How Will Rivian Compete While Avoiding Hybrid or EREV Models?

Rivian’s RIVN long-term product strategy does not involve offering an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) or any hybrid configuration that requires adding an engine. The automaker isn’t contemplating such options, nor does it see them aligning with its vision for the future.

Still, Rivian acknowledges that the broader journey toward electrification involves offering consumers genuine choice. As the industry evolves, different manufacturers will carve their own paths, some leaning into hybrid or EREV models, others committing fully to battery-electric vehicles. Ultimately, Rivian believes all of these directions are converging toward an automotive future in which everything is electric, software-defined and capable of high levels of autonomy.

With that conviction, the company continues to double down on pure electrification. Rivian sees the midsize SUV segment, soon to be anchored by the upcoming R2 and its follow-on model, the R3, as a sweet spot for all-electric design. Per the company, this segment is ideally suited to a fully electric architecture that can deliver strong performance, competitive range and pricing that stands toe-to-toe with internal combustion or hybrid alternatives. RIVN carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

RIVN’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates  

Rivian has outperformed the Zacks Automotive-Domestic industry and its peers, Lucid Group, Inc. LCID and Tesla, Inc. TSLA, year to date. RIVN’s shares have gained 32.4% compared with the industry’s growth of 16.2%. Shares of LCID have plunged 57.7%, while shares of Tesla have gained 8.9% in the same period. 

 
From a valuation perspective, RIVN appears overvalued compared to the industry. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 3.25, higher than the industry’s 3.42. Lucid is trading at a forward P/S ratio of 1.72, while Tesla is trading at 13.8.

 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RIVN’s 2025 and 2026 loss per share has narrowed by 2 cents and 5 cents, respectively, in the past 30 days. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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