Do we like them?

Do we like Rivian?

Makes electric pickups, SUVs and delivery vans (R1, R2, Amazon vans), plus charging and driver-assist software. US-based.

Our score: 6 out of 10. A real EV maker with a mass-market car now shipping, but a patchy factory safety record and a $250M investor settlement keep us at a cautious maybe.

Rivian is a US electric-vehicle maker led by its founder, RJ Scaringe. It sells the R1T pickup, the R1S SUV and electric delivery vans, with Amazon a major van customer. In 2026 it started customer deliveries of the cheaper R2 SUV, which is the car the whole company is betting on.

Things look better now than they did. The Motley Fool reported Q3 revenue up 38% to nearly $2.2B and deliveries up 46%, helped by the R2. InsideEVs notes it still loses money. Profit isn't a good or bad deed, but it matters when you're deciding whether to back a company.

The drama is mostly about safety and money. WGLT reported that OSHA cited the Normal, Illinois plant with 16 violations since 2021, and former workers told it production pressure hurt safety. Rivian says it has improved and had no serious OSHA violations in 2024. Rivian also paid $250M to settle an investor class action, without admitting fault.

On the plus side, its cars are electric and it has a stated plan to match charging with clean energy. It has also expanded a battery-lifecycle partnership with Redwood Materials. Against that, TechCrunch reported it cut more than 600 jobs ahead of the R2 launch. We'd back it, but with caution: 6 out of 10.