Rivian

In March 2026 Rivian and Uber announce a partnership to deploy up to 50,000 fully autonomous R2-based robotaxis starting in 2028 in San Francisco and Miami, backed by an initial $300M Uber investment and milestone-based commitments totaling up to $1.25B. Rivian agrees not to sell autonomous vehicles to direct Uber competitors during an exclusivity period.

On April 22, 2026 RJ Scaringe drives the first customer-bound R2 off the line at Normal, Illinois — just five days after an EF-1 tornado damaged Building 2 of the R2 expansion. Rivian confirms no injuries and no schedule slip, with first units going to employees ahead of external deliveries.

On April 30, 2026 Rivian announces a renegotiated DOE loan reduced from $6.57B to up to $4.5B, alongside a revised Georgia plant plan. The Stanton Springs site's initial phase capacity rises from 200,000 to 300,000 vehicles per year while peak capacity is cut from 400,000 to 300,000; Rivian now expects to start drawing the loan in early 2027 with production beginning in late 2028.

Volkswagen Group completes a $1.0B equity investment into Rivian in Q1 2026 under the joint-venture investment agreement, taking 62.9M Class A shares at $15.90 per share after Rivian hit prescribed testing milestones.

Rivian opens R2 Performance order invitations and demo drives at its retail spaces on June 9, 2026 as planned, but tells customers first physical deliveries will begin 'soon after' rather than on the day itself — with a 2-to-6-week window from order confirmation to delivery of the $59,485 R2 Performance with Launch Package. The Rivian Adventure Network crossed 1,007 DC fast-charging stalls across 148 U.S. sites during launch week, with 97% open to all EVs — 40% more stalls than a year prior. The R2 Premium ($53,990) follows in late 2026 and the long-range R2 Standard ($48,490) in 2027.

NHTSA opened investigation PE26004 on May 26, 2026 covering 114,922 Rivian R1S and R1T vehicles (MY2022–2025) after two owners reported rear toe link bolts fracturing while driving, causing lane departures — one incident resulting in a collision. Rivian stated internal data shows the joints operating as intended and is cooperating with the evaluation; the probe follows a January 2026 recall (26V-003) that extended an improved toe-link service procedure to earlier-serviced vehicles.

On June 16, 2026 — about a week after opening R2 orders and starting deliveries — Rivian confirms it is laying off hundreds of workers, under 2% of its workforce (up to roughly 300 roles), concentrated in service, sales and marketing rather than R2 production. The company frames the move as restructuring 'a handful of teams' to profitably scale; it is at least Rivian's fourth round of cuts since the start of 2024.

Rivian produced 12,613 vehicles and delivered 12,194 in Q2 2026, topping its own 9,000-11,000 guidance as customer deliveries of the new R2 SUV got underway in June. On the strength of the quarter — driven by growth in EDV and R1 alongside the R2 ramp — Rivian raised its full-year 2026 delivery outlook to 65,000-70,000 vehicles from a prior 62,000-67,000. Shares rose about 8% on the news; Q2 financial results are scheduled for July 30.

In a July 1, 2026 interview, CEO RJ Scaringe framed the R2 as an existential test — 'if R2 doesn't go well, the whole company is not designed properly' — and said his biggest worry is supply, not demand: by far his biggest concern about ramping R2 is whether Rivian 'can get enough parts to build cars.' He warned the whole semiconductor space, and memory chips in particular (tightening on surging AI demand), will be 'quite constrained.' Rivian nonetheless raised full-year 2026 guidance to 65,000–70,000 vehicles days later on the back of its Q2 delivery beat.

Rivian opens sales of its Commercial Van beyond Amazon, turning the former EDV program into a broader fleet product for U.S. business customers.

Rivian posts $144M of consolidated gross profit for full-year 2025 and completes its first R2 manufacturing validation builds in Normal, keeping customer deliveries on track for Q2 2026.

Announces a joint venture with Volkswagen Group worth up to $5.8B, with VW licensing Rivian's electrical architecture and software platform for its next-generation EVs.

Begins R1S deliveries and starts deploying Amazon electric delivery vans across U.S. cities.

Begins customer deliveries of the R1T in September, becoming the first electric pickup truck on the market. Goes public on NASDAQ in November with the largest IPO of 2021 at ~$12B raised.

Amazon leads a $700M funding round and orders 100,000 electric delivery vans (EDVs) from Rivian, establishing a major commercial partnership.

Rivian reveals the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV at the Los Angeles Auto Show, generating significant industry attention.

RJ Scaringe founds Mainstream Motors (later renamed Rivian) while completing his PhD at MIT, initially focused on a sports car concept.