Scaringe said Rivian is not trying to copy Tesla, saying that “there have been a lot of Model Y copies.”
- Rivian plans to introduce supervised point-to-point driving this year, followed by eyes-off, unsupervised driving in 2027.
- Scaringe said Rivian’s long-term goal is fully driverless vehicles capable of handling tasks like airport drop-offs, grocery runs, and school pickups.
- The company’s push for autonomy underpins its partnership with Uber, with plans to deploy 50,000 R2 robotaxis and begin paid rides in 2028.
Shares of Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN) jumped 2% overnight heading into Monday after CEO RJ Scaringe revealed that Rivian plans to roll out a self-driving system “very similar to Tesla’s FSD” later this year, with unsupervised driving expected to follow in 2027.
RIVN stock notched a fourth straight weekly gain, rising 3% last week.
Rivian’s Robotaxi Ambitions
Speaking on the Masters of Scale podcast with host Jeff Berman over the weekend, Scaringe outlined an aggressive autonomy roadmap that could eventually pave the way for robotaxis and fully driverless vehicles.
Scaringe said Rivian has spent years rebuilding its autonomy stack around an in-house AI-driven architecture, and the company is now preparing to roll out its biggest software upgrade yet: “Later this year, we’ll have a full supervised point-to-point, which would be very similar to Tesla’s FSD,” he said.
Rivian plans to follow that with eyes-off, unsupervised driving next year before eventually enabling vehicles to operate without anyone inside. According to Scaringe, the tech can eventually support use cases such as airport drop-offs, grocery runs, and school pickups.
Rivian’s autonomy ambitions are also driving its partnership with Uber: “We took the decision to partner with Uber so we could focus on the tech and leverage them for their access to a big distribution channel,” Scaringe said. Through the partnership, Rivian plans to deploy 50,000 robotaxi versions of the R2, with paid rides expected to begin in 2028.
Scaringe also said that self-driving tech will soon become an essential vehicle feature: “I think it’ll become unimaginable to have a car that can’t fully drive itself.”
Why Rivian Isn’t Copying Tesla
Despite Rivian’s increasing focus on autonomy, Scaringe said that competing with Tesla doesn’t mean copying Tesla: “There have been a lot of Model Y copies,” he said. “If you want to buy a Tesla Model Y, you don’t want XYZ company’s version of a Model Y. You’ll just get the Model Y.”
The CEO also said that Tesla’s dominant market share is evidence of an underserved EV market rather than a lack of demand for alternatives. “The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 generate 55 to 60% market share for the whole EV market in the United States,” Scaringe said. “That is not a reflection of a healthy market. That’s a reflection of a market that’s wildly underserved.”
R2 Fuels Bull Case
Last week, Needham reiterated its ‘Buy’ rating and $23 price target on the stock after attending Rivian’s Investor Drive event, saying that the newly launched R2 underpins its bullish thesis. The brokerage cited improving economics, growing autonomy capabilities and upcoming catalysts, including point-to-point navigation, eyes-off autonomous driving and lower-priced R2 variants.
However, the optimism has been tempered by criticism surrounding R2 lease pricing and the absence of several software features at launch. Rivian has addressed the missing features and said the capabilities will be delivered via over-the-air updates later this summer.
How Do Retail Traders Feel About RIVN?
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for RIVN was ‘neutral’ amid a 125% surge in message volumes over the past week.
One user said, “I’m seeing Rivians everywhere! Never had more conviction. There’s dozens and dozens of these 100k rivians driving around my town, I can just imagine once the r2 start selling mass scale. Tesla is cooked. Let’s go Rivian.”
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Another user said, “Rivian stock is severely undervalued below $18.50. The basher just can’t stand that Rivian is catching up with Tesla while Ford lagging behind announced large volume of recall with their cars. Bashers ought to get a test ride of Rivian R2 to know they are getting Rivian all wrong.”
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RIVN stock has risen 20% over the past year.
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