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(Mild conflict of interest: I'm originally from Central Illinois, Rivian took over the old Mitsubishi plant where my dad worked, so I'm keen to see manufacturin

(Mild conflict of interest: I'm originally from Central Illinois, Rivian took over the old Mitsubishi plant where my dad worked, so I'm keen to see manufacturing stay around there.) I think the future earnings potential is the "platform". Which sounds like marketing hype, but I'm not so sure. The US is, at least under the current administration, not going to push for EVs, but the rest of the world is trending in that direction, especially after it was revealed that basically everyone was cheating on diesel emissions. Rivian's pitch is that they have a modular flexible platform that's tuned for boring-but-essential utility vehicles. Tesla sells consumer sex, Rivian is selling white van man utility ahead of big, big pressures to lower fleet CO2 emissions. Seems like a reasonable business model to me.

Gibbon1 7y ago
It's not just lowering fleet emissions, it's also while consumers are stupidly fixated on price commercial looks at TCO. EV's TCO is lower. There is also something I learned about golf carts. For consumers being able to gas up a car is a convenience. For fleet operators having to deal with fuel is a pain in the ass they do not want.
- greglindahl 7y ago
  Most EV owners with at-home or at-work charging appreciate the convenience of not having to go to "gas stations" other than during long trips. This is an issue that the general public has yet to fully think out... every EV thread on HN has a few folks talking about how it's impossible to take a long trip in an EV because they'd have to spend time charging during it. And these same folks are usually not considering how much time they save during the rest of the year. Good thing EV sales are low enough that everyone doesn't need to be convinced of this immediately.
  - ctdonath 7y ago
    Finally someone else notices. Major benefit is the car is "topped off" every morning, so charging time is practically zero most of the time.

Gibbon1 7y ago

It's not just lowering fleet emissions, it's also while consumers are stupidly fixated on price commercial looks at TCO. EV's TCO is lower. There is also something I learned about golf carts. For consumers being able to gas up a car is a convenience. For fleet operators having to deal with fuel is a pain in the ass they do not want.

greglindahl 7y ago
Most EV owners with at-home or at-work charging appreciate the convenience of not having to go to "gas stations" other than during long trips. This is an issue that the general public has yet to fully think out... every EV thread on HN has a few folks talking about how it's impossible to take a long trip in an EV because they'd have to spend time charging during it. And these same folks are usually not considering how much time they save during the rest of the year. Good thing EV sales are low enough that everyone doesn't need to be convinced of this immediately.
- ctdonath 7y ago
  Finally someone else notices. Major benefit is the car is "topped off" every morning, so charging time is practically zero most of the time.