Toronto, Ontario — According to a recent report from Reuters, electric vehicle maker Rivian’s drive to cut costs and turn its first big profit has removed multiple steps from the vehicle-making process, resulting in a 35 percent reduction in cost of materials.
Specifically, Rivian outlined how it has removed over 100 steps from the battery making process, 52 pieces of equipment from the bodyshop and over 500 parts from the design of its flagship SUVs and pickups.
In addition to simplified assembly and less equipment needed, Rivian has also invested in changes in flow into the second generation of its R1 vehicles with company-built drive units, upgraded software and new battery packs.
Moreover, for the battery packs themselves, the automaker has made it so that the modules are redesigned and come in one piece instead of walls and floors that were previously built separately.
The vehicles also come with a new architecture meant to reduce weight and improve manufacturing efficiency, including shedding 1.6 miles of wiring from each vehicle.
CEO RJ Scaringe further reported to Reuters that the automaker’s overall cost of building its electric vehicles has “improved dramatically.”
“The design of the parts and the design of the plant facilitate making the vehicle easier to build,” Scaring said.
Despite this, since it was founded in 2009, Rivian has never turned a quarterly net profit and further lost $1.5 billion in the first quarter. Reuters also noted that while the automaker may be on more solid ground financially, Rivian loses nearly $39,000 on every vehicle—although, the automaker hopes that these new manufacturing strategies will continue to help with costs going forward.
