Buying an EV? You can trust Rivian to survive.

If you pay $70,000 for Rivian, can you trust the maker of electric pickups and SUVs to still be around in five years?

It’s a valid question to ask any electric vehicle maker, given Henrik Fisker’s two-time bankruptcy, James Dyson’s (yes, that Dyson vacuum cleaner) decision to leave before building the first electric car, and the fleeting nature of other startups that promised pie in the sky but delivered a 15-watt night light.

Even Apple’s decade-long flirtation with automaking failed to produce the stale MacIntosh.

Who can you trust?

Not the venture capitalists who threw billions into EV wannabes in a fit of post-rational enthusiasm. As the clueless but confident CEO Ana Gasteyer said in the underrated sitcom “American Auto,” tech startups are like scratch cards: No one knows which ones will pay off, so buy a handful.

More: Electric Vehicle Maker Rivian Surprises Observers with 3 New, Cheaper SUVs

Car manufacturing is difficult and risky

But you don’t play around with OPM—other people’s money. If the company that made your car goes bust, it affects everything in your life, not just which investment line your accountant decides to pursue.

Rivian debuted with a bang, boasting Amazon’s commitment to buy a fleet of electric delivery vans and a billion-dollar investment from Ford, which said it would use Rivian’s technology in some of its first modern electric vehicles. Ford ultimately scrapped the idea, cashing out Rivian for a tidy profit.

Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe was the face of the emerging electric vehicle industry, taking over a shuttered Illinois assembly plant that had been founded as a joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi in the 1980s. Mitsubishi took it over when Chrysler’s fortunes were declining. The small Japanese automaker closed the plant in 2019 at the cost of 1,300 jobs in the small central Illinois town of Normal. Rivian’s acquisition of a near-complete plant with access to an experienced workforce reminded some observers of Tesla’s takeover of a Toyota plant in the Bay Area.

More: 2025 Rivian R1S SUV Sheds Weight, Increases Range and Features

While other electric vehicle startups have followed a do-it-yourself model, Rivian also boasts an engineering center in suburban Detroit, multiple facilities in California, $13.5 billion in funding since the company went public in 2021 and generally positive reviews for its first two vehicles: the R1S midsize pickup and the R1T three-row SUV.

Nothing is certain, but Rivian has the knowledge and potential that few newcomers can match.

Reservation:Any carmaker can go bankrupt. It’s a hyper-competitive industry that swallows crates of cash every day.

That said, large, established car companies are notoriously hard to kill. Companies like General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota and Renault are so tightly linked to national markets for employment, investment, research and finance that no government can allow one to suddenly fail.

Economists may call it a moral hazard, but it is realpolitik: some things If too big to fail.

What makes Rivian unique?

None of this applies to the new electric vehicle specialists. Even the market leader, Tesla, is barely a dent in the national economy.

Still, I’m not overly worried that Rivian will fade away like Fisker’s two failed startups. (Yes, there were two: Fisker Automotive went under a decade ago before Henrik found a new flock of pigeons to fund the now-crumbling Fisker Inc., best known for Consumer Reports’ devastating assessment of its Ocean SUV: “The most incomplete car I’ve ever driven in my career.”

How is Rivian different?

Rivian manufactures and sells electric pickup trucks and SUVs Today.
It has a credible plan for further development.
Rivian vehicles and technology are competitive.
A couple of companies that If too big to fail support Rivian: Amazon and Volkswagen.

VW recently agreed to pay Rivian $5 billion. The German giant admitted its multi-year, multi-billion-dollar EV program was in trouble. It needed Rivian’s help to develop electrical systems, software and more.

“Rivian’s chances have improved significantly with the VW deal,” said Guidehouse Insights analyst Sam Abuelsamid. “It will definitely help over the next few years as Rivian ramps up new vehicle production.”

Rivian also boasts a reliable production schedule, a rarity among electric vehicle specialists but a necessity in car manufacturing.

Rivian has just introduced a series of significant upgrades to its R1T and R1S midsize pickups and SUVs, with a pair of smaller, more affordable SUVs on offer.

“Rivian has reached a tipping point,” said Stephanie Brinley, an analyst at IHS Global Mobility.

Contact Mark Phelan: 313-222-6731 or Email address: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more at cars and subscribe to our car bulletin. Become a subscriber.