Car Wearing: Rivian's massive IPO puts spotlight on EVs

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Hyundai creates an EV based on a classic model, the Mini Urbanaut concept heads to LA, and Kia gets ready to reveal an electric SUV concept. But first:

2023 Subaru Solterra Enters the Growing EV Crossover Market

Subaru took the wraps off it first mass-market EV this week, revealing the Solterra a few days ahead of its appearance at the LA auto show. Based on an architecture shared with Toyota, Subaru's battery-electric sport utility will bring the brand into the age of electrification, if not all of the automaker's segments at once.
Slated to offer all-wheel-drive standard, along with plenty of cladding, the Solterra will serve up a dual-motor setup drawing juice from a battery expected to offer a 64-kWh usable capacity. The Solterra will also err on the side of economy when it comes to performance numbers, so the two motors will produce a total of just 215 hp.

"By filling it with new values that a BEV can offer and the value of 'enjoyment and peace of mind' that Subaru has cultivated over many years, Solterra has been built as an authentic SUV in an environmentally friendly package that can be used with peace of mind like the existing Subaru SUV models," the automaker said.

The Solterra will share quite a bit with the Toyota bZ4X, but we wouldn't expect the yoke steering option to materialize stateside.

Adjustable regenerative braking will be offered as well, along with three driving modes: Normal, Eco, and Power. Inside, passengers will get a large 12.3-inch infotainment screen along with a fairly high-set center console.
Subaru hasn't shared the detailed range estimates or pricing for the Solterra just yet—this week offered up just a Japanese-market reveal—but we should have a better sense of both by the time of the LA auto show. It's worth noting that its Toyota bZ4X twin has been advertised with a 285-mile range in the WLTP cycle, but don't expect such a number to translate to the eventual EPA range of the model.

Rivian's $100 Billion IPO Puts Spotlight on EVs

Production of the R1T began earlier this fall, but Rivian also has some significant expenditures coming up before it can make a profit selling EVs.

Speaking of sales, despite starting production just weeks ago Rivian is already on its way to becoming as well known outside the world of EV companies as Tesla, having just enjoyed the biggest stock market launch seen in years. The stock started at $78 on Wednesday this week, but quickly climbed past the $100 mark in the day's trading, propelling Rivian's value past many analysts' expectations, and breaking through the $100 billion barrier. And that was just on the first day of trading.
It's useful to separate the sugar high of the stock market from Rivian's actual production and revenue at this point, as the new EV maker actually expects to incur some pretty significant expenditures for some time before it even approaches profitability, especially given the high cash burn of the auto industry at this stage for a company.
"We expect to operate at a negative gross profit per vehicle for the near term as our fixed costs from investments in vehicle technology, manufacturing capacity, and charging infrastructure are spread across a smaller product base until we launch additional vehicles and ramp production," Rivian noted in its prospectus.
Rivian certainly has a number advantages over other start-ups that had fizzled before even getting to this stage, including having Ford and Amazon as its financial and technical backers.
"There's a long road ahead for Rivian, and its $12 billion or so in funding will help them upshift into the next year," Robby DeGraff, industry analyst at AutoPacific told Autoweek. "More product needs to be sold and delivered to customers, but in order for that to happen a new assembly plant really needs to get up and running because capacity at the Normal, Illinois, plant is limited."
It's safe to say even at this stage the clamor over Rivian's rise is already casting a shadow over Lucid—another start-up that has also commenced production just in the past few weeks.

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US Not among States That Will Go EV-Only by 2040

A new pledge to accelerate the turn to zero emission vehicles by 2040 was signed by a number of countries and automakers at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, this week, with a number of notable holdouts in both categories, including the United States. The pledge calls for transitioning to sales of ZEV-only new cars and vans by 2040 or earlier—by 2035 in several leading markets.

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