The US start-up Rivian, which is backed by Amazon and Ford among others, wants to sell its electric vehicles in Europe from the beginning of 2022, confirming this in an email to a potential European customer.
The email was reported in the Rivian Owners Forum, among other places, but – so far – no further details on the European launch have come to light.
There have been rumours, however, that Rivian is looking for a factory location, purportedly in the United Kingdom, Hungary or Germany. Job advertisements, such as a senior analyst for delivery planning in the EMEA region, have also recently pointed to European ambitions.
The email itself only provides rough information. Exactly when, via which distribution network and with which models the European launch could take place is not clear – early 2022 is the only detail given.
According to earlier rumours, Rivian could only bring the R1S electric SUV to Europe to begin with, while the larger R1T pickup truck will be offered only in North America for the time being. The company is apparently planning to develop a slightly smaller series with a focus on Europe and China, but again details are currently scarce.
What is clear, however, is that Rivian is planning to start deliveries of the Launch Edition of its R1T electric pickup in the US this month.
In March, Rivian also presented ambitious plans for its own charging networks in the USA and Canada, in which the North American startup appears strongly inspired by Tesla’s Superchargers and Destination Chargers. The ‘Rivian Adventure Network’, which will be available exclusively to owners of Rivian’s electric vehicles, will include more than 3,500 DC chargers at more than 600 locations in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2023, Rivian said at the time.
It is not yet known whether such charging networks are also planned for Europe.
