SILVER SPRING (Md. — Rivian Automotive shares will trade publicly Wednesday. This should give the world a better understanding of how enthusiastic investors are about electric vehicles.
Rivian, an EV startup backed Amazon and Ford, hopes that it can raise around $12 billion through the sale of 153,000,000 shares. This would surpass the $8 billion Uber raised during its IPO in 2019. Rivian stated that it will use the money for production ramp-ups of its SUVs, trucks, and vans. This is the latest company in a long line trying to capture some of Tesla’s dominant market share.
Rivian would be valued at $66.5 billion if shares were priced at $78 with approximately 850 million shares remaining after the offering. This compares to Honda’s $53billion and Ford’s $80billion.
All automakers, big and small alike, are following Tesla. Tesla has been the dominant player in the electric vehicle market for many years and amassed a market worth more than $1 trillion. Tesla has sold approximately 627,300 electric vehicles so far this year.
Craig Irwin is an analyst for Roth Capital who covers electric vehicles and EV charging companies. He says there’s still plenty of room for startups, even though more companies are entering the EV market.
Roth stated that EVs were inevitable and that it was a good thing for markets to see another credible EV competitor go public. “Rivian’s IPO is a sign of industry maturation and shows that there are billions of capital available to credible players.”
Rivian has signed a contract to build 100,000 electric delivery vehicles at its factory in Normal, Illinois. It is a former Mitsubishi plant. Amazon.com Inc. holds about 20% of Rivian, before the public offering.
Ford Motor Co. poured half-billion dollars in Rivian in 2019, and stated that the two companies would collaborate to develop electric cars. Rivian was owned by the Detroit automaker about 13% prior to the public offering.
Rivian had approximately 55,400 preorders for vehicles in the U.S. as of Oct. 31. These orders require a $1,000 deposit, which can be cancelled and refunded.
Rivian launched its first vehicle, R1T, in September. It will also launch the R1S electric SUV in December. The truck starts at $67,500 while the base package for the SUV starts at $75,000. Add-ons can make it even more expensive.
The vehicles can be upgraded with a $10,000 battery upgrade, which will increase the range by more than 400 miles (643 km) from the original 314 miles (505 km). The cost of a three-person tent with a roof adds $2650 and an off-road recovery kit costs $600.
According to LMC Automotive, EVs will make up a little over 3% of the global automotive market in 2020 and less than 2% of America’s auto market in 2020. These numbers are expected to rise to 15% and 12% respectively by 2025, according to the group.
Rivian was established in 2009 and reports a loss of $426 million in 2019 as well as $1 billion in 2018. It lost nearly another billion dollars during the first six months. Tesla, which was listed in 2010, made its first annual profit last fiscal year.
