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Rivian announced today a major investment from Ford. The 115-year-old automaker is investing $ 500 million in starting a Michigan-based EV. In addition to the money, Ford has announced plans to build a vehicle on Rivian's electric vehicle platform.
"This strategic partnership marks another milestone in our drive to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility," said RJ Scaringe, Rivian's founder and CEO, in a statement released. "Ford has a longstanding commitment to sustainability, with Bill Ford being one of the foremost advocates in the industry, and we're excited to use our technology to get more electric vehicles." on the road."
This investment comes two months after Rivian has released $ 700 million from a funding round led by Amazon.
Rivian was founded in 2009 by RJ Scaringe, but worked stealthily until the end of 2018, the year of the unveiling of its stunning electric pickup and SUV. Today, the company employs more than 750 people across four development sites in the United States and an office in the United Kingdom. Most of its employees are based in Michigan, at the edge of a vast automotive supply chain.
Today's announcement did not detail the vehicle that Ford plans to build on the Rivian platform. It is likely that everything that Ford will produce will have the same capabilities as the two products announced by Rivian last year. The five-pbadenger R1T pickup and the seven-pbadenger Rivian R1S SUV both offer a range of over 400 km. The startup has previously announced that they would be available by the end of 2020.
Ford already has several electric vehicles in production and in construction. Alongside small electric vehicles, Ford is developing an electric version of its best-selling model, the F-150 pickup.
With this investment, Rivian will remain an independent company. After regulatory approval, Joe Hinrichs, President of Ford's Automotive Division, will join Rivian's Board of Directors.
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