Rivian (RIVN) hits a milestone after its 100,000th EV rolls off the production line

EV startup Rivian (RIVN) just hit a major milestone after announcing its 100,000th EV rolled off the production line on Wednesday.

Rivian builds its 100,000th EV

Rivian continues expanding the brand with its “Electric Adventure Vehicles,” including the all-electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV.

After Rivian’s R1T became the first electric pickup to hit the US market in September 2021, the EV maker just hit another milestone.

CEO RJ Scaringe announced Rivian built its 100,000th EV Wednesday, almost three and a half years after the first model rolled off the production line.

The R1S, Rivian’s electric family mover (with room for seven), joined the lineup, with the first customer deliveries kicking off in August 2022. Although Rivian delivered the first R1S models in December 2021, they were to Scaringe and CFO Claire McDonough.

Rivian is entering a new growth phase this year as the EV maker looks to continue expanding. The company is shutting down production at its Normal, IL plant to introduce new tech and manufacturing practices to cut costs.

Announced last November, the upgrades will meaningfully reduce material costs later this year. By the end of 2024, Rivian expects a “modest growth profit.”

Due to the shutdown, Rivian expects deliveries to remain flat this year at around 57,000. Rivian announced it remains on track to hit its goal after producing 13,980 EVs in Q1. The company topped delivery expectations with 13,588 vehicles handed over through the first three months of 2024.

Rivian expected deliveries to fall about 10% to 15% from Q4, but they were only down 3%. With around a $43,372 loss on every vehicle built in Q4, Rivian looks to improve its profitability.

While this is still a big loss, it’s down drastically from the $124,162 loss per vehicle in Q4 2022. Rivian ended the fourth quarter with over $9 billion in cash, enough to fund it through the launch of its next-gen R2.

The EV maker revealed its smaller, more affordable R2 last month. With prices starting around $45,000, Rivian looks to attract new markets. It also shocked the crowd with an even more compact and lower-cost R3 and R3X models.

Scaringe revealed the R2 racked up over 68,000 reservations in under 24 hours as demand for affordable EVs builds.

Despite the progress, Rivian’s stock is near all-time low prices as startups face higher interest rates. Rivian shares are down over 30% over the past 12 months as the EV maker looks to expand the brand.