War Destroyed EV Sales
Riyadh 2.01pm
With [majority shares owned by] Saudi royal family, actually RIVIAN has a [potential] very bright future. Saudi family-owned group that reaped billions as an early backer of electric truck-maker Rivian Automotive Inc., has made a new bet on battery-powered vehicles, this time investing in two- and three-wheeler vehicles in India.
Abdul Latif Jameel, a Jeddah-based group named after its founder and now run by his sons, committed to invest up to $220 million in Greaves Electric Mobility, according to a statement. It will initially pay $150 million for a 35.8% stake in the electric vehicle maker, part of Greaves Cotton, an Indian manufacturing and engineering company.
RIVIAN is really eyeing to boost sales in the entire Middle East, especially because of potential normalization Saudi - Israel. RIVIAN will likely be big beneficiary of Cybertruck deliv launch, as huge CT interest combined with 2+ year wait on new CT orders sparks interest in the entire EV truck category with Rivian closest EV competitor to CT for ICE truck owners who favor a more traditional design. “EV trucks are cool.”
Then, war - genocidal happens in Gaza by Israel. Planning for the entire middle east such as Saudi, Jordan, UAE, and Kuwait abruptly must be re-set from zero. Layoff happens.
Rivian this week laid off about 20 members of its long-range battery cell development team including Victor Prajapati, the company’s lead cell engineer and a former senior manager at Tesla. Rivian trims ‘Battery Team’ by nearly 8% to focus on R2 platform. A breakthrough in battery technology means that sodium may eat into lithium's dominance for EVs and storage use. It is the latest in a surge of battery and electric vehicle industry cutbacks as EV sales—though reaching record levels this year—have failed to match expectations.
In Europe, EU proposes delaying by three years tariffs on electric vehicles traded with the UK, in a win for carmakers that warned the rules would unnecessarily hurt their operations. Europe is far along enough in its transition to electric vehicles for Toyota to start looking at localizing production — a move the world's largest automaker doesn't make lightly.
Amid disaster PR and brand image, mixed antisemitism Elon persona —- and make European side re-think more time about cooperation with Elon, standoff between Tesla and a growing number of Scandinavian unions has pitted the region's embrace of EVs against its cherished history of labor organizing. The rise of inexpensive Chinese electric vehicles has upped the pressure on legacy automakers who have turned to suppliers, from battery materials makers to chipmakers, to squeeze out costs and develop affordable EVs quicker than previously planned.