US: Rivian EV Registrations Appear Stronger Than Some Other Startups

Lucid and VinFast numbers remain relatively low, while Fisker is just starting its EV sales adventure.

Rivian R1T

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Sep 15, 2023 at 7:59am ET

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Rivian appears to be the strongest young EV startup in the United States right now, noticeably outpacing other new brands.

According to the registration data from Experian (via Automotive News), Rivian's new EV registrations in July amounted to 2,783, which is above the monthly average of 2,596 in the first half of the year. The company is ramping up production of the R1T pickup and R1S SUV and the numbers are expected to further improve.

During the first seven months, a total of 18,359 Rivian R1T and R1S were registered (EDV electric vans are excluded from this stats), which is the eight highest result overall, worth about 2.8 percent of the all-electric car segment.

Interestingly, the R1S is noticeably above the R1T with respectively 10,748 and 7,611 units. Another interesting thing is that the Ford F-150 Lightning, with 11,883 units sold, probably will remain the best-selling all-electric pickup in the foreseeable future. The upcoming ramp-up of the production rate to 150,000 units annually is a quite significant move. Ford recently reduced prices of the electric F-150 too, while Rivian is launching new, longer-range dual-motor versions of its pickup.

In the case of the other new brands on the market, the volume is much lower. Lucid, which launched its first product at about the same time as Rivian (late 2021), noted 348 new registrations of the Lucid Air in July and 3,789 during the first seven months of the year.

Lucid recently had to reduce prices, but the situation is challenging because of the competition with Tesla (Model S), according to the article. The competition might not be fully direct, but Tesla's recent price reduction for sure adds pressure.

The VinFast brand is quite a mystery to us. The Vietnamese company expanded into the car business several years ago, with internal combustion engine cars in 2019 and later all-electric cars. The all-electric VinFast VF 8 model noted just 19 registrations in July and 170 during the first seven months. It's less than 10 percent of the number of cars (about 2,000), imported from Vietnam, according to the article. Moreover, the monthly number of registrations is not increasing, but rather decreasing - 66 in April, 45 in May, 23 in June and 19 in July.

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Fisker entered the market very recently, so it's too early to say anything about its progress. In July, 30 units of the Ocean model were registered (37 through July). The all-electric crossover is imported from Austria and according to the company, over 450 units were already delivered in the US.

Observing the development of EV startups is always interesting because starting a car company always has been very difficult. So far, it seems that only Tesla made it in the US. Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars pointed out: "The second half of 2023 will be the real time frame to watch, as everything from economic concerns to increased EV model launches are going to put more pressure on the startups. The same basic story goes for Lucid, VinFast and Fisker. These companies are well behind Rivian in terms of establishing a buyer base."

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