Rivian ‘can’t wait’ to meet Aussie customers

Star EV start-up Rivian says “it can’t wait” to meet its Australian customers but at the same time has downplayed plans for factory-backed local sale any time soon.

The comments about Australia comes at the same time stories about Rivian’s expansion are exploding across the internet.

In recent days Rivian has confirmed potential plans to build a second plant in the US, reports have emerged of another assembly plant being considered for the UK or Europe and the brand has registered six new badges pointing to a dramatic model expansion.

It has also confirmed plans to export vehicles to Europe from 2022.

The brand-building hype comes ahead of an expected stock market float later this year. With backing from Amazon, Ford and institutional investors, Rivian is widely seen the strongest EV start-up since Tesla.

All this comes shortly after the Rivian R1T pick-up and R1S SUV were spotted testing in New Zealand.

But in an emailed reply to questions, a Rivian spokesperson told carsales that the NZ testing didn’t indicate any imminent right-hand drive sales plans.

“We’re committed to testing all Rivian vehicles in climates all over the world.

“We haven’t yet announced RHD dates.

“We haven’t announced delivery dates [in Australia] yet. We can tell you that interest has been intense, and we can’t wait to meet our Australian customers.”

There have also been reports that Queensland remanufacturer SCD will import and potentially convert Rivian models to right-hand drive for Australian sale.

But Rivian has told carsales there were no arrangements in place with SCD.

“Rivian has no official distribution deals in Australia,” the spokesperson said.

In an explanatory note, Rivian made it clear there were other priorities for Rivian ahead of Australia.

“There’s a lot of focus on the US right now, beyond that there are many steps involved in entering new markets and we’re excited to share more details around specific locations, timings and experiences once we have them,” said the spokesperson.

The $US73,000 ($A99,415) launch edition of the R1T ute is the brand’s first model and after some delays is due to launch in the US in September.

Other versions are set to start delivery in January 2022. The R1S also launches in 2022.

Separately, investor Amazon has ordered 100,000 battery-electric vans from Rivian, with production expected to start in months.

Meanwhile, the six names registered by Rivian are for new models that are all expected to be built by 2025.

They are the R3S, R4S, R5S, R3T, R4T and R5T. If you’re wondering what happened to R2T and RTS, they’re already owned by Rivian. The brand has previously said it wants to add models smaller than the full-size R1T and R1S in the future.

Other names secured by Rivian include R1A, R1C, R1V, R2A, R2C, R2R and R2X.

The R1T and R1S use the same in-house-designed skateboard architecture that bundles batteries into the chassis.

There are four 147kW/350Nm motors making a combined 588kW and 1400Nm, which Rivian says will propel the ute to 60 miles per hour (96km/h) in three seconds.

Tow capacity is claimed to be five tonnes and the range is about 500km.

The Rivian models face plenty of rivals in the fledgling full-size EV pick-up and SUV market including the Ford F-150 Lightning, the GMC Hummer and delayed Tesla Cybertruck.