Building A Better Tesla

Rivian founder R.J. Scaringe is a mildmannered entrepreneur whose batterypowered SUVs and pickup trucks are electrifying the auto industry.

- Chuck Tannert

The talk of November’s Los Angeles Auto Show wasn’t Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW or any of the usual luxury car suspects. Rather, the buzz was created by a little-known electric-vehicle builder, Rivian Automotive, based in Plymouth, Michigan. After nearly ten years of developing electric vehicle technology, the company unveiled its first two battery-powered autos: the R1S, a seven-seat sport utility vehicle, and the R1T pickup truck.

Designed for people with active lifestyles, the so-called adventure vehicles exhibit a Range Rover aesthetic—rugged, capable and luxurious—and are packed with the latest high-tech amenities such as internet connectivity and autonomous driver-safety features. “Adventure is life,” gushes Rivian’s CEO and founder R.J. Scaringe, 36. “[Your destination] could be fishing, it could be golfing, it could be taking the family out for lunch.”

Scaringe’s love affair with “things that move,” as he puts it, began as a child. As soon as he was old enough to handle tools, he helped a neighbor rebuild Porsche 356s in his garage in Melbourne, Florida. In high school, he had become obsessed with the idea of building his own automobiles, and he gained the knowledge to do so by earning his doctorate in mechanical engineering from MIT’s prestigious Sloan Automotive Lab.

While there, however, the budding automaker became conflicted. “It was frustrating knowing the things I loved were simultaneously the things that were making the air dirtier and causing all sorts of issues, everything from geopolitical conflict to the smog to climate change,” Scaringe says. So he changed course and started to focus on environmentally friendly electric vehicles.