Tag: Rivian

Electric Vehicle Maker Launches Another Round of Layoffs as Demand Slows

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Rivian factory

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian announced its second round of layoffs just this year on Wednesday as consumer demand for EVs stalls.

The layoffs at Rivian will affect around 1 percent of the company’s staff as they continue to look for ways to cut costs to bolster struggling profits due to less-than-expected EV sales, the company confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Rivian announced in February that it was laying off 10 percent of its workforce after it released its 2024 production forecast, which was well below analyst expectations, according to Reuters.

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Electric Vehicle Market Share Plummets in First Quarter as Consumers Sour

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Tesla Showroom

Growth in sales for electric vehicles (EV) slowed in the first quarter of the year as consumers remained wary of the product even though growth in sales of new vehicles remained strong, leading to a drop in EV market share, according to The Associated Press.

Sales for new vehicles grew 5 percent in the first three months of the year, but EV sales grew only 2.7 percent as more consumers chose traditional vehicles due to cost and product concerns, according to the AP. The average sales price declined 3.6 percent year-over-year to $44,186 in March as dealers looked to offload built-up inventory.

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Gov. Brian Kemp Acknowledges ‘Disappointing’ Pause to Rivian Electric Vehicles Plant After $1.5 Billion in Subsidies

Tom Pappert
Brian Kemp

Governor Brian Kemp made public remarks about electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive announcing plans to pause work on its $5 billion plant in Georgia in a Tuesday press event.

Kemp, whose support for the Rivian deal helped generate $1.5 billion in tax incentives for the company, called the situation “no doubt disappointing” in a press conference.

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Electric Vehicle Start-Ups Are Running Out Funds

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Rivian Truck

The trendy electric vehicle (EV) market could be in trouble as at least 18 EV and battery start-ups that went public in the last few years are running out of funds to operate, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal.

The trouble in the industry follows rising costs and manufacturing issues as the companies fail to compete with top EV maker Tesla and traditional automakers, with the median stock of the 43 companies reviewed dropping 80% from its peak, losing tens of billions in collective value since the companies relatively recent inception, according to the WSJ. Of those 43 EV start-ups reviewed, five have already gone bankrupt or been acquired, including Lordstown Motors, Proterra and Electric Last Mile Solutions.

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‘Too Favored to Fail:’ Taxpayers Bailout Biden’s Green Friends

RealClearWire

While America struggles to buy groceries, President Joe Biden has a green slush fund worth billions of dollars, and he’s not afraid to use it.

Recent revelations uncovered that the CEO and lobbyists of Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer, held a quiet meeting at the White House with Biden’s Climate Czar, John Podesta. That’s right, the same John Podesta who served as chairman of Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated 2016 presidential campaign before being pulled from the ranks of profitable green consulting to oversee distribution of $369 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  Biden selected a political operative with green company ties to dole out the goodies from one of the largest slush funds in history. Now green CEOs who are hemorrhaging cash are beating a path to his White House office, presumedly with hat in hand.

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Georgia Power Needs More Fossil Fuels as Electric Vehicle Plants Generate ‘Extraordinary Economic Growth’

Tom Pappert

Georgia Power is asking the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) for permission to generate more electricity from fossil fuels on Friday, citing demand for energy that is 17 times higher than they expected in 2022.

The company cited Georgia’s “extraordinary economic growth” as “one of the fastest growing states in the country” in an update to its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which explained the company will need extra funding due to the “significantly increased” energy needs of businesses “bringing electrical loads at a scale” that demands additional capacity.

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Electric Vehicles Are Costing Auto Manufacturers Billions While Union Strikes Take Their Toll

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by Nick Pope   Electric vehicle (EV) production is costing most American automobile manufacturers billions of dollars, with a range of factors driving their unprofitability as unionized auto workers are striking to demand more from management. Companies like Rivian, Ford and General Motors (GM) are currently losing money on each EV that they sell, while Stellantis appears likely to lose money up front on their EVs when they bring them to market in 2024, according to numerous reports. Rivian has struggled immensely, according to The Wall Street Journal, and the “Big Three” carmakers are facing down the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike, with the union making demands that threaten to push costs even higher. The UAW is seeking to exact major concessions, with EVs featuring as a key driver of the labor dispute. Prior to the strike, the average UAW worker in Grass Lake, Michigan, made about $45,000 per year, according to data from ZipRecruiter. The UAW is seeking a 36 percent pay bump over the course of a four-year contract, yearly cost-of-living adjustments, restoration of pre-bailout pension benefits for all of its employees, increased protections to ensure job security, limits on the use of temporary workers and a 32-hour work week, according to CBS…

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Gov. Whitmer Launches State Parks Electric Vehicle Charging Network

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer celebrated the installation of two of the 30 eventual electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at state parks. She made the announcement at Holland State Park.

“This partnership to install charging stations in our state parks speaks to the collaborative approach we are taking to grow our economy and address climate change head-on through clean, reliable energy,” Whitmer said in a statement. “These charging stations along the Lake Michigan EV Circuit build on our rich Pure Michigan tradition of exploration and bringing together communities and businesses to ensure that we honor our past as the place that put the world on wheels and continue to invest in our workforce as we lead the transition to electric vehicles.”

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Perdue Campaign Says ‘MAGA Surge Keeping Kemp Below the Threshold to Avoid a Runoff’

Aaron Gulbransen

The Trump-endorsed David Perdue for Georgia Governor campaign issued a statement on Wednesday that says Perdue is surging and Trump voters are turning out in an unprecedented way.

“Our Trump-endorsed campaign is experiencing a surge in early-voting MAGA voters that the public polls aren’t picking up. Our internal models show this MAGA surge keeping Kemp below the threshold to avoid a runoff, and our position is strengthening with each day of early voting,” said the campaign.

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In Georgia Governor’s Race, Perdue Hits Kemp for $1.5 Billion to Soros-Linked Company

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A scandal is brewing in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial primary, with candidate and former Sen. David Perdue accusing incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp of engaging in shady backroom deals and lining the pockets of liberal megadonor George Soros as part of a massive new economic development project in the Peach State.

“This may be the worst deal I’ve seen in my business career, honestly,” Perdue told the “Just the News, Not Noise” television program on Friday. “This was just done the wrong way. And I’ve called the governor out on that, and we’ve had no response.”

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David Perdue Blasts Brian Kemp’s ‘$1.5 Billion Payday’ to George Soros’ Company

Aaron Gulbransen

David Perdue, a former U.S. Senator and the Trump-endorsed candidate for Georgia Governor, blasted incumbent Governor Brian Kemp’s plan on Monday to “give $1.5 billion of Georgians’ tax dollars to a George Soros-owned woke corporation.”

“Brian Kemp just announced his plans to give $1.5 billion of Georgians’ tax dollars to a George Soros-owned woke corporation whose stated purpose is to combat climate change,” said Perdue. “This is the worst deal I have ever seen in my 40 years in business — $200,000 in taxpayer money per potential job. Think about how many small businesses in Georgia could be helped for this kind of money, instead of padding George Soros’ pockets.”

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Ford Reports Devastating Losses Thanks to Electric Vehicle Gamble

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Major U.S. automaker Ford blamed its sizable investment in electric vehicle (EV) company Rivian for its dramatic revenue decline in the first quarter of 2022.

Ford reported revenue of $34.5 billion between January and March, a 5% decline relative to the same period in 2021, and a net loss of $3.1 billion, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday. The Detroit automaker said its large investment in Rivian accounted for $5.4 billion in losses during the first quarter.

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Nonprofit Blasts Georgia Officials for Lack of Transparency on Rivian Deal

Chris Butler

Georgia officials recently announced that the company Rivian will construct a $5 billion Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in Morgan and Walton counties, but no one knows how much money the company took in government incentives. This, according to a statement that the Washington, D.C.-based Good Jobs First issued this month. According to its website, Good Jobs First is a policy resource center that promotes corporate and government accountability in economic development.

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Tennessee Officials to Help Install Electric Vehicle Chargers at State Parks, but Won’t Cite Demand

Chris Butler

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) officials announced Wednesday they have entered a partnership to install charging stations for Electric Vehicles (EVs) at all 56 state parks. But, when asked, TDEC officials would not discuss how or whether the demand for these charging stations exceeds any possible costs to the state or anyone else.

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