Rivian C.E.O. RJ Scaringe Has Some Ideas for How to Make More Cars in America

Building a car company from “zero is pretty hard,” RJ Scaringe likes to say. He founded Rivian, a buzzy electric vehicle start-up, in 2009 but delivering the firm’s first trucks and S.U.V.s would take a dozen years.

Developing the second model came easier than the first.

At every turn during a recent tour of Rivian’s sprawling seven-million-square-foot complex in Normal, Ill., a roughly two-hour drive south of Chicago, employees pointed out the ways that they streamlined the manufacturing process.

More than 400 robots in the body shop help with the early stages of assembly, such as welding together thick metal sheets. Rivian also built in-house tech systems that help workers communicate more efficiently.

The new S.U.V., the R2, was released in June to rave reviews. It starts at around $45,000, roughly half the cost of its predecessor, the R1.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/business/rivian-rj-scaringe.html