Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe Hints at the EV Company's Future

A comedian and a CEO walked into a podcast studio. No, this isn’t the setup to an elaborate joke. Instead, it describes the circumstances under which Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe shared some of his company’s upcoming plans. Scaringe appeared on an episode of comedian Daniel Tosh’s podcast Tosh Show and addressed some of the most pressing questions around EVs, including affordability.

Scaringe pointed out that there needs to be more electric options at different price points. “When you move down into that $50,000 price point or around there, there’s really very few choices,” he told Tosh. He described his company’s recent partnership with Volkswagen as being one way of reaching that goal.

It also sounds like Rivian doesn’t plan on building dozens of different models. (As Autoblog’s James Ochoa pointed out, the R2 and R3 are set for release in 2026 and 2027, respectively.) When Tosh asked how large Scaringe saw Rivian’s lineup getting, the CEO suggested their goal was to have “maybe five or six different vehicles.” Scaringe added they are working on the R4 and R5 — though he didn’t reveal much about them on the air — and said, “There may be an R6.”

Battery technology was another area where Scaringe made an interesting point — even if technology allowed for a battery with a range of 500 to 600 miles on a single charge, he anticipated that would translate into smaller, more powerful batteries rather than an EV that could drive from New York to Detroit on a single charge.

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The conversation was occasionally candid — Tosh is not a fan of Rivian’s existing phone chargers, which he referred to as “garbage.” Scaringe also looked a little shocked when Tosh revealed that he covered up the warning lights inside his Rivian’s cabin. “Those are required by law,” he told the comedian.

Tosh also had a question about another Rivian vehicle, one that might be a little harder for him to get. “Can I get an Amazon truck?” Tosh asked. Scaringe told him he could not, though he then expanded on Rivian’s exclusive arrangement with Amazon.

“We’re selling them to other commercial customers, so if you wanted to run a small logistics service, maybe,” Scaringe said. To Tosh’s stated desire to customize one of them, Scaringe also pointed out that “it’s a great surf van.” Tosh sounded (understandably) intrigued by this. He most certainly wasn’t the only one.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…