Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe Interview: Hidden R1 bidirectional charging, R2 NACS, ‘mind-bending’ R3 build timeline, more
Rivian gave us a quick 15 minutes with CEO RJ Scaringe to talk about the R2 and R3. Believe me, we took full advantage of that time to ask the pressing questions you told us you had in our watch party and many others. Some of his answers are the first we’ve heard on the matter.
Rivian R3/X !!!
It is hard to believe that this secret was kept so well. It is the sign of a company that has its act together and loyal employees.
On Rivian R3 vs. R2, there is a contingent within the company that wants to bring out the R3 first. At this moment, the R2 is slated to come out first. At this moment, there is a “stagger” between R2 which will be launched out of Normal in 2026 H1. It sounds like it is uncertain if the R3/X will be launched out of Normal or Georgia. Also it is uncertain what this stagger will be but a year would put R3/X at H1 2027, which is a long way off.
On the R3, RJ called out its “incredible, mind-bending” capability and speed. Put in context, the tri-motor R2 will do 0-60 in ‘well under’ 3 seconds and with the same drivetrain, the smaller, lighter R3X should be significantly faster than that. All of that will still include the ability to go off road. In a hatchback (!!) form factor.
Rivian R2 Pack size
RJ didn’t go into specifics on the kWh capacity of the packs but there will be at least 2 pack sizes. The $45K version with RWD will go under 300 miles or about 270 miles. It is uncertain what the actual EPA will be. The larger pack will be over 300 miles even with the Trimotor under 3 seconds 0-60 version, which is an impressive efficiency for a rocket SUV.
If I had to guess, I would say the larger pack will be around 100kWh and the smaller pack around 80kWh.
R2 NACS port
I think our Jamie Dow was the first to lift the cover off the R2 NACS charge port, but it was hidden a little low on the rear passenger side, which makes it a bit of a hassle for Superchargers. RJ went into some details on the thinking here, including that it will be convenient for current Rivian owners. I do wonder if this will present problems for Tesla Superchargers especially while towing.
Camp Compact Kitchen
Our accessories announcement post assumed that these products would be released in time for the R2. However, RJ said that these new products would be available for R1S/T owners as well and would be released much sooner. This means that the Camp/compact kitchen, complete with an induction oven, will be available soon for R1S and R1T owners. I valiantly offered to review this early, which I know you all would appreciate. Strangely, I’m also interested in the bike rack, tent, and particularly that removable hauler attachment, which can’t come soon enough.
R2 and R1 Bidirectional Charging
This was the first time I’ve heard anyone at Rivian acknowledge on the record that the R1S and R1T had bidirectional charging capability inside, waiting to be unlocked via a software update. That means a 240V inverter could be hung off of it like Ford’s Pro Power and Tesla’s CyberTruck to power a house in case of an outage. This is something that Rivian could “productize” almost immediately and get a good return on minimal investment.
The better news is that R2 will have an integrated 240V AC output option, though only 120V was shown at the event. RJ also said that the 240V AC output would be an upcoming R1S/T option, but it doesn’t sound like it can be retrofitted.
We’re going to keep working to find details here because I know a lot of you (and me) are chomping at the bit for this.
400V or 800V system?
RJ didn’t say on screen which system the battery would be but remarks off the call make me think that this will be a 400V system because of the cost savings aspect. The thinking is that bigger and more powerful vehicles would be better suited to 800V technologies, so perhaps the higher-performance R1/2/3 vehicles in the future will make more sense.
It also means that Rivian vehicles won’t have insanely fast charging compared to Cybertruck, Silverado/Hummer trucks or even Porsche/Hyundai cars but Rivian has been pushing the 400V charging speeds as fast as anyone.
Perhaps what I’ve heard most about Rivian’s presentation today, besides how much everyone wants the R3 and how remarkable it was kept a secret, was that it was refreshing to listen to a down-to-earth, earnest leader.
I’m under no illusion that there is an army of PR folks behind the camera in the interview making sure he reveals as few interesting pieces of news as possible, and you can tell RJ is PR-trained to a fault.
But it is really refreshing that little things like starting the event on time so as not to waste other people’s time, and you can tell this has actually been practiced and reduced to be succinct. Plus, talking to someone in a leadership role who not only knows their product inside and out but also doesn’t make me cringe feels great.
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Environment
Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to officially join Trump’s administration as the co-head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency – a second federal department with the goal of making government spending more efficient.
You can’t get more ironic than that.
Throughout the elections, Musk, who is already CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX, a well as the defacto head of X, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, has been floating the idea to add to his workload by joining the Trump’s administration to lead a new department aimed at making the federal government more efficient.
He has been calling it the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which spells out ‘DOGE’, a meme that Musk appears to enjoy.
Well, now Trump appears to want to be going through with this idea.
He announced the new department and Musk as head, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, in a statement today:
I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement. “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” stated Mr. Musk.
What’s most ironic is that there’s already a federal department with the goal of cutting government waste and ensuring efficiency: the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The GAO’s main objectives are:
- auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;
- investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities;
- reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives;
- performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration;
- issuing legal decisions and opinions;
- advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective
It sounds similar to what Musk described when talking about his DOGE, but Trump hasn’t gone into many details other than it will “cut waste.”
He also has a confusing message as he compares the initiative, which is supposed to cut government spending, to “The Manhattan project”, a massive and expensive government project.
Trump said that DOGE will help the government “drive large scale structural reform”:
It will become, potentially, “The Manhattan Project” of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.
The statement also noted that DOGE will only operate until July 4, 2026.
Musk has previously claimed that he could cut at least $2 trillion dollars of the $6.5 trillion dollar US federal budget.
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A pump jack in Midland, Texas, US, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024.
Anthony Prieto | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.
“There is more fear about 2025’s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.
“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.
A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.
Oil prices year-to-date
Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC.
Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”
However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.
Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double.
Martoccia Francesco
Energy strategist at Citi
The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.
In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September.
At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.
Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.
The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.
Bearish year ahead for oil
The market consensus is that there’ll be a “substantial” oil stock build next year, said Citibank energy strategist Martoccia Francesco.
“Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double… reaching as much as 1.6 million barrels per day,” said Francesco.
Even if OPEC+ doesn’t unwind the cuts, the future ofl prices is still looking break. Citi analysts expect Brent price to average $60 per barrel next year.
Further fueling the bearish outlook is the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose return is associated by some with a potential trade war, said analysts who spoke to CNBC.
“If we do get a trade war — and a lot of economists think that a trade war is possible, and particularly against China — we could see much, much lower prices,” said OPIS’ Kloza.
Trump has also touted a “drill baby drill” policy for U.S. producers, vowing to cut energy prices in half.
For that to happen to retail gasoline prices, oil would need to drop to “below $40” per barrel, said Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst.
Right now, retail gasoline prices are at a “sweet spot” at $3 per gallon, where consumers do not feel the pinch and input prices are still sufficiently high for producers, Smith added.
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