News
Rivian is one of few pure EV makers that outsourced its electric motors
Pure electric vehicle companies have adopted numerous strategies to stand apart from the competition. Tesla makes a lot of its components in-house, including its vehicles’ electric motors. Even Lucid Motors, which is still ramping the Air’s production ramp, has been proudly highlighting that its electric motors, which were also developed in-house, are amazingly compact and efficient. Rivian, on the other hand, appears to have adopted a different strategy.
Information service provider IHS Markit took a look at several automakers’ motor sourcing strategies, especially amidst the emergence of the electric vehicle sector. As per the firm’s analysis, it appears that established electric vehicle makers such as Tesla seem to see electric drive units as vital to their efficiency and a potential source of competitive advantage. An example of this could be found in the Tesla Model S and Model X Plaid’s new electric motors, which feature carbon-sleeved rotors.
It was a technology that was developed and eventually produced in-house, and it does provide the Model S and Model X Plaid with notable advantages over their equally-priced rivals. Lucid is the same way, with the company taking special care in ensuring that its motors are as compact and efficient as possible. This is a strategy that is not shared by some veteran carmakers like General Motors, some of whom have opted to source their electric motors from Tier 1 suppliers like Bosch.
Rivian could be seen as an outlier of sorts in IHS Markit’s analysis. This was because the electric truck maker initially fully outsourced its electric drive units, allowing the company to accelerate its product launches. However, it should be noted that even Rivian is also developing its own electric motors, which means that the company will likely adopt an insourced strategy in the future as well, similar to rivals like Tesla and Lucid. IHS Markit, for its part, noted that insourcing would likely be more prevalent in the coming decade.
“We forecast a steady shift toward electric drive insourcing in the coming decade driven in part by the US OEMs. However, there will be many situations where outsourcing continues to make sense. For example, Rivian has initially fully outsourced its electric drive which helped accelerate its first product launch, while subsequently developing its own. BorgWarner’s recently announced acquisition of motor supplier Santroll shows Tier 1s still see significant volume growth in this space. Carmakers may never insource electric drives completely. As mature as the internal combustion engine is, that industry is 90% insourced, while 10% of engines are externally sourced,” IHS Markit noted.
Rivian may still be in the process of ramping its vehicle deliveries, but the company has already shown signs that it would be willing to adapt to the market. Just recently, and as nickel prices soared amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine, CEO RJ Scaringe stated during the company’s Q4 and Full Year 2021 earnings call that Rivian would be using nickel-free lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells for its Amazon delivery vans. This is quite impressive on the company’s part, seeing as its Amazon delivery vans will likely account for a substantial portion of Rivian’s production output in the near future.
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Elon Musk
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.
The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.
According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.
Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.
Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.
The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.
Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.
These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.
Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.
Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.
The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.
Elon Musk
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.
Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.
Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.
The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.
Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.
Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.
Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.
Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.
SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.
Energy
Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.
The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.
According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.
The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.
Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.
Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.
Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.
The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.
Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.
The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.
At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.
Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed
FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan
