Rivian CEO on his “intentional effort” not to copy Tesla’s strategy

“Tesla was absolutely inspiring,” Scaringe said during the podcast. “One of the things that was so important to me with Rivian was making sure we weren’t covering the same ground as Tesla.”

When the host pointed out that Rivian originally followed Tesla’s playbook and had plans to create an electric sports car, Scaringe said it made a “deliberate” choice to forge its own path.

“If you’re thinking of starting a car company, you want to build a brand that appeals to enthusiasts,” he said.

Scaringe said he’s a sports car fan, so “the logical place to start is to build a sports car, use it to build the brand and follow it up with more mass-market vehicles.”

“That, of course, was how Tesla’s strategy worked, and it worked wonderfully for them,” he said.

Scaringe added that his decision to switch to a different type of EV product, vehicle topology and experience was “a very intentional effort to create a new story as well.”

“Not just for us as a company or a brand, but most importantly to help change more mindsets about what sustainable transportation could look like,” he said.

Representatives for Rivian and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Rivian currently sells the R1S SUV and the R1T pickup truck. Scaringe announced two more vehicles on the way – the R2 SUV and the R3 SUV – in March.

The EV industry has seen sales and growth slow this summer. In July, Scaringe told The Verge that he thinks the problem is a “really extreme lack of choice.”

“If you’re looking to spend less than $50,000 on an electric vehicle, I’d say there’s a very, very small number of great products out there,” he said.