Rivian Founder & CEO RJ Scaringe on the Rivian R2, R3, R3X & Beyond! | The InEVitable

Motortrend's Ed Loh & Jonny Lieberman sit down with Rivian Founder & CEO, RJ Scaringe! RJ talks about EV adoption, Rivian R2, Rivian R3 & R3X, Rivian Commercial Van, Autonomy, Improvements from Gen 1 to Gen 2, NVIDIA partnership, Android Automotive, Unreal Engine, VW partnership, GenAI, international markets, NACS, Halloween mode, and a lightning round!
#TheInEVitable #EV #MotorTrend
2:40 - Are EVs really InEVitable?
5:00 - EV adoption rate.
8:04 - How much is cost a factor in adoption?
8:55 - Excitement around release of R2 & R3.
10:35 - R3, & R3X Benchmarks.
13:18 - Suspension, electro hydraulic damper.
17:51 - Approach to R2.
21:04 - R2T? Or R3T?
22:12 - Rivian Commercial Van. Consumer delivery van?
24:45 - RoboTaxi? Autonomy?
27:57 - Improvements from Gen 1 to Gen 2.
31:48 - Dual NVIDIA drive.
33:12 - Why NVIDIA?
35:08 - Android Automotive.
36:59 - Unreal Engine.
42:08 - AR.
43:10 - Uses of GenAI.
46:38 - Tactile buttons vs full digital controls?
48:41 - VW partnership with XPENG.
50:33 - Chinese market vs US market.
56:22 - VW partnership.
01:04:15 - Lightning Round! FSD App? Heavy Duty Truck? NACS? Open roof? Quad?
01:11:07 - R2 & R3X timing?
01:13:41 - Electric door handles.
01:14:22 - Subscriptions.
01:18:55 - Halloween mode!
01:19:16 - New colors coming.
01:19:59 - Bi-directional charging?
01:23:20 - DTC vs Dealerships.
01:25:45 - Tesla.
01:27:00 - Porsche.
01:30:28 - Rivian sports car??
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[@MotorTrendWatch]

How are we feeling about Rivian? Could they be the future of EV!? 🤔

[@chase_m_peterson]

Ask the question and let RJ speak. The interruptions are insane.

[@jayd118]

Dude on the left is annoying and distracting

[@ian2487]

Dude on the left sucks

[@rajeshwarsawh8379]

I mentioned this in their early interviews. They never learn. Johnny actually responded "you want a lecture from the guest?" Suffice to say he didn't get the point.

[@Rx100Vx]

Love Rivian . RJ is a very down to earth founder CEO .

[@fmonk]

And a great ambassador to the brand he represents. The other one... not so much anymore.

[@ranvanhappy]

And understands the product deeply from an engineering and product perspective which means he can see the path from R&D to customer easier than most CEOs who came up through marketing and sales paths

[@jachnguyen]

Yeah, elon doesnt know anything about his cars lol

[@joejuan5022]

Let the man talk for god sake

[@drippingtheta]

I was on the edge between R1S vs Model X. The honesty and genuineness that RJ showcased throughout the interview was reason enough for me to go ahead and finalize R1S.

[@ahmedh3950]

I have driven both a few times. I can assure that you won't regret your decision to buy a Rivian

[@frank118]

I have a Gen 1 R1T. Love it. Autonomous driving isn’t happening anytime soon, if ever. I owned Tesla’s for 5 years and “FSD” is essentially worthless.

[@urgetodrive]

Do you guys (Ed and Jonny) ever watch your podcast? The amount of interruptions - of each other and the guest - is very distracting. You guys get great guests. Please get some coaching on how to conduct an interview. Also, how long before Ed and Jonny get in a fist-fight? The amount of passive-aggressive energy (across this series of podcasts) is off the charts. Is it just me or anyone else notice this?

[@ericbrown7628]

Dude I’m a 100% with you!!!! I was thinking the same thing! Shot out to RJ’s patience.

[@cesartrujillo4190]

That was so hard to watch. I’ve never been a very big RJ fan, but I have a lot of respect for him and after this interview more respect and a bigger fan but wow, I felt like he was cut off 1 million times. Who is this interview about him or the interviewers?

[@whodat9198]

The dude on the left is an absolute clown

[@HaydenCMH]

Dude on the left needs to chill, too many interruptions

[@mikebrun.mp3]

unhinged vibe from these hosts. please take a deep breath, ask concise questions, and stop interrupting - including your own sentences. makes it very difficult to follow. relatedly, RJ is a class act in every video i see of him

[@Slaxsvo]

The hosts are car bros. Can’t expect much from them, unfortunately.

[@IronPig_75]

My gen 1 R1T is still the most fun car I've ever owned. I'll be bummed that I don't get the gen 2 features, but it's still worth every penny I spent on it.

[@ranvanhappy]

Same with my R1S (other than my Dodge Charger 5.7L which was just silly in noise) - definitely sold for life if they continue to grow - I’ll always have at least one Rivian in the house if they keep their brand values the same as today

[@yaoxiongliang9483]

The guy on the left kept cutting RJ off. A bit annoying

[@jayd118]

Yes. Came here to say the same thing. Dude is annoying AF.

[@wilber8260]

and the guy on the right talks too fast.

[@jonnylieberman]

Am I in the left or the right?

[@Anothernerdyloser314]

​@@jonnylieberman You're the left one. The one everyone is complaining about. I think you might be well served by writing down your next question or thought so that you can wait for the interviewee to finish speaking before you interject. It's clear that you're interjecting because you don't want to forget or miss the opportunity for your question, so it comes from a good place, but it's frustrating for the viewers

[@EM.1.]

Correct. And the stupid Elon Musk slap was not needed.

[@bsg1372]

Ed - why does every EV have to be like Tesla? RJ says multiple times that RIvian has a different approach and want to bring something different to the market.

[@pennyharris446]

R2 is on my radar. So many cool features.

[@galactictomato1434]

Really great talk. Hope we see RJ on again.

[@davewhitegt]

Love this show. We really need to get more eyeballs on this show. I’d hate to see it disappear.

[@TheBTG88]

I imagine the 5 billion that VW is investing in Rivian was a welcome life preserver.

[@fmonk]

Life preserver feel like an exaggeration. They have over 100k reservations for the R2 and R3 reservation isn't open yet (that one will be even more popular). The VW JV helps and will help keep costs of shared components even lower (like Nvidia's chips).

[@TheBTG88]

@@fmonk They need the investment and access to VW materials purchasing in order to be able to make vehicles at approachable price points. Otherwise, they are a niche manufacturer that will eventually sink beneath the waves. Volume sales is critical in the mass automotive industry.

[@fmonk]

@@TheBTG88 No. That's now how it is. The JV is not a lifesaver. They didn't absolutely need to have it. But it helps.

[@TheBTG88]

@@fmonk Yes, that’s how it is when you only sell 46,416 cars in a year.

[@ranvanhappy]

@@TheBTG88hopefully they share their purchasing supply chain with Rivian - the agreement initially is mostly surrounded around technology (likely would like to learn how to improve their internal software systems or launch similar ECU architectures as the new R1/R2 to save weight and cost on new platforms) - they are also launching a competitive brand SCOUT which they purchased from international and they may need some off-road programming chops for that development I love that VW is investing in Rivian just as they invested in Lamborghini/ Rimac / Bugatti - etc

[@pazirandeh]

Next great automaker is born folks.

[@ranvanhappy]

Let’s hope! Love the brand!

[@braedenrice481]

Ed absolutely butchered my question lol! Thanks for the answer RJ! Hope to see you in Laguna soon!

[@EdwardLoh]

Sorry!

[@g550driver]

R3X for this guy!🎉

[@andrewcarfax-foster5046]

I haven't been back to MotorTrend since they tried to move everything behind the pay wall. Great to see these two fellas again a little older and wiser.

[@FerrariLove18]

You got RJ! Great interview guys. Love the show!

[@losequis7682]

When will the r2/r3 steering wheel buttons make it to r1?!

[@kelRGo]

Why is this interview so short? RJ is the best CEO on the planet. Great job !!!

[@headyhere]

He is really cool. I think he disclosed a lot of information that generally CEOs would not in a session like this!

[@davidroberts3152]

I'm jazzed about Rivian. I reserved an R2. Currently a Tesla owner but looking for something that's better at camping and a CEO that has reasonable ethics.

[@manuelias86]

Im surprised Johnny didn’t ask Rj why was chik-fil-a avocado axed lol. That was the combo RJ hated the most lol

[@dianewallace6064]

We own an R1T. Love it. RJ and Rivian shines.

[@IronPig_75]

Ooh - I want that DC charger. Sign me up!

[@zstewartak]

I love the PRNDL stalk. Having everything on the screen would be annoying. Really enjoyed this video

[@GamesJames]

Gotta start adding chapters.

[@stotchmania]

maybe talk over RJ more. real good.

[@ryanschultz07]

Steve-O!!!

[@mitchelldorrance]

Volume for the entire show is way too low. Gotta crank my volume to hear it

[@mattyp3119]

Dude on the left interrupts more than an interview by jordan peterson, and thats a lot. He seems like hes not open to anything but whatever hes already saying. Good podcast otherwise

[@EM.1.]

If the R2 is coming out somewhere around July 2026, R3x will come out by either 4th quarter of 2026 or early 2027. :(

[@goatcheesemuffin]

This one is tough to watch but frustrating to listen to.

[@losequis7682]

So rear view digital camera coming??

[@TonyBasuro]

They should send Steve-O (in makeup) down on the productiin line and be the CEO for a hidden cam bit. Pretend to be a bad undercover boss

[@ericbrown7628]

You should have asked him how he balances CEO responsibilities while dating Lois Lane!!

[@scottiev77]

I just so want the R3 lowered and no plastic fenders. Hatchbacks, not crossovers

[@tariqshaikh0]

These hosts are awful, was looking forward to this so much and it was just terrible. RJ please get on a better pod

[@ferchizzle]

The Anti- Elon Musk

[@bob15479]

So like he will be entirely forgotten and is relatively unimportant?

[@ferchizzle]

He’ll not act like a douche and build product that women love.

[@whodat9198]

@@ferchizzlea genital slicer?

[@itisim]

Rj looked annoyed 😅

[@dianewallace6064]

Plaid Shirt is trying to be contrarian or Bad Cop. Pretty lame.

[@usmile1]

when is sirusxm actually coming?

[@rachitjoshi23]

Let Elon Musk sit and then see if they can interrupt him 🤣

[@bodo9655]

So why don't they include Carplay or Android Auto? Here in Europe you can find cars under 20.000€ with wireless Carplay and Android Auto sooo why not for cars that are more expensive than that?

[@Edge-mv3jw]

Inevitable is a scary title when it comes to ev’s

[@EdwardLoh]

Right!? Intentionally provocative.

[@johnsnow228]

Inevitable if you have 100k to spend on a car......

[@Edge-mv3jw]

@@johnsnow228 if I’m spending that much on a car, it’s not gonna be electric

[@YueHou]

Can we just have carplay/aa

[@johnsnow228]

No. Then they can't charge you extra

[@TheBowerbird]

@@johnsnow228 They aren't charging anyone extra. You can pay for the vehicle to function as a hotspot and have a wireless connection through ATT or you can use your phone as a hotspot for the truck with full function. If your phone can't function as a hotspot you're either a filthy peasant or stuck in the past.

[@1sweet_ta]

How long has China owned MT?

[@RaulV22]

Oh why do you say that?

[@EdwardLoh]

MotorTrend is a subsidiary of Warner-Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1949 in Los Angeles CA, by Robert E. Petersen.

[@AnonymousFreakYT]

Wut? MT is owned by Warner Bros.

[@TheBowerbird]

Not very smart, are you chap?

[@luisc7507]

The only thing I’m bummed about is the size of the R2. I was really hoping it would be bigger than the Model Y. Hoping it’s not so small that it looks like a feminine vehicle. Can’t wait to see it in person.

[@shooter77us]

Did you ask him about the $40,000 repair bill for a single dent in a bedside?

[@TheBowerbird]

You do realize that was a body shop taking someone for a ride, right? Don't be gullible, Mr. Sheep. Someone else got a similar dent and they got it fixed by a PDR shop for about $2K.

[@shooter77us]

@@TheBowerbird it's happened over and over again genius. To do the repair to Rivian's standard the whole vehicle has to be torn apart. Rich Rebuilds has a series on it, and he's not the only one.

[@Datzneat]

Please give us a dumb ev. No nannies. No connection to the mothership.

[@EdwardLoh]

This is my idea! Buy it once! Cash, bitcoin, whatever! No subs. Dials OR screens. USB A and C!