News
Rivian teams up with Ben & Jerry’s on an electric ice cream truck
The age-old ice cream truck gets some new electric digs.
Rivian has officially teamed up with the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s to launch an electrified ice cream truck, weeks after the electric vehicle (EV) maker launched its van to more commercial customers.
As detailed in a press release on Tuesday, Rivian and Ben & Jerry’s have unveiled two “Scoop Trucks,” a pair of electric ice cream trucks based on the Rivian Commercial Van (RCV). Rivian officially launched the RCV to commercial customers beyond its early partner Amazon last month, and the Scoop Truck is one of the first we’ve seen of its modular use cases in the weeks since.
The companies plan to debut the first of the electric ice cream trucks at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas, which starts on Friday. After the festival, both of the Scoop Trucks will be hitting the road across the U.S., along with joining a series of pop-up events in Vermont, where Ben & Jerry’s is headquartered.
Credit: Ben & Jerry’s
Credit: Ben & Jerry’s
“Collaborating with the Ben & Jerry’s team to build the next generation of electric scoop trucks has been an incredible experience. It’s one of those projects that just makes the team smile,” said Brian Gase, Rivian’s Senior Director of Prototype Development. “We can’t wait for people to stop by for some ice cream and see it in action for the first time during SXSW!”
The Scoop Trucks appear to be the Rivian RCV 500, offering a 161-mile range, and an overall length of 248.5 inches. The electric van also includes a 100 kWh LFP battery pack, and Rivian says it can charge at speeds of up to 100 kW.
“Working with Rivian, an industry leader that is committed to sustainability is an ice cream dream come true,” notes Sean Slattery, Ben & Jerry’s U.S. Integrated Marketing project lead. “Today, Rivian helped Ben & Jerry’s reduce our reliance on fossil fuels in a small way, while making things a little bit cooler… which, as an ice cream company, is extremely difficult to do.”
A photo of one of the Rivian Scoop Trucks was also spotted and photographed being hauled in Irvine, California, as was shared on Reddit last week. As one viewer points out, the RCVs include an extra air conditioning unit on top of the van, in order to help keep necessary refrigeration running.
Credit: riceengineer | Reddit
Credit: Rivian
Credit: Rivian
Credit: Rivian
READ MORE ABOUT RIVIAN: Rivian releases its Q4 and full-year 2024 financial results
Along with the Ben & Jerry’s RCV, Rivian is partnering with SXSW on an “Electric Roadhouse” exhibit, which will include panel discussions, demo drives, live music, and even a look at the upcoming R2 line. Rivian is also set to be an official sponsor for the music festival’s Transportation Track event. The Scoop Truck is likely to play a role in the upcoming Rivian event, though the companies have yet to disclose where exactly it can be seen this weekend.
In December, Rivian announced that it has deployed 20,000 of the Electric Delivery Vans (EDVs), which are the Amazon-exclusive launch version of the RCVs. Produced alongside the R1T and R1S at the company’s factory in Normal, Illinois, the vans come in two configurations, the RCV 500 and the longer RCV 700, which are both currently being offered for fleet sales.
Rivian is also aiming to build a factory in Georgia with help from a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy (DOE), though these plans are up in the air under the Trump administration’s recent freeze on federal grants and loans. CEO RJ Scaringe in January said that the automaker has already signed a “legally binding agreement” with the DOE, featuring a broad range of conditions that Rivian must meet along the way.
Investor's Corner
Elon Musk confirms SpaceX IPO is on the way
However, it appears Musk is ready for SpaceX to go public, as Ars Technica Senior Space Editor Eric Berger wrote an op-ed that indicated he thought SpaceX would go public soon. Musk replied, basically confirming it.
Elon Musk confirmed through a post on X that a SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is on the way after hinting at it several times earlier this year.
It also comes one day after Bloomberg reported that SpaceX was aiming for a valuation of $1.5 trillion, adding that it wanted to raise $30 billion.
Musk has been transparent for most of the year that he wanted to try to figure out a way to get Tesla shareholders to invest in SpaceX, giving them access to the stock.
He has also recognized the issues of having a public stock, like litigation exposure, quarterly reporting pressures, and other inconveniences.
However, it appears Musk is ready for SpaceX to go public, as Ars Technica Senior Space Editor Eric Berger wrote an op-ed that indicated he thought SpaceX would go public soon.
Musk replied, basically confirming it:
As usual, Eric is accurate
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2025
Berger believes the IPO would help support the need for $30 billion or more in capital needed to fund AI integration projects, such as space-based data centers and lunar satellite factories. Musk confirmed recently that SpaceX “will be doing” data centers in orbit.
AI appears to be a “key part” of SpaceX getting to Musk, Berger also wrote. When writing about whether or not Optimus is a viable project and product for the company, he says that none of that matters. Musk thinks it is, and that’s all that matters.
It seems like Musk has certainly mulled something this big for a very long time, and the idea of taking SpaceX public is not just likely; it is necessary for the company to get to Mars.
The details of when SpaceX will finally hit that public status are not known. Many of the reports that came out over the past few days indicate it would happen in 2026, so sooner rather than later.
But there are a lot of things on Musk’s plate early next year, especially with Cybercab production, the potential launch of Unsupervised Full Self-Driving, and the Roadster unveiling, all planned for Q1.
Tesla has added the 15th automaker to the growing list of companies whose EVs can utilize the Supercharger Network this year, as BMW is the latest company to gain access to the largest charging infrastructure in the world.
BMW became the 15th company in 2025 to gain Tesla Supercharger access, after the company confirmed to its EV owners that they could use any of the more than 25,000 Supercharging stalls in North America.
Welcome @BMW owners.
Download the Tesla app to charge → https://t.co/vnu0NHA7Ab
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) December 10, 2025
Newer BMW all-electric cars, like the i4, i5, i7, and iX, are able to utilize Tesla’s V3 and V4 Superchargers. These are the exact model years, via the BMW Blog:
- i4: 2022-2026 model years
- i5: 2024-2025 model years
- 2026 i5 (eDrive40 and xDrive40) after software update in Spring 2026
- i7: 2023-2026 model years
- iX: 2022-2025 model years
- 2026 iX (all versions) after software update in Spring 2026
With the expansion of the companies that gained access in 2025 to the Tesla Supercharger Network, a vast majority of non-Tesla EVs are able to use the charging stalls to gain range in their cars.
So far in 2025, Tesla has enabled Supercharger access to:
- Audi
- BMW
- Genesis
- Honda
- Hyundai
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Kia
- Lucid
- Mercedes-Benz
- Nissan
- Polestar
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
Drivers with BMW EVs who wish to charge at Tesla Superchargers must use an NACS-to-CCS1 adapter. In Q2 2026, BMW plans to release its official adapter, but there are third-party options available in the meantime.
They will also have to use the Tesla App to enable Supercharging access to determine rates and availability. It is a relatively seamless process.
News
Tesla adds new feature that will be great for crowded parking situations
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
Tesla has added a new feature that will be great for crowded parking lots, congested parking garages, or other confusing times when you cannot seem to pinpoint where your car went.
Tesla has added a new Vehicle Locator feature to the Tesla App with App Update v4.51.5.
This is the most recent iteration of the app and was priming owners for the slowly-released Holiday Update.
While there are several new features, which we will reveal later in this article, perhaps one of the coolest is that of the Vehicle Locator, which will now point you in the direction of your car using a directional arrow on the home screen. This is similar to what Apple uses to find devices:
Interesting. The location arrow in the Tesla app now points to your car when you’re nearby. pic.twitter.com/b0yjmwwzxN
— Whole Mars Catalog (@wholemars) December 7, 2025
In real time, the arrow gives an accurate depiction of which direction you should walk in to find your car. This seems extremely helpful in large parking lots or unfamiliar shopping centers.
Getting to your car after a sporting event is an event all in itself; this feature will undoubtedly help with it:
The nice little touch that Tesla have put in the app – continuous tracking of your vehicle location relative to you.
There’s people reporting dizziness testing this.
To those I say… try spinning your phone instead. 😉 pic.twitter.com/BAYmJ3mzzD
— Some UK Tesla Guy (UnSupervised…) (@SomeUKTeslaGuy) December 8, 2025
Tesla’s previous app versions revealed the address at which you could locate your car, which was great if you parked on the street in a city setting. It was also possible to use the map within the app to locate your car.
However, this new feature gives a more definitive location for your car and helps with the navigation to it, instead of potentially walking randomly.
It also reveals the distance you are from your car, which is a big plus.
Along with this new addition, Tesla added Photobooth features, Dog Mode Live Activity, Custom Wraps and Tints for Colorizer, and Dashcam Clip details.
🚨 Tesla App v4.51.5 looks to be preparing for the Holiday Update pic.twitter.com/ztts8poV82
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 8, 2025
All in all, this App update was pretty robust.
Elon Musk confirms SpaceX IPO is on the way
Tesla adds 15th automaker to Supercharger access in 2025
