Rivian Sets Stage For Third Act

Rivian and VW signed a joint venture that gives VW much-needed software and Rivian much-needed cash. Together, they will collaborate on a new shared EV platform. The $5 Billion deal saw Rivian’s stock jump and VW’s dip slightly this week. The first billion drops in the form of a convertible note by the end of this year, and future funds will be allocated in 2025 and 2026. electrek.co, wsj.com, nytimes.com, bbc.com

Bloomberg columnist Chris Bryant wrote arguably the best automotive headline of the year, “Rivian Is Embraced by a Needy German Sugar Daddy”. bloomberg.com

Software challenges plague a lot of electric vehicles and this contributes to some not-so-favourable JD Power ratings. With the combined brain power of both companies, they can hope to resolve that. theverge.com

The two OEMs have been inadvertently sharing resources for a while (sorta). techcrunch.com

VW CEO Oliver Blume and Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe sure do look cozy together in this photo RJ shared on Twitter (x.com).

In March, Rivian announced plans for several new models. This week, they hinted at five more mystery vehicles during their investor day. electrek.co, theverge.com

Unlike Tesla, Rivian has demonstrated an ability to partner with incumbent OEMs. Previous deals included Ford’s investment in Rivian, which had a similar plan to produce a shared EV platform, and a joint venture with Mercedes to make electric vans. However, neither of those deals panned out. nytimes.com, motortrend.com, qz.com

Time will tell if RJ and Oliver are friends or foes. Either way, the news and the cash help Rivian live to fight another day.

More than ten days into the CDK SNAFU, many dealers' systems remain offline. However, initial testing is promising, and CDK has a preliminary set of dealers back up and running. autonews.com, reuters.com, autonews.com

However, the damage is done, and the fallout is going to be a fucking disaster. The industry will be living with this incident for the entirety of 2024. autonews.com

A mess of paperwork is piling up at dealerships. motor1.com

Lawsuits have begun. autonews.com

The estimated cost to affected dealerships is nearly $1 billion. cbtnews.com

OEMs are going to be challenged to post Q2 results. freep.com

‘BlackSuit’ hackers run a ransomware-as-a-service operation. They attack institutions, police departments, corporations, and anyone else they think has compromised systems and bags of cash that they might be willing to convert to Bitcoin. darkreading.com, techcrunch.com, cisa.gov, reuters.com, bloomberg.com

What prevents BlackSuit from taking CDK down again?

Probably not much.

Romain Dumas, driving Ford’s all-electric 1,600bhp+ F-150 Lightning SuperTruck, had some technical issues, came to a complete stop during his 12.42 mile, 156 turns, 4,720 ft climb up Pikes Peak, and still won the whole fucking race. topgear.com, performance.ford.com, electrek.co

Stellantis-backed Leapmotor launched the C16 in China. carscoops.com

The Geely Boyue SUV starts at about $12,800 USD. carnewschina.com

BeyonCa, backed by Renault and Dongfeng Motors, plans to launch Hong Kong’s first car brand. reuters.com

BYD flips the bird to Toyota and launches low-cost Seal EV in Japan. electrek.co

BYD begins manufacturing in Uzbekistan. cnevpost.com

CATL makes batteries for aircraft, too. cnevpost.com, electrek.co

Canadian government sets out on a 30-day tour to look at Beijing's EV trade practices. And there are also fears about the implications for Canada’s steel industry and the nascent EV battery ecosystem. cbc.ca, theglobeandmail.com, driving.ca

But it won’t matter much. Chinese EVs are coming to Canada. theglobeandmail.com

Chinese EVs already claimed 25% of Canadian ZEV rebates in 2023. canada.autonews.com

Some people really don’t like Elon. electrek.co

People who work for Elon do the things Elon wants. This might be especially true if your name is Linda Yaccarino. reuters.com, ft.com

The 40,000 planned Starlink satellites might reopen the ozone hole as they reach their end of life and fall back to Earth. businessinsider.com, space.com

Tesla now displays tax credit eligibility by battery type. electrek.co

Tesla considers airless tire tech. driveteslacanada.ca

Cybertruck is having more wiper problems. Tesla issues their 3rd and 4th recalls on the vehicle. arstechnica.com

Japanese scientists found a way to attach living skin to robots. bbc.com

Israel plans to build its first supercomputer to keep pace with other country’s AI advancements. reuters.com

The US military has a killer drone plan they call “Hellscape” that they hope might hold off a Chinese incursion in the South China Sea if Beijing decides they want to annex Taiwan. washingtonpost.com

Brazilian hydroelectric operation looks to add floating solar panels on 10% of the surface area of its reservoir. The move could double their power output. pv-magazine.com

Vineyard Wind 1 is America’s largest operating offshore wind farm. electrek.co

ExxonMobil plans to turn Guyana into the world’s final petrostate. ft.com

The 2025 Aston Martin Valiant is a full carbon-fibre, six-speed manual, 734-hp twin-turbo 5.3-litre V-12 that looks hot. caranddriver.com

Stellantis threatens to pull production out of the UK. fortune.com

VW plans to double ID Buzz van production. electrek.co

Toyota wants to build a Lexus factory in Shanghai. bloomberg.com

Hyundai has a funky new small EV SUV. But we won’t see it in North America anytime soon. theverge.com

Ford recalls a shit-tonne of 2014 F-150s over transmission issue. reuters.com

Mercedes EV owners will get Supercharger access “soon.” electrek.co

Rimac gets into the autonomous robotaxi game. theverge.com

Automakers ask the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to pump the brakes on their plan for new braking system requirements. reuters.com

Uber will give you $1,000 to ditch your car for five weeks (I applied). theverge.com

Waymo service is now available to everyone in San Fransisco. reuters.com

BP / Castrol drop $50 Million into battery swapping start-up Gogoro. electrek.co

UK start-up Enso wants to manufacture “eco-friendlier” tires in the US. theverge.com

Does anybody want to buy a vehicle marketplace? canada.autonews.com

Canadian entrepreneur George Cove tried to make solar ‘a thing’ over a hundred years ago. If he hadn’t been kidnapped, maybe the world would be a different place. theconversation.com

It might be time to ban left turns in cities. We’d get where we’re going faster, there’d be fewer accidents, and we’d save on gas. washingtonpost.com

EVs could be built to last forever. theatlantic.com

A Nine Inch Nails song from the Ghosts V: Together album was featured in the opening episode of The Bear Season 3. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross released Ghosts V for free back in 2020. slashfilm.com, youtube.com

Lil Nas X has a song featured in the Netflix revival of Beverly Hills Cop. youtube.com

Megan Thee Stallion is wondering ‘Where Them Girls At’. youtube.com

If you’ve got some inner rage you’re looking to channel, take a listen to ‘Stuck’ by NOTHING MORE. youtube.com