TechCrunch Mobility: Rivian’s savior

2 months ago 29

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We are successful the midst of 1 of my 4 favourite times of twelvemonth — net season. And it’s not conscionable that I similar numbers. These required filings chopped done a batch of the selling sound presented by companies the remainder of the year. They besides assistance maine measure the short- and semipermanent stakes the companies face.

Rivian’s fourth-quarter and full-year net did precisely that. My takeaway: Software, and specifically its exertion associated task with Volkswagen Group, was the company’s savior successful 2025. It volition besides buoy the institution into 2026 (another $2 cardinal is expected from VW Group) arsenic Rivian launches its astir important merchandise to date: the lower-cost R2 SUV.

The company’s net besides provided a advancement study connected its bid to little the outgo of goods sold per unit. The TL;DR is that the cogs per portion for its existent portfolio is inactive precocious but dropping, meaning it’s losing little connected each conveyance it sells. According to Rivian, the company’s automotive cogs per portion delivered was $100,900 successful 2025, down from $110,400 successful 2024.

The upcoming R2, which is expected to beryllium considerably cheaper (both successful accumulation outgo and terms tag) than its flagship R1T motortruck and R1S SUV, volition beryllium the adjacent large test. We’ll get immoderate penetration into the results of that aboriginal this year.

The R2 is expected to spell into accumulation successful the archetypal fractional of the twelvemonth (we’re proceeding June), and based connected its guidance for 2026, Rivian is assured it has the request and the quality to ramp production. The institution expects to present betwixt 62,000 and 67,000 vehicles successful 2026 — which could supply up to a 59% bump from past year. Rivian delivered 42,247 vehicles successful 2025, which includes its 2 R1 user vehicles and the electrical transportation van (EDV).

The marketplace loved that guidance, btw. Rivian banal changeable up 27% successful the time aft it reported earnings.

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A small bird

Over the past 18 months, I’ve noticed a divergence successful however Uber and Lyft are approaching AVs. Uber is locking up AV partnerships with each subordinate it can. Lyft is trailing behind. Turns out, I americium not unsocial successful this observation.

Insiders person shared their puzzlement astir wherefore Lyft hasn’t been much assertive connected this front. They noted that Lyft is sitting connected astir $1.8 cardinal successful cash, currency equivalents, and restricted cash, and precocious announced a caller $1 cardinal stock repurchase programme that represents astir 15% of its marketplace cap, per CNBC. That has immoderate wondering wherefore Lyft did not put successful parts of the AV worth concatenation similar Uber is doing versus buying shares back.

Meanwhile, these small birds besides pointed to a fewer apical executives who person departed implicit the past year. Aurélien Nolf near his presumption arsenic VP of fiscal readying and investigation and capitalist relations to go CFO of Navan. Audrey Liu, who was an enforcement VP and caput of rider and assemblage safety, is present astatine Adobe. Ameena Gill, who was VP of information and lawsuit attraction conscionable took a occupation astatine rival Uber.

Got a extremity for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal astatine kkorosec.07, oregon email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Deals!

Close followers of the mobility-crazed years, betwixt 2015 and 2019, mightiness callback however galore lidar companies popped up during that time. Many of the ascendant and buzziest ones person since shuttered, portion immoderate of the smallest players person hung connected and expanded.

Take Ouster, for instance. I retrieve mode backmost erstwhile Ouster had this tiny small booth successful the jam-packed startups country (Eureka Park) astatine CES. Today, the institution is overmuch bigger — acknowledgment to scale, its 2022 merger with rival Velodyne, and its acquisition of Sense Photonics successful 2021. And it doesn’t look to beryllium finished.

The institution most precocious acquired Stereolabs, a institution that makes vision-based cognition systems for robotics and concern applications, for a operation of $35 cardinal and 1.8 cardinal shares.

As TechCrunch elder newsman Sean O’Kane notes successful his article, the woody is the latest successful a march toward consolidation among cognition sensor suppliers. (Just past month, MicroVision bought the lidar assets of the buzzy-but-now-bankrupt Luminar for $33 million.)

So wherefore each the activity? It’s complicated, arsenic they say. From my POV, the frenzy astir “physical AI” has reignited involvement and concern successful sensor technologies, peculiarly cameras.

Other deals that got my attraction …

Ever, the EV-only marketplace, raised $31 million successful a Series A backing circular led by Eclipse. Other backers see Ibex Investors, Lifeline Ventures, and JIMCO — the concern limb of the Saudi Arabian Jameel household (an aboriginal capitalist successful Rivian).

Natilus, the San Diego-based startup processing blended-wing aircraft, raised $28 million successful a Series A backing circular led by Draper Associates. Other investors see Type One Ventures, The Veteran Fund, and Flexport, arsenic good arsenic caller backers New Vista Capital, Soma Capital, Liquid 2 VC, VU Venture Partners, and Wave FX.

Notable reads and different tidbits

Aurora shared successful its Q4 and full-year net study that its self-driving trucks tin present question nonstop connected a 1,000-mile way betwixt Fort Worth and Phoenix — exceeding what a quality operator tin legally accomplish. The institution shared a fig of different tidbits, and financials, which you tin read astir here.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission closed its investigation into Fisker past year, TechCrunch was capable to learn, acknowledgment to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Lyft has launched teen accounts, a merchandise that allows minors arsenic young arsenic 13 to hail a thrust without an big successful 200 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and New York.

A caller batch of videos gives america the champion look astatine however Rivian has changed the rear doorway manual release connected its upcoming R2 SUV. This seemingly insignificant plan item has life-or-death stakes and comes arsenic the EV industry, and peculiarly Tesla, is getting unit to alteration concealed, physics doorway handles.

The Trump medication officially repealed the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” which recovered that greenhouse gases specified arsenic c dioxide and methane were a menace to quality wellness and welfare. This alteration would lone impact tailpipe emissions for cars and trucks — if the EPA makes it done the lengthy process of repealing the law, which volition surely see galore lawsuits aimed astatine stopping it.

Uber has locked successful a mates twelve AV partnerships, and we’re starting to spot the results of those deals. China’s Baidu and Uber program to launch robotaxis successful Dubai successful the adjacent month, starting with prime locations wrong the Jumeirah area. Meanwhile, Chinese robotaxi institution WeRide and Uber announced a “major enlargement of their strategical partnership” to deploy astatine slightest 1,200 robotaxis crossed the Middle East done 2027, according to the companies. As portion of this, WeRide and Uber person launched a robotaxi work successful downtown Abu Dhabi.

Waymo pulled the quality information operator from its autonomous trial vehicles in Nashville arsenic the Alphabet-owned institution moves person to launching a robotaxi work successful the city. Meanwhile, this tech-forward institution is wrestling with the analog occupation of ensuring the doors of its robotaxis are decently shut. Its solution? Pay DoorDash gig workers to unopen Waymo robotaxi doors. Waymo tells america this is simply a aviator programme successful Atlanta to heighten its AV fleet efficiency.

One last Waymo item: The institution is starting to rotation retired its sixth-generation “Waymo Driver,” which is integrated into the Zeekr RT (rebranded Ojai) and volition yet beryllium successful the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Waymo has started “fully autonomous operations” successful the Ojai conveyance successful San Francisco and Los Angeles and is giving entree to employees. The nationalist volition person to hold for a bit.

One much happening …

Rivian has pitched its upcoming R2 SUV arsenic a much affordable model. What does “more affordable” mean? The institution has thrown astir $45,000 and $50,000 arsenic a basal price. The company’s motorboat mentation of the R2, which volition beryllium a dual-mode and all-wheel-drive premium trim, volition undoubtedly beryllium much expensive. In our newsletter this week, we asked readers, “What’s your conjecture connected the outgo of the motorboat edition?”

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