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Rivian trims production target as supply chain delays linger, shares slide

Credit: Rivian

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Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) missed Wall Street consensus estimates after reporting a loss of $2.43 per share and revenue of $54 million.

Wall Street expected Rivian to lose $1.64 per share and was expecting a consensus estimate of $61.18 million. The company also was expected to announce a 2022 delivery goal of 40,000 units but suggested guidance of around 25,000 vehicles instead.

Rivian shares were down over 12 percent in aftermarket trading. The stock closed at $41.16 on Thursday.

Despite the tough Q4 financial figures, Rivian had several accomplishments in 2021. Not only did it start production and deliveries of all three of its vehicles, but it also had its flagship pickup, the R1T, voted as MotorTrend’s 2022 Truck of the Year. Additionally, Rivian announced it would build a new manufacturing facility in the United States in Georgia.

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“Looking ahead to 2022 and beyond, we are focused on continuing to help drive the transformation of transportation,” Rivian said in its Shareholder Deck. “Our path to EV leadership won’t be easy. In the immediate term, we are not immune to the supply chain issues that have challenged the entire industry. Those issues, which we believe will continue through at least 2022, have added a layer of complexity to our production ramp-up.”

For the next year, Rivian stated it will remain focused on ramping production at the Normal, Illinois plant. Additionally, Rivian said it will develop ” a heat pump-based thermal system for improved cold weather efficiency as well as a range of new battery packs including both high nickel and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries.” High-nickel packs are becoming a more popular development for many electric automakers as companies attempt to move away from controversial materials in battery packs. However, nickel is not as readily available as many once thought, so LFP chemistries are also being considered as a potential alternative.

Rivian said 2022 started off slowly due to persistent supply chain constraints, a planned 10-day shutdown to fine-tune production lines, COVID-19 cases, and severe weather in Central Illinois. Manufacturing is picking up, however. Rivian said, “As of March 8, we have produced 1,410 vehicles in 2022 and 2,425 vehicles since the start of production.”

Amazon Partnership

Rivian said its partnership with Amazon is extremely strong, and it delivered its first EDV to Amazon at the end of 2021. As Rivian continues to scale the R1T and R1S and work with suppliers to decrease bottlenecks, the company is “working in close partnership with Amazon to refine the digital integration of the EDV as well as our software platform to support the most effective operation of the vehicles,” it said.

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Apart from the EDV-700, Rivian announced that it has also successfully produced the European version of the van, the EDV-500. A narrower and shorter version of the original van, it is better suited for expanding markets and geographies where smaller form factors are more advantageous.

Rivian’s Earnings Call will available via webcast at this link.

Disclosure: Joey Klender is not a RIVN Shareholder.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla Giga Berlin dispute against IG Metall union leads to investigation

As per a report from rbb24, police seized a laptop belonging to an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday afternoon.

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Credit: Tesla Manufacturing/X

German authorities have opened an investigation into an IG Metall union representative following allegations that a confidential works council meeting at Tesla’s Gigafactory Berlin was secretly recorded. The probe follows a criminal complaint filed by Tesla management last week.

As per a report from rbb24, police seized a laptop belonging to an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday afternoon. Prosecutors in Frankfurt (Oder) confirmed that an investigation is underway into a possible unauthorized audio recording of an internal works council meeting.

Under German law, recording a non-public meeting without consent may constitute a criminal offense.

Tesla stated that Gigafactory Berlin employees alerted management after allegedly discovering that an external union representative, who was attending the event as a guest, had recorded the session. Plant manager André Thierig stated in a post on X that the representative was “caught in action,” prompting the company to contact police and file a criminal complaint.

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The seized device is now part of the investigation, and authorities will determine whether any unlawful recording had indeed occurred.

IG Metall has denied the accusation. In comments to German media, representatives rejected Tesla’s claim and described the electric vehicle maker’s allegation as an election campaign tactic ahead of upcoming works council elections.

The election at Tesla’s Grünheide plant is scheduled for March 2–4, 2026, with about 11,000 employees being eligible to vote. Regular works council elections in Germany are held every four years between March and May.

The incident comes amid tensions between Tesla and organized labor in Germany. While works councils operate independently from unions, IG Metall has been active at the plant and has previously criticized Tesla’s labor practices. Authorities, for their part, have not yet announced whether charges will be filed, though the investigation remains ongoing.

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Tesla rolls out xAI’s Grok to vehicles across Europe

The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain.

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Tesla is rolling out Grok to vehicles in Europe. The feature will initially launch in nine European territories.

In a post on X, the official Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa account confirmed that Grok is coming to Teslas in Europe. The initial rollout includes the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain, and additional markets are expected to be added later.

Grok allows drivers to ask questions using real-time information and interact hands-free while driving. According to Tesla’s support documentation, Grok can also initiate navigation commands, enabling users to search for destinations, discover points of interest, and adjust routes without touching the touchscreen, as per the feature’s official webpage.

The system offers selectable personalities, ranging from “Storyteller” to “Unhinged,” and is activated either through the App Launcher or by pressing and holding the steering wheel’s microphone button.

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Grok is currently available only on Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck vehicles equipped with an AMD infotainment processor. Vehicles must be running software version 2025.26 or later, with navigation command support requiring version 2025.44.25 or newer.

Drivers must also have Premium Connectivity or a stable Wi-Fi connection to use the feature. Tesla notes that Grok does not currently replace standard voice commands for vehicle controls such as climate or media adjustments.

The company has stated that Grok interactions are processed securely by xAI and are not linked to individual drivers or vehicles. Users do not need a Grok account or subscription to enable the feature at this time as well.

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Tesla ends Full Self-Driving purchase option in the U.S.

In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has officially ended the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that was announced for the United States market in January by CEO Elon Musk.

The driver assistance suite is now exclusively available in the U.S. as a subscription, which is currently priced at $99 per month.

Tesla moved away from the outright purchase option in an effort to move more people to the subscription program, but there are concerns over its current price and the potential for it to rise.

In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.

Although Tesla moved back the deadline in other countries, it has now taken effect in the U.S. on Sunday morning. Tesla updated its website to reflect this:

There are still some concerns regarding its price, as $99 per month is not where many consumers are hoping to see the subscription price stay.

Musk has said that as capabilities improve, the price will go up, but it seems unlikely that 10 million drivers will want to pay an extra $100 every month for the capability, even if it is extremely useful.

Instead, many owners and fans of the company are calling for Tesla to offer a different type of pricing platform. This includes a tiered-system that would let owners pick and choose the features they would want for varying prices, or even a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pricing option, which would incentivize longer-term purchasing.

Although Musk and other Tesla are aware of FSD’s capabilities and state is is worth much more than its current price, there could be some merit in the idea of offering a price for Supervised FSD and another price for Unsupervised FSD when it becomes available.

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