EV start-up Rivian beats Tesla, GM, Ford as the first automaker to produce electric pickup

September 16, 2021: -EV start-up Rivian is the first automaker to get an electric pickup to the consumer market, which beats Tesla, General Motors, and others in what’s expected to be a hotly contested segment in the years ahead.

Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe tweeted that its first R1T pickup for a customer drove off the assembly line at its plant in Normal, Illinois.

“After months of building pre-production vehicles, today morning, our first customer vehicle drove off our production line in Normal!  Our team’s collective efforts have created this moment possible,” he said. “Can’t wait to get these into the hands of our customers!” he added.

Photos by Scaringe show workers on Twitter cheering with several R1Ts on the assembly line.

A Rivian spokeswoman confirms that the vehicles being produced are saleable. She refused to discuss the company’s plans for ramping production, including how many trucks were made Tuesday and who will be the first customers to receive the vehicles.

Although the start of production has been delayed several times, the company has filed a confidential draught registration form for an initial public offering (IPO) just weeks after receiving funding from Amazon and Ford Motor Company.

Rivian expects to be the first of a small group of automakers to produce an electric pickup truck next year, according to the company. GM expects to release its GMC Hummer electric pickup this fall, followed by EV start-up Lordstown Motors, Ford, and then Tesla, which recently announced that it will delay the release of its Cybertruck from this year to late 2022, among other things.