ago, dfelt said:

Agreed, considering that Tesla has shown not only their Semi Concept, but a real Tesla X pulling a Boeing plane that is 265,000 pounds of weight, Electric as a HD model would do wonders for Construction sites in the inner city where quiet is appreciated early in the morning when they start work.

 

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

 

That was a cool tow too for the 155,000 dry weight of the Endeavor by the Tundra.