Rivian is opening up its first Service Center in Europe, but it’s not for what you’d hope
American EV automaker Rivian may finally be making its long-speculated trek overseas into new markets in Europe. According to a recent job post from the company, it is looking for a manager to lead its Service Center in Berlin, Germany – which would be its first footprint in the EU. By looking to hire new positions overseas, Rivian’s EV expansion feels all but imminent. However, those EU customers hoping this means they will soon be able to get their hands on an R1T will be disappointed.
Rivian remains a relatively young EV automaker trying its damnedest to navigate the rocky terrain of start-ups and reach profitable scaled production without going under. Its two flagship EVs are already tackling both roads and trails across the US from the company’s current production footprint in Normal, Illinois.
With a second, massive facility under construction in Georgia, Rivian continues to expand its business model while simultaneously working to ramp up production of not only its consumer EVs but its electric delivery vans under a massive contract with Amazon.
While US consumers have been able to experience the performance and intuitive design Rivian EVs are bringing to the table, customers elsewhere have been waiting by the sidelines for their chance to try out a genuine off-road EV. That has previously led people in Europe to speculate that Rivian would be entering new markets as early as 2023, but the American automaker has since shot down such ideas.
A new job posted by Rivian has offered a glimmer of hope for customers in Europe, but it is fleeting.
Rivian seeks to hire service staff in Europe
As pointed out by member DuoRivians on RivianForums, the American automaker recently posted a new position for Service Center Manager in Berlin, Germany. Per the job posting:
This role requires an experienced professional with high levels of energy and initiative, deep understanding of service processes, go-getter attitude, great leadership skills, and cross-team collaboration. To be successful in this role, you must have a customer-first approach, thrive in ambiguous and unexpected environments, tackling all challenges with a creative and flexible mindset.
As a manager of Rivian’s upcoming Service Center in Europe, many of the responsibilities pertain to such, but it’s still difficult to decipher if the role will engage with passenger EVs like the R1T and R1S or just the electric delivery vans (EDVs) for Amazon. Here are some of the listed responsibilities:
- Accountable for effectively managing a P&L, Work in Progress (WIP) and customer experience measured by a Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Lead and manage all local operations on the ground with a servant-leadership, hands-on mindset
- Ensure that programs and processes are developed, assessed, communicated, and administered in compliance with Rivian’s objectives
- Collaborate with Service Operations, Sales, Retail, and Delivery & Field Operations teams
- Work in partnership with cross-functional teams regularly on implementing and continuously improving field service operations
- Build a strong customer-centric team of Mobile/Service Technicians, Service Advisors, and Parts Advisors
- Develop and maintain a process to track and report on KPIs at the Service Centers
A source with knowledge of the matter told us that the Berlin Service Center won’t (at least initially) be used to support Rivian consumer EVs, so it looks like the automaker’s focus will be on its client Amazon to start.
That isn’t to say Rivian’s Berlin Service Center or any future footprints in Europe won’t eventually also service passenger EVs… just not anytime soon. Still, an expansion to Europe feels all but guaranteed, just not today. Rivian has plenty on its plate in the US for now.
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Credit where credit is due: in a massive, 32-car multinational independent test, Tesla’s Autopilot ADAS came out on top, the new affordable Tesla turns out to be a corner-cutting Model Y, and one of the company’s original founders compares the Cybertruck to a dumpster. All this and more on today’s episode of Quick Charge!
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Tesla is again teasing the new Roadster, which is now five years late, as “the last driver’s car” before self-driving takes over.
The chicken or the egg. Is Tesla delaying the Roadster to match the development of self-driving technology, or is it delaying the development of self-driving technology to match the delayed release of the Roadster?
The prototype for the next-generation Tesla Roadster was first unveiled in 2017, and it was initially scheduled to enter production in 2020; however, it has been delayed every year since then.
It was supposed to achieve a range of 620 miles (1,000 km) and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds.
It has become a sort of running joke, and there are doubts that it will ever come to market despite Tesla’s promise of dozens of free new Roadsters to Tesla owners who participated in its referral program years ago.
Tesla used the promise of free Roadsters to help generate billions of dollars worth of sales, which Tesla owners delivered; however, the automaker never delivered on its part of the agreement.
Furthermore, many people placed deposits ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 to reserve the vehicle, which was initially scheduled to hit the market five years ago.
When unveiling the vehicle, CEO Elon Musk described it as a “halo car” that would deliver a “smack down” to gasoline vehicles.
That was almost eight years ago, and many electric hypercars have since launched and delivered this smackdown.
Tesla has partly blamed the delays on improving the next-gen Roadsters and added features like the “SpaceX package,” which is supposed to include cold air thrusters to enable the vehicle to fly – Musk has hinted.
Many people don’t believe any of it, as Tesla has said that it would launch the new Roadster every year for the last 5 years and never did.
Now, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s head of vehicle engineering, made a rare new comment about the next-generation Roadster during an interview at the X Takeover event, an annual gathering of Elon Musk cultists, last weekend.
He referred to Tesla’s next-gen Roadster as the “last best driver’s car” and said that the automaker did “some cool demos” for Musk last week:
We spent a lot of time in the last few years rethinking what we did, and why we did it, and what would make an awesome and exciting last best driver’s car. We’ve been making it better and better, and it is even a little bit more than a car. We showed Elon some cool demos last week and tech we’ve been working on, and he got a little excited.
The timing matches Musk’s recent claim that Tesla is going to have ‘the most epic demo ever, ’ but we heard that one before.
We suspected that the comment might be about the Tesla Roadster, as the CEO made the exact same comment about Roadster demos in 2019 and 2024. You will not be shocked to hear that these demos never happen.
Electrek’s Take
The “last best driver’s car” before computers are going to drive us everywhere. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy if you continue to delay the car. It might literally be the last car ever made that way. How would we ever know?
The truth is that the Roadster was cool when it was unveiled in 2017, but that was a long time ago. Tesla would need to update the car quite a bit to make it cool in 2025, and I don’t know that cold air clusters are it. You will have extreme limitations using those.
The Roadster is almost entirely in the “put up or shut up” category for me at Tesla. They need to stop talking about it and make it happen; otherwise, I can’t believe a word.
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The PV5 is already available in several markets, but will Kia launch it in the US? After Kia’s electric van was spotted testing in the US again, a US debut could be in the works.
Is Kia’s electric van coming to the US?
Kia launched the PV5, the first dedicated electric van from its new Platform Beyond vehicle (PBV) business, in South Korea and Europe earlier this year, promising it will roll out in “other global markets” in 2026.
Will that include the US? Earlier this year, Kia’s electric van was caught charging at a station in Indiana. Photos and a video sent to Electrek by Alex Nguyen confirmed it was, in fact, the PV5.
Kia has yet to say if it will sell the PV5 in the US, likely due to the Trump Administration’s new auto tariffs. All electric vans, or PBVs, including the PV5, will be built at Kia’s Hwaseong plant in South Korea, which means they will face a stiff 25% tariff as imports.
Following another sighting, a US debut cannot be ruled out. The PV5 Passenger model was spotted by Automotive Validation Engineer Chris Higa (@Chrisediting) while testing in Arizona.
There’s no denying that’s Kia’s electric van, but it doesn’t necessarily confirm it will launch in the US. But it could make sense.
Despite record first-half sales in the US, Kia’s EV sales have fallen significantly. Sales of the EV9 and EV6 are nearly 50% less than in the first half of 2024.
To be fair, part of it is due to the new model year changeover, but Kia is also doubling down on the US market by boosting local production. Earlier this year, Kia said the EV6 and EV9 are now in full-scale production at its West Point, GA, facility.
The PV5 Passenger (shown above) is available in Europe with two battery pack options: 51.5 kWh or 71.2 kWh, rated with WLTP ranges of 179 miles and 249 miles, respectively. The Cargo variant has the same battery options but offers a WLTP range of either 181 miles or 247 miles.
During its PV5 Tech Day event last week, Kia revealed plans for seven PV5 body types, including an Open Bed (similar to a pickup), a Light Camper, and even a luxury “Prime” passenger model.
Kia is set to begin deliveries of the PV5 Passenger and Cargo Long variants in South Korea next month, followed by Europe and other global markets, starting in Q4 2025. As for a US launch, we will have to wait for the official word from Kia.
Do you want Kia to bring its electric van to the US? Drop us a comment below and let us know your thoughts.
Source: Chris Higa, TheKoreanCarBlog
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