Rivian is aiming to bring the first all-electric pickup truck to the market.
After raising over $2.85 billion last year, Rivian has raised another $2.5 billion in its first financing round of 2020.
Rivian's Latest Fundraise: Rivian has been much more reserved in showing off its progress than rivals Tesla Inc (TSLA) and Nikola Corporation (NKLA), both of which are also working to bring electric pickups to market.
Rivian said this funding round was led by previous investor T. Rowe Price Associates, while Soros Fund Management LLC, Coatue, Fidelity Management and Research Company and Baron Capital Group also participated.
Existing investors Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) and BlackRock, Inc. (BLK) were also part of this funding round.
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Rivian's EV Play: Rivian says the first vehicles scheduled for release are the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV. On the top trim levels, the vehicles are slated to have an all-electric range of approximately 400 miles, matching Tesla's Model S. No fully electric pickup trucks are on the market today, although Tesla does offer an SUV, the Model X, which tops out at 345 miles of range.
Benzinga's Take: Rivian's offerings seem to be the most compelling of any upcoming electric truck.
While Nikola is going for the hydrogen angle, they do not have a factory or even a partner to start production.
Tesla's Cybertruck was initially met with skepticism due to its strange looks, but has since amassed hundreds of thousands of reservations.
The range of Rivian's upcoming vehicle matches Tesla's range today.
The Cybertruck is advertised to top out at 500-plus miles of range. Tesla also has its battery and investor day coming Sept. 15 — an event where the automaker will show off new battery technology that could potentially push the range of its vehicles even farther past that of their competition.
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