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Before RJ Scaringe founded Rivian in 2009 , he had micromobility on his mind .
More than a tenner afterward , his reflection took tooth root in a pocket-sized skunkworks programme inside Rivian that rig out to answer one question : Could the party ’s technology be condensed down into something belittled and more low-priced than its electric vans , truck , and SUV ?
The response was yes . But what they also discovered , Scaringe separate TechCrunch , was that the skunkworks programme was a swelled idea than could of course live within Rivian . That skunkworks — now a team of about 70 people hailing from Apple , Google , Specialized , Tesla , REI Co - Op , and Uber — has spin out of Rivian with a new name and $ 105 million in financing fromEclipse Ventures .
The inauguration , call Also , will exist as a stand - alone company from Rivian . But the two will be closely come to . Rivian holds a minority stake , Scaringe will serve up on its board , and Also will leverage the carmaker ’s technical school , retail comportment , and economies of scale . Chris Yu , Rivian ’s VP of future programs , will be its Chief Executive .
Also plans to put its flagship product into product next year for consumers in the United States and Europe . The startup will eventually set in motion vehicles tailor-make for consumer and commercial-grade enjoyment in Asia and South America .
Scaringe said Also will show off its first vehicle designs at an event later this year . But he and the fresh company are being coy about what that first product will be — though the Rivian CEO did cop to it having a bike - like frame gene .
“ There ’s a seat , and there ’s two wheels , there ’s a concealment , and there ’s a few computer and a assault and battery , ” Scaringe sound out .
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He was clear that the goal is to make Rivian - quality micromobility available at affordable Leontyne Price .
It ’s “ remarkable that a prissy e - wheel cost as much as it does , ” Scaringe gloss . “ Like a nice ebike , you could spend $ 6,000 to $ 8,000 on , and really nice ones , over $ 10,000 . That ’s a contemplation of a ill spring up supplying mountain range that ’s very , very , very tiered . ”
Also’s electric roots
Scaringe ab initio place his ideas about due east - bikes and micromobility apart as he build up up a company around electric passenger vehicle like the R1 T pickup motortruck and R1S SUV .
But around 2019 , former Rivian chief ontogeny officer Jiten Behl — who spearheaded the financing round from Eclipse Ventures — said he and Scaringe began talking seriously about starting up an effort inside Rivian to capture that chance .
“ There is a opening here , ” Behl remember tell Scaringe . “ If you calculate at our cities , the infrastructure is such that you ca n’t have large cars driving around , but they still have mobility needs . We call for something unlike , something smaller , something more flexible . ”
A few years later in 2022 , they brought on Chris Yu , the former master merchandise and technology ship’s officer at bike - maker Specialized to spin up the skunkworks team .
One of the few publically available hints that Rivian was working on the projection came in 2022 when the company filed anew trademarkfor cycle and galvanising bike , as well as their corresponding morphological parts .
Scaringetalked about atomic number 99 - bikes at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2022 , and Bloombergreportedin 2023 that Rivian was lick on one , but the project remain under wraps .
Leveraging Rivian tech
Many companies have tried to design and trade e - bikes that stand out from the crowd . But Scaringe said those companies were limited in their power to get down cost , in large part because they are relying on a scattered supplying chain and operating at broken book .
Scaringe say the “ aha minute ” for Rivian was when he realize his ship’s company could change those variable . It also helps that Rivian is work on a slew of engineering science that is transferable to small anatomy factor .
“ Most companies in the micro outer space do n’t have , like , a full power electronics team , and do n’t have a squad that develop the software OS , and are contrive and building computers , ” he said .
“ Oh , wow , we have all this capability , ” he call back thinking .
Scaringe , Yu , and Behl think Also has voltage not only on the consumer side , but also commercially .
“ You could almost say that the need for modest form - factor EVs is a little bit more acute on the commercial side than the consumer side , especially within dense metro areas , particularly in Europe [ where city centers are ] shut down to railroad car and vanguard , ” Yu said in an interview . “ We ’ve seen an vivid amount of excitation around a scalable platform access for food , package , delivery , et cetera , character vehicle . ”
Yu said Also is in “ reasonably advanced discussions with some really exciting partner at the present moment , ” but reject to name any of them .
The Also team has their work cut out for them . They require to build small EVs for consumer and commercial-grade party across a global market . And they are willing to construct pretty much any form factor to answer those needs .
Asked whether that imply we could one day see an Also ricksha , or skateboard , Scaringe say there are some practical limitations to what the fellowship can accomplish . But , he said , “ never say never on anything ” in micromobility .
