Rivian, an electric car company, is apparently developing an e-bike. According to reports, CEO RJ Scaringe informed Rivian staff about the initiative during a company-wide meeting on Friday. He said that the firm was working on a bike with a “small group” of engineers.
According to the publication, Rivian owns patents for bicycle components and designs. Scaringe has previously said that Rivian intends to someday enter the micro-mobility industry. Rivian did not react promptly to Engadget’s comment request.
The possibility that Rivian is working on an e-bike comes in the same week that the business announced layoffs affecting 6% of its workers. Rivian’s layoffs are the company’s second big restructuring in less than a year. The business said that the decision was made to emphasise on growing manufacturing of its R1T and R1S EVs, putting Rivian on the road to long-term profitability. Scaringe allegedly warned staff on Friday that Rivian had stretched itself too thin by attempting to achieve too much at once.
Even while it would not make much sense for Rivian to try to break into the e-bike industry when the firm is still in the red, the company has a strong case for doing so. Even before the epidemic, the cycling industry was expanding because of the popularity of e-bikes. Electric bikes, in fact, have regularly outsold electric automobiles and trucks. It’s no surprise, given that they’re substantially less expensive to make and hence less expensive for customers to purchase. Rivian may need a bike to become successful sooner.
