EV maker Rivian has announced a lay off as the company prepares for the end of federal EV tax credits and a challenging economic landscape. The company beat Elon Musk’s Tesla in bringing an EV pickup truck to the market, but has yet to prove it can succeed without massive taxpayer help.
The LA Times reports that Rivian, the electric truck and SUV manufacturer based in Irvine, California, has recently announced the layoff of about 200 employees, equivalent to 1.5 percent of its total workforce of nearly 15,000. The company’s decision comes as it braces for the expiration of federal EV tax credits at the end of the month, a move that is expected to dampen demand for electric vehicles across the industry.
Under President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs and the credit of up to $4,000 for used EVs are set to end, reversing Biden-era efforts to make EVs more attractive to Americans, who have not embraced the technology in favor of traditional gas vehicles. This abrupt policy change has prompted several automakers, including General Motors and Volkswagen, to cut jobs and slow production in anticipation of reduced consumer interest in EVs.
Breitbart News previously reported that Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe once compared buying a gas-powered car to “building a horse barn in 1910.”
In 2023, the troubled company lost an astounding $33,000 for every electric truck it sold:
Rivian’s vehicles, with an average selling price exceeding $80,000, have not resulted in profits. In fact, the company suffered a loss of $33,000 on every vehicle sold in the second quarter. The financial strain is evident, but Rivian Founder and Chief Executive RJ Scaringe claims, “We’re competing to build something that’s truly better than all the alternatives, and to try to do that on a limited budget would be detrimental to us achieving our mission.”
Rivian’s journey has been marked by a juxtaposition of financial success and operational struggles. The company made a splash in the market with its IPO in 2021, raising nearly $12 billion and momentarily achieving a valuation surpassing some established automakers. However, the operational side painted a different picture. Rivian grappled with manufacturing troubles, burning through half of its $18 billion cash pile in two years and operating at less than one-third of its build capacity. The company’s ambitious launch of three models in quick succession further complicated the production dynamics.
Read more at the LA Times here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
