Rivian R1T electric truck 'way underpriced,' but room to improve - expert

Reuters

Published Jun 03, 2022 02:44PM ET

By Paul Lienert

(Reuters) - The Rivian R1T, one of the first electric pickup trucks on the market, is "way underpriced," according to a manufacturing expert known for his sometimes blunt assessments of electric vehicles from Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and others.

The R1T also could use some engineering and production changes to reduce its manufacturing cost, according to Sandy Munro, head of Michigan-based Munro & Associates, which tears down vehicles and advises automakers on how to improve them.

Known for his blunt YouTube assessments, Munro, a former Ford manufacturing engineer, says the R1T has "buckets of cost reduction opportunity" - not unusual for a brand-new vehicle from a first-time manufacturer.

But the R1T, which starts at $67,500, "should be selling for $100,000 -- it's way underpriced for what it is and what it does," says Munro during a walkaround of the dismantled vehicle at the company's Auburn Hills headquarters.

That is good news for a company that just went public in November and continues to endure teething pains, from delivery snafus to a backlash over poorly timed price increases.

Raising the vehicle's price tag could still be a challenge.

Peter Rawlinson, CEO of EV maker Lucid and a former Tesla engineering executive, told Reuters in March that the R1T probably needs to be priced at $95,000 to be profitable.

Like its chief competitor, the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian's new pickup features a body-on-frame design, but the R1T's bed and cabin are all one piece, unlike the F-150. The Lightning is priced from $40,000 to more than $100,000.

"It's designed and built quite differently from traditional full-size pickups," says Ben Lindamood, a Munro director. "The build quality still isn't as good as vehicles from more established brands, which is not dissimilar from the early Teslas" torn down in Munro's shop.