The Rivian CFO has made several announcements at the recent Bank of America Securities Summit, enticing investors and fans alike.
Rivian is finally catching its stride following a successful first quarter of the year, and coming off this excellent production ramp; the automaker is headed toward a whole new set of challenges, relating to everything from its second-generation R2 vehicle to its profitability to its ongoing R1 truck ramp. Luckily, the company’s CFO, Claire Rauh McDonough, released new information covering these points at last week’s Bank of America Securities Summit.
@RivianUpdates initially reported the tsunami of Rivian announcements on Twitter in a lengthy thread covering the numerous statements. Still, they can essentially be boiled down to three main points, R1 production updates, the Van production ramp, and R2 updates, along with a couple of minor updates.
Rivian’s CFO revealed a TON of important information via BofA Securities Summit: $RIVN ?#Rivian @Rivian @RJScaringe
• Rivian anticipates achieving a POSITIVE gross profit by H2 of 2024
• Rivian is aiming to build 85K R1s in 2024.
• R2 production capacity will be 200K units… pic.twitter.com/YZiyz02aUN
— Rivian Updates (@rivianupdates) April 7, 2023
R1 Production Updates:
Perhaps the most notable announcement from the BofA summit is the news regarding the company’s premier truck offering, the R1 lineup. Foremost, Rivian remains on track to achieve profitability by the second half of 2024, motivated essentially entirely by R1 and van deliveries. Further, while McDonough did not disclose the total number of backlog orders, the company anticipates completing all of its pre-March price increase orders by mid-2023. It has a backlog extending “well into 2024” with orders from after the price increase.
On top of this sales success, Rivian is learning some surprising things about its newest customers, primarily their price point. Rivian’s CFO notes that the automaker has seen the average purchase price of its trucks steadily increase, indicating that more premium buyers are coming to the automaker, who are typically more willing to purchase the optional add-ons. However, following these comments, the company executive noted that Rivian does not currently plan to increase the base price of its R1 vehicles.
Looking to the future of the R1 vehicles, the CFO notes that Rivian plans to produce 85,000 vehicles annually by 2026, a production number that the automaker has previously stayed tight-lipped about.
R2 Design and Production Updates:
As the Rivian R1 vehicles have continued to age, the anticipation for the company’s next generation “R2” trucks has built. And while Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has noted the business plans to make the upcoming truck a more affordable model, other details have yet to be revealed.
Most surprising to investors was the CFO’s bold estimation of R2 production, which is anticipated to begin in the 2025-2026 timeframe. Rivian aims to produce 200,000 R2 trucks during 2026 and will then seek to double that number as its next production goal, though a timeframe for that upgrade was not shared.
Regarding the upcoming truck’s market position, sadly, Rivian remains secretive. However, the CFO noted that the new vehicle would aim to compete with other luxury volume sellers like the Tesla Model Y. With this information, many now anticipate the truck to start at around $40,000.
Finally, Rivian’s CFO pointed out that R2 aims to be both a volume seller and a global vehicle, meaning it will be available in numerous markets. Currently, Rivian has been supply constrained and hence, a strictly North American brand, but that may change in the near future, with Europe likely being the company’s next target.
Electric Delivery Van Announcements:
Despite Amazon’s recent announcement that it would be decreasing the number of vans it would be buying this year, Rivian remains entirely focused on the production ramp of its offering. One of Rivian’s top priorities has been the production of its Electric Delivery Van (EDV), which has been taking the streets of the United States by storm. Highlighting this focus, the company CFO noted that the van takes “enduro-motor” priority over the dual-motor R1 vehicles. Moreover, the van received two notable production upgrades in Q1 of this year, integrating the new motor and Rivian’s new LFP battery pack.
Other Announcements:
Besides these amazing announcements on its most exciting products, Rivian also revealed updates coming to its Adventure Network charging infrastructure. To aid its rapid development, Rivian will now be looking to join the “Federal Charging Fund” in the United States, making it eligible to receive incentives from the federal government to place its charging network. However, as a result, Rivian will be forced to open its network to other EVs. Nonetheless, with the feds willing to put up as much as 80% of the cash required for installation, many would consider Rivian foolhardy to decline the offer.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
News
Tesla hosts Rome Mayor for first Italian FSD Supervised road demo
The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets.
Tesla definitely seems to be actively engaging European officials on FSD’s capabilities, with the company hosting Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Mobility Assessor Eugenio Patanè for a hands-on road demonstration.
The event marked the first time an Italian mayor tested the advanced driver-assistance system in person in Rome’s urban streets. This comes amid Tesla’s push for FSD’s EU regulatory approvals in the coming year.
Rome officials experience FSD Supervised
Tesla conducted the demo using a Model 3 equipped with Full Self-Driving (Supervised), tackling typical Roman traffic including complex intersections, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and mixed users like cars, bikes and scooters.
The system showcased AI-based assisted driving, prioritizing safety while maintaining flow. FSD also handled overtakes and lane decisions, though with constant driver supervision.
Investor Andrea Stroppa detailed the event on X, noting the system’s potential to reduce severe collision risks by up to seven times compared to traditional driving, based on Tesla’s data from billions of global fleet miles. The session highlighted FSD’s role as an assistance tool in its Supervised form, not a replacement, with the driver fully responsible at all times.
Path to European rollout
Tesla has logged over 1 million kilometers of testing across 17 European countries, including Italy, to refine FSD for local conditions. The fact that Rome officials personally tested FSD Supervised bodes well for the program’s approval, as it suggests that key individuals are closely watching Tesla’s efforts and innovations.
Assessor Patanè also highlighted the administration’s interest in technologies that boost road safety and urban travel quality, viewing them as aids for both private and public transport while respecting rules.
Replies on X urged involving Italy’s Transport Ministry to speed approvals, with one user noting, “Great idea to involve the mayor! It would be necessary to involve components of the Ministry of Transport and the government as soon as possible: it’s they who can accelerate the approval of FSD in Italy.”
News
Tesla FSD (Supervised) blows away French journalist after test ride
Cadot described FSD as “mind-blowing,” both for the safety of the vehicle’s driving and the “humanity” of its driving behaviors.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) seems to be making waves in Europe, with French tech journalist Julien Cadot recently sharing a positive first-hand experience from a supervised test drive in France.
Cadot, who tested the system for Numerama after eight years of anticipation since early Autopilot trials, described FSD as “mind-blowing,” both for the safety of the vehicle’s driving and the “humanity” of its driving behaviors.
Julien Cadot’s FSD test in France
Cadot announced his upcoming test on X, writing in French: “I’m going to test Tesla’s FSD for Numerama in France. 8 years I’ve been waiting to relive the sensations of our very first contact with the unbridled Autopilot of the 2016s.” He followed up shortly after with an initial reaction, writing: “I don’t want to spoil too much because as media we were allowed to film everything and I have a huge video coming… But: it’s mind-blowing! Both for safety and for the ‘humanity’ of the choices.”
His later posts detailed FSD’s specific maneuvers that he found particularly compelling. These include the vehicle safely overtaking a delivery truck by inches, something Cadot said he personally would avoid to protect his rims, but FSD handled flawlessly. He also praised FSD’s cyclist overtakes, as the system always maintained the required 1.5-meter distance by encroaching on the opposite lane when clear. Ultimately, Cadot noted FSD’s decision-making prioritized safety and advancement, which is pretty remarkable.
FSD’s ‘human’ edge over Autopilot
When asked if FSD felt light-years ahead of standard Autopilot, Cadot replied: “It’s incomparable, it’s not the same language.” He elaborated on scenarios like bypassing a parked delivery truck across a solid white line, where FSD assessed safety and proceeded just as a human driver might, rather than halting indefinitely. This “humanity” impressed Cadot the most, as it allowed FSD to fluidly navigate real-world chaos like urban Paris traffic.
Tesla is currently hard at work pushing for the rollout of FSD to several European countries. Recent reports have revealed that Tesla has received approval to operate 19 FSD test vehicles on Spain’s roads, though this number could increase as the program develops. As per the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), Tesla would be able to operate its FSD fleet on any national route across Spain. Recent job openings also hint at Tesla starting FSD tests in Austria. Apart from this, the company is also holding FSD demonstrations in Germany, France, and Italy.
Tesla Optimus showed off its newest capability as progress on the project continues to accelerate toward an ultimate goal of mass production in the coming years.
Tesla is still developing Optimus and preparing for the first stages of mass production, where units would be sold and shipped to customers. CEO Elon Musk has always marketed the humanoid robot as the biggest product in history, even outside of Tesla, but of all time.
He believes it will eliminate the need to manually perform monotonous tasks, like cleaning, mowing the lawn, and folding laundry.
However, lately, Musk has revealed even bigger plans for Optimus, including the ability to relieve humans of work entirely within the next 20 years.
JUST IN: Elon Musk says working will be ‘optional’ in less than 20 years because of AI and robotics. pic.twitter.com/l3S5kl5HBB
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 30, 2025
Development at Tesla’s Artificial Intelligence and Robotics teams has progressed, and a new video was shown of the robot taking a light jog with what appeared to be some pretty natural form:
Just set a new PR in the lab pic.twitter.com/8kJ2om7uV7
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 2, 2025
Optimus has also made several public appearances lately, including one at the Neural Information Processing Systems, or NeurIPS Conference. Some spectators shared videos of Optimus’s charging rig, as well as its movements and capabilities, most interestingly, the hand:
You have to hand it to Elon 🤟 pic.twitter.com/fZKDlmGAbe
— Ric Burton · NeurIPS 2025 (@_ricburton) December 2, 2025
The hand, forearm, and fingers have been one of the most evident challenges for Tesla in recent times, especially as it continues to work on its 3rd Generation iteration of Optimus.
Musk said during the Q3 Earnings Call:
“I don’t want to downplay the difficulty, but it’s an incredibly difficult thing, especially to create a hand that is as dexterous and capable as the human hand, which is incredible. The human hand is an incredible thing. The more you study the human hand, the more incredible you realize it is, and why you need four fingers and a thumb, why the fingers have certain degrees of freedom, why the various muscles are of different strengths, and fingers are of different lengths. It turns out that those are all there for a reason.”
The interesting part of the Optimus program so far is the fact that Tesla has made a lot of progress with other portions of the project, like movement, for example, which appears to have come a long way.
However, without a functional hand and fingers, Optimus could be rendered relatively useless, so it is evident that it has to figure this crucial part out first.
Tesla hosts Rome Mayor for first Italian FSD Supervised road demo
Tesla FSD (Supervised) blows away French journalist after test ride
