London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Tesla's Elon Musk trolls Rivian after blockbuster IPO

Tesla's Elon Musk trolls Rivian after blockbuster IPO

Following its first two days of trading, Rivian is valued at more than $100 billion

Despite Rivian's blockbuster IPO, Elon Musk has warned that the "true test" for the electric vehicle maker and Tesla competitor's success will be to achieve high production and breakeven cash flow.

"There have been hundreds of automotive startups, both electric & combustion, but Tesla is [the] only American carmaker to reach high volume production & positive cash flow in past 100 years," Musk tweeted.

A representative for Rivian did not immediately return FOX Business' request for comment on Musk's tweet.

Rivian, which is backed by Amazon and favored by Jeff Bezos, raised approximately $11.9 billion in its IPO after selling 153 million shares at $78 apiece. In addition, the company has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 22.95 million additional shares at the IPO price.

Following its first two days of trading, Rivian is valued at more than $100 billion, above the market values of automotive giants General Motors and Ford Motor Company. Amazon holds a 22.4% stake in Rivian, while Ford holds a 14.4% stake. Shares are up approximately 3% as of the time of publication Friday.


Though Rivian has approximately 55,400 preorders for its R1T pickup and R1S SUV and has reached an agreement with Amazon for 100,000 electric delivery vans by 2030, the company has not generated any material revenue to date. Rivian said in its amended IPO prospectus that it will lose up to $1.28 billion in the third quarter and that revenue will range from zero to $1 million.

Rivian began production and deliveries of the the R1T in September, which starts at $67,500 and has an EPA-estimated 314 miles of range on a single charge. As of Oct. 31, Rivian produced 180 R1Ts and delivered 156 R1Ts. The R1S, which starts at $70,000 and has an EPA-estimated 316 miles of range on a single charge, is expected to begin deliveries in December following completion of ongoing vehicle validation and all required testing.
The company expects to produce approximately 1,200 R1Ts and 25 R1Ss and deliver approximately 1,000 R1Ts and 15 R1Ss by the end of 2021. In addition, Rivian anticipates its preorders will be filled by the end of 2023. Meanwhile, the company expects to produce and deliver 10 electric delivery vans in 2021.

Rivian recently began production and deliveries of its R1T passenger pickup truck in September, which starts at $67,500 and has an EPA-estimated 314 miles of range. 


Rivian's factory in Normal, Illinois, is currently equipped to produce up to 150,000 vehicles annually. Rivian is aiming to produce approximately 1,310 R1 vehicles and 1,710 commercial vehicles per week, which equates to 65,000 R1 vehicles and 85,000 commercial vehicles, including EDVs, annually.

"We expect to reach a vehicle production rate, which, when annualized, would result in us using 100% of the facility’s current installed capacity of up to 150,000 vehicles by late 2023," Rivian wrote in the filing. "Further, we believe that we will be able to increase the annual production capacity of the Normal Factory up to 200,000 vehicles in 2023 as we introduce additional R1 platform variants and expand the facility. Over the next couple of years, we expect to establish additional domestic production capacity in order to support our product development roadmap and fulfill future anticipated demand."

This isn't the first time Musk has taken a swipe at the competition.

In August, Musk tweeted "Don’t want to be unreasonable, but maybe they should be required to deliver at least one vehicle per billion dollars of valuation *before* the IPO?" in response to reports that Rivian's IPO would value the company's at approximately $80 billion. He also tweeted laughing emojis in response to a report that Rivian was developing a Level 3 autonomous driving system with hands-free capability, similar to Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature.

In October, Musk also responded to a report that the R1T production rate stalled at just over 1 electric truck per day, tweeting "prototypes are trivial compared to scaling production & supply chain."

"If those are solved, achieving positive gross margin is the next nightmare," he added. "Starting a second new vehicle line before first is working will divide resources & amplify probability of failure."

In addition to Musk's Twitter jabs, Tesla has previously filed a lawsuit against Rivian, accusing the company of stealing employees and trade secrets.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×