In a packed theater in Laguna Beach on Thursday morning, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe opened his presentation to resounding whoops from the audience, well before the company unveiled its three buzzy new vehicles, the Rivian R2<\/a>, R3, and R3X<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While it\u2019s not uncommon to pack a room with fans for a vehicle launch, it is unusual for the CEO of a car company outside of Elon Musk to get the kind of response that Scaringe did. For a vehicle unveiling to feel upbeat and exciting without feeling cringe is even rarer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cEvery decision we\u2019ve made, the products, the strategy, what we\u2019re building, how we go about building our business, the way we structure our teams, the way we think about our culture, has been built around this culture of keeping the world adventurous forever,\u201d\u00a0 Scaringe says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Throughout his presentation, Scaringe kept underlining the \u201cforever\u201d part of Rivian\u2019s mission statement, which, given the company\u2019s well-documented financial troubles<\/a> over the last few months, recent rounds of layoffs<\/a>, and its announcement yesterday that it\u2019s pausing its $5 billion Georgia plant for an undetermined amount of time,<\/a> seems somewhat disconnected from the realities facing the company today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s not just Rivian, either. EV sales growth has gone from rocket speed to glacial, with many automakers putting factories<\/a>, investments<\/a>, and whole model lineups<\/a> on ice. But Scaringe says it\u2019s too late to go back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI would say with absolute and complete certainty that the entire world is going to convert to electric vehicles,\u201d Scaringe tells The Verge<\/em> following yesterday\u2019s event. \u201cI\u2019ve never been more bullish on electrification. I\u2019ve never been more bullish on Rivian.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I met Scaringe in a private space above the Rivian South Coast Theater<\/a> where the R2 (and R3) event took place. (The company bought the theater and restored it in 2023, and now uses it as both a theater and a company space for events.) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n He had just left the stage after introducing the world to the R2 and R3, and seemed energized, if a bit tired. Scaringe, who is a vegan, snacked on a couple of pieces of peanut butter and jam toast while we talked about the mix of tailwinds and headwinds facing Rivian.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn 2012 and 2013, when I would go to meetings and tell people that we are going to build an electric SUV, people were like, \u2018You\u2019re crazy, there\u2019s no market for that,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cAnd in 2016 and 2017, people thought, \u2018Oh that\u2019s going to be this little niche thing.\u2019 Today, I don\u2019t think anyone is debating the end state. But relative to what it looked like 10 years ago, I\u2019ve never seen this level of tailwind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The mission of \u201ckeeping the world adventurous forever\u201d is especially challenging in today\u2019s economic environment. Scaringe notes high interest rates make the cost of capital for companies like his very expensive. Other obstacles include the increasing politicization of the electric transition, as well as sparse and unreliable charging infrastructure nationwide, especially in rural and remote areas<\/a>. Add to that rising geopolitical tensions and you\u2019re left with the feeling that all of this could derail at any point.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nTailwinds and Headwinds<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n