Inside Rivian’s Strategy to Survive a Hostile EV Market

On with Kara Swisher

New York Magazine

Society & Culture

4.2 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kara talks with Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe at a tense time for electric vehicles: domestic sales have cooled, federal EV tax credits are gone, and tariffs are raising costs across supply chains. Rivian’s premium R1S SUV and R1T pickup helped establish the brand — the R1S is now the best-selling premium electric SUV in the country — but the company is still losing money. The R2, Rivian’s midsize SUV will hit showrooms this year, and Scaringe says it will be “an inflection point for us as a business.” Kara presses him on how to win buyers cross-shopping hybrids and gas vehicles, and what it takes to compete with both Tesla and low-cost, highly capable Chinese EV makers. They also dig into Rivian’s joint venture with Volkswagen Group, the economics of scaling an EV startup, and why Scaringe believes autonomy will eventually become as critical as having “tires on a vehicle.” Plus: Aurora CEO Chris Urmson asks why Rivian doesn't have CarPlay. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's on.
0:02.0	Hi, everyone, from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
0:16.0	This is On with Karas Swisher, and I'm Kara Swisher.
0:19.0	My guest today is RJ Scouringe.
0:21.2	He's the founder and CEO of the electric vehicle company, Rivian.
0:24.7	They're making two cars right now, the R1S, a seven-seat SUV, and the R1T, a five-seat pickup truck.
0:33.3	Rivian, though, is about to roll out a smaller SUV in the coming months, and the company
0:37.3	has also announced a bunch of plans for more self-driving and autonomous vehicle tech.
0:42.3	But it's not a great time to be an all-eV company right now.
0:45.7	Sales of electric cars plunged at the end of last year.
0:48.4	That was especially true for high-end EVs like the ones Rivian makes.
0:52.1	There's lots of reasons why, but the big one was that President
0:54.4	Trump and Congressional Republicans ended the federal tax credit to help people buy EVs. Basically,
0:59.3	a new EV got $7,500 more expensive overnight. Tariffs certainly haven't helped the situation,
1:06.4	but it's a big deal for a company like Rivian, which still isn't turning a profit yet.
1:13.2	I think Rivian's a fascinating company.
1:14.4	I think it's a beautiful car.
1:15.5	I've tested it many times.
1:17.5	I've never met RJ, which is odd.
1:22.8	But he's a very thoughtful CEO in a way that Elon Musk used to be and has some interesting thoughts and where things are going.
1:24.3	He's certainly an important player in the area.
1:27.1	And as most people
	...

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