Could a Ballot Measure Open Direct EV Sales for Rivian in Washington?

Rivian Automotive, Inc. RIVN, an electric truck maker, is supporting a citizen-led ballot initiative in Washington state that would permit EV manufacturers to sell vehicles directly to consumers, intensifying a long-standing battle over auto sales regulations that currently give Tesla, Inc. TSLA a unique advantage. Rivian has committed $4.6 million to the effort in a bid to level the playing field with Tesla.

The push is being led by the Washington Coalition for Consumer Choice and Innovation, which is advocating for a ballot measure that would extend direct-to-consumer sales rights to more EV companies. 

Under current state law, buyers are required to purchase vehicles through dealerships, which effectively bars direct sales by manufacturers like Rivian and Lucid Group, Inc. LCID, a luxury EV maker. Tesla has been the lone exception to this rule for more than 10 years. As a result, Rivian and Lucid operate showrooms in Washington but are prohibited from selling vehicles at those locations.

The specific organizations and businesses behind the coalition have not been disclosed. The group has hired California-based Winner & Mandabach Campaigns, a prominent ballot-initiative consulting firm. It has worked on several Washington measures, including a successful campaign opposing Initiative 1631, which proposed a carbon emissions fee. The firm claims a 90% success rate in ballot campaigns.

To qualify for the ballot, initiative sponsors must submit at least 308,911 valid voter signatures to the secretary of state by early July, though the office advises collecting closer to 390,000 signatures to account for invalid entries. As of Jan. 22, 2026, the coalition’s proposal had not appeared in the secretary of state’s filing records.

Efforts to pass legislation allowing companies like Rivian and Lucid to sell directly to consumers stalled in the state House last year. At the time, a coalition of environmental and business groups argued that expanding direct sales would accelerate EV adoption and help Washington meet its transportation-related carbon reduction targets. RIVN carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Rivian’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Rivian has underperformed the Zacks Automotive-Domestic industry in the past six months. RIVN shares have gained 16.7% compared with the industry’s growth of 35.4%. 

 
From a valuation perspective, Rivian appears undervalued. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 2.69, below the industry’s 3.22.

 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 loss per share has widened by a penny in the past seven days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 loss per share has widened by a penny in the past 30 days. 

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

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