News
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe hints at initial production of 20k-40k vehicles in 2021
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe was recently profiled by The New York Times, and hidden among the stories about the all-electric car maker’s early design days was an inital production estimate for the R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV. In 2021, Rivian’s estimated first full year of rolling vehicles through the assembly line, Scaringe is anticipating 20,000 to 40,000 cars will be made.
The electric vehicle startup purchased its Normal, Illinois car factory from Misubishi in 2017. Since then, the Rivian team – which includes prior Mitsubishi plant workers – has been hard at work bringing the company up to a high-volume manufacturing level. Rivian’s progress is apparently going very well, and Scaringe has teased a few other projects underway for the facility such as an on-site food farm for employees.
Residents local to Rivian’s facility also appear to be giving their nod of approval to the car maker’s efforts. Earlier this week, the Normal City Council decided to move ahead with a request to rename Mitsubishi Motorway, the stretch of highway leading to Rivian’s plant, to Rivian Motorway. Another street with access to the factory is also in line for a rename – Sakura Lane will become Electric Avenue.
In driving the progress of the company, Scaringe was described as having a few parallels with Tesla’s Elon Musk. “Fortunately, my personality is one that I never lost confidence I could do it,” he told the Times. “That doesn’t mean I always knew how I was going to do it.” Musk’s matra that was repeated often in the early days of Tesla and SpaceX was similar. “If something is important enough, you do it, even if the odds are not in your favor,” he told interviewers on several occasions. Musk even admitted to the low probability of success for both of his primary companies, 10% for SpaceX, and ‘very very low’ for Tesla, specifically. Scaringe seems to have a bit of a better head start with Rivian from Tesla’s spearheading the electric vehicle industry.
A few interesting details about Rivian’s beginnings have made the rounds since the company unveiled its R1T and R1S flagship vehicles. For one, Scaringe set out to start a car company with the global environment in mind. He was a car person at heart, a Porsche fan in particular, but over time he realized there was a contradiction between what he loved and what his values were with regard to sustainability. Even the fuel-efficient sports car Rivian initially designed wasn’t good enough for what Scaringe wanted to achieve.
“In my heart and soul, I knew I wasn’t answering the fundamental question of why the world needs this company to be successful,” Scaringe is quoted as saying in the article.
He decided to start over with something else more aligned with his personal values after finishing the first car in 2011. From there, Rivian was born, built, developed, and now on the way to delivering its first all-electric adventure vehices by the end of next year. If there’s one thing that the Times piece made clear, it’s the level of dedication Scaringe and the Rivian team has put into making their R1T truck and R1S SUV a reality.
-->Rivian is still taking preorders on its website and aims to have its first vehicles delivered by the end of 2020.
News
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
The refreshed Tesla Model 3 has won the DRIVEN Car Guide AA Insurance NZ Car of the Year 2025 award in the Passenger Car category, beating all traditional and electric rivals.
Judges praised the all-electric sedan’s driving dynamics, value-packed EV tech, and the game-changing addition of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) that went live in New Zealand this September.
Why the Model 3 clinched the crown
DRIVEN admitted they were late to the “Highland” party because the updated sedan arrived in New Zealand as a 2024 model, just before the new Model Y stole the headlines. Yet two things forced a re-evaluation this year.
First, experiencing the new Model Y reminded testers how many big upgrades originated in the Model 3, such as the smoother ride, quieter cabin, ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and stalk-less minimalist interior. Second, and far more importantly, Tesla flipped the switch on Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in September, turning every Model 3 and Model Y into New Zealand’s most advanced production car overnight.
FSD changes everything for Kiwi buyers
The publication called the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version “good to drive and represents a lot of EV technology for the money,” but highlighted that FSD elevates it into another league. “Make no mistake, despite the ‘Supervised’ bit in the name that requires you to remain ready to take control, it’s autonomous and very capable in some surprisingly tricky scenarios,” the review stated.
-->At NZ$11,400, FSD is far from cheap, but Tesla also offers FSD (Supervised) on a $159 monthly subscription, making the tech accessible without the full upfront investment. That’s a game-changer, as it allows users to access the company’s most advanced system without forking over a huge amount of money.
News
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out.
It appears that the Tesla AI team burned the midnight oil, allowing them to release FSD V14.2.1 on Thanksgiving. The update has been reported by Tesla owners with AI4 vehicles, as well as Cybertruck owners.
For the Tesla AI team, at least, it appears that work really does not stop.
FSD V14.2.1
Initial posts about FSD V14.2.1 were shared by Tesla owners on social media platform X. As per the Tesla owners, V14.2.1 appears to be a point update that’s designed to polish the features and capacities that have been available in FSD V14. A look at the release notes for FSD V14.2.1, however, shows that an extra line has been added.
“Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
Whether this could lead to more drivers being alerted to pay attention to the roads more remains to be seen. This would likely become evident as soon as the first batch of videos from Tesla owners who received V14.21 start sharing their first drive impressions of the update. Despite the update being released on Thanksgiving, it would not be surprising if first impressions videos of FSD V14.2.1 are shared today, just the same.
-->Rapid FSD releases
What is rather interesting and impressive is the fact that FSD V14.2.1 was released just about a week after the initial FSD V14.2 update was rolled out. This bodes well for Tesla’s FSD users, especially since CEO Elon Musk has stated in the past that the V14.2 series will be for “widespread use.”
FSD V14 has so far received numerous positive reviews from Tesla owners, with numerous drivers noting that the system now drives better than most human drivers because it is cautious, confident, and considerate at the same time. The only question now, really, is if the V14.2 series does make it to the company’s wide FSD fleet, which is still populated by numerous HW3 vehicles.
News
Waymo rider data hints that Tesla’s Cybercab strategy might be the smartest, after all
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota Connected Europe designer Karim Dia Toubajie has highlighted a particular trend that became evident in Waymo’s Q3 2025 occupancy stats. As it turned out, 90% of the trips taken by the driverless taxis carried two or fewer passengers.
These observations all but validate Tesla’s controversial two-seat Cybercab strategy, which has caught a lot of criticism since it was unveiled last year.
Toyota designer observes a trend
Karim Dia Toubajie, Lead Product Designer (Sustainable Mobility) at Toyota Connected Europe, analyzed Waymo’s latest California Public Utilities Commission filings and posted the results on LinkedIn this week.
“90% of robotaxi trips have 2 or less passengers, so why are we using 5-seater vehicles?” Toubajie asked. He continued: “90% of trips have 2 or less people, 75% of trips have 1 or less people.” He accompanied his comments with a graphic showing Waymo’s occupancy rates, which showed 71% of trips having one passenger, 15% of trips having two passengers, 6% of trips having three passengers, 5% of trips having zero passengers, and only 3% of trips having four passengers.
The data excludes operational trips like depot runs or charging, though Toubajie pointed out that most of the time, Waymo’s massive self-driving taxis are really just transporting 1 or 2 people, at times even no passengers at all. “This means that most of the time, the vehicle being used significantly outweighs the needs of the trip,” the Toyota designer wrote in his post.
-->Cybercab suddenly looks perfectly sized
Toubajie gave a nod to Tesla’s approach. “The Tesla Cybercab announced in 2024, is a 2-seater robotaxi with a 50kWh battery but I still believe this is on the larger side of what’s required for most trips,” he wrote.
With Waymo’s own numbers now proving 90% of demand fits two seats or fewer, the wheel-less, lidar-free Cybercab now looks like the smartest play in the room. The Cybercab is designed to be easy to produce, with CEO Elon Musk commenting that its product line would resemble a consumer electronics factory more than an automotive plant. This means that the Cybercab could saturate the roads quickly once it is deployed.
While the Cybercab will likely take the lion’s share of Tesla’s ride-hailing passengers, the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover would be perfect for the remaining 9% of riders who require larger vehicles. This should be easy to implement for Tesla, as the Model Y and Model 3 are both mass-market vehicles.
Tesla Model 3 named New Zealand’s best passenger car of 2025
Tesla starts rolling out FSD V14.2.1 to AI4 vehicles including Cybertruck
