Four employees have sued Rivian in separate lawsuits this year over allegations they were harassed, in some cases by top executives, and that the company’s leadership did little to address their concerns, according to a TechCrunch review of court records. Rivian has also reached settlements in three other harassment and discrimination cases, TechCrunch has learned. […]
Rivian has released a new software update to its vehicles that brings some long-awaited apps to its in-vehicle experience. Owners who update their R1S SUV or R1T pickup truck can now use YouTube (while parked) or SiriusXM (with a subscription). The company is also adding Google Cast functionality. That also can only be used while […]
Even with this strategic change, you can expect to see a lot of EV options in the coming years.
Here's a collection of cool EVs — including small hatchbacks, pickups, sports cars, and minivans — that we can't wait to drive.
Audi Q6 e-tron
The 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron.
Audi
The Audi Q6 e-tron is the 11th battery electric model to join the brand's lineup and marks the debut of Audi's all-new EV platform.
With a 100-kWh battery pack, the Q6 e-tron is rated by the Environmental Protection Agency for 321 miles of range. The Q6 e-tron with Quattro all-wheel drive has 456 horsepower and can do 0 to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds. There's also a higher-performance SQ6 e-tron.
The Q6 e-tron starts at $63,800.
Cadillac Vistiq
A 2026 Cadillac Vistiq electric SUV.
Cadillac
The Cadillac Vistiq, starting at $77,400, is a three-row midsize luxury electric SUV positioned between the smaller Lyriq and the flagship Escalade IQ.
Cadillac says the Vistiq will have a range of about 300 miles with a 102-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. With dual electric motors generating 615 horsepower, it can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds.
Production at GM's Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant is expected to start in early 2025.
Canoo pickup truck
A Canoo electric pickup truck.
Canoo
The Texas-based startup EV maker Canoo unveiled its electric pickup in 2021, but there hasn't been much news about the innovative cab-forward truck since. So it's unclear when it will go into production. What we do know is intriguing, including 600 horsepower, 200-plus miles of range, and an ultraconfigurable truck bed.
Hyundai Ioniq 9
The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9.
Hyundai
The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 is an all-electric midsize three-row family SUV set to go on sale in the first half of 2025. Built on the Electric Global Modular Platform platform, which also underpins the Kia EV9, the Ioniq 9 features a 110.3-kWh battery pack and an estimated range of 385 miles.
Kia EV4
The Kia EV4 concept car.
Kia
The Kia EV4 is a concept for a stylish compact EV sedan that debuted at the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show. Kia has not confirmed that the EV4 will enter production. But Car and Driver believes it could arrive as early as 2026 with up to 300 miles of range and a starting price of about $39,000.
Lotus Emeya
The Lotus Emeya.
Lotus Cars
The Lotus Emeya is a high-performance four-door GT with as much as 905 horsepower. According to Lotus, the Chinese-built EV can do 0 to 62 mph in 2.78 seconds and has a top speed of 159 mph.
Lucid Gravity
A Lucid Gravity.
Lucid Motors
The Gravity is the second model to emerge from the American EV startup Lucid. It's a three-row luxury SUV with up to 828 horsepower and an estimated 440 miles of range. The Gravity Grand Touring is on sale now, starting at $94,900.
Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology
The 2025 Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology.
Mercedes-Benz
The iconic Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen can finally be had as an EV. Offered alongside its internal-combustion siblings, the 2025 Mercedes-Benz G 580 with EQ Technology comes with a 122-kWh battery pack, 239 miles of range, 579 horsepower, and a starting price of $161,500.
Polestar 5
A Polestar 5 EV sedan prototype.
Polestar
The Polestar 5 is a luxury high-performance EV sedan that is scheduled to launch in 2025. The Polestar 5, set to compete against the likes of the Porsche Panamera and Mercedes-Benz EQS, will be built on the brand's first dedicated EV platform, featuring an 800-volt battery and electric motors that can produce up to 884 horsepower. While developed by Polestar's research-and-development teams in the UK and Sweden, the 5 will be built in the brand's new factory in Chongqing, China, alongside the coming Polestar 6 EV sports car.
Ram 1500 REV
The Ram 1500 REV electric pickup truck.
Ram
The Ram 1500 REV is Stellantis' answer to the Ford F150 Lightning and Chevrolet Silverado EV. Its 168-kWh battery pack helps it reach an estimated 350 miles of driving range. According to Ram, the 654-horsepower pickup can do 0 to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds and tow up to 14,000 pounds.
Rivian R3X
A Rivian R3X.
Rivian
The R3X is the high-performance variant of the Rivian's coming R3 midsize electric SUV and has distinct hatchback styling. According to Rivian, the R3X should be able to achieve over 300 miles of range and do 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds. The R3 and R3X are expected to arrive after Rivian commences customer deliveries of the R2 in the first half of 2026.
Scout Terra and Traveler
The electric Scout Terra pickup truck and Traveler SUV.
Scout Motors
Volkswagen Group's Scout Motors recently unveiled its Scout Terra pickup and Scout Traveler SUV. The body-on-frame off-roaders, with a starting price between $50,000 and $60,000, are inspired by the International Scout utility vehicles of the 1960s and '70s. The Terra and Traveler are set to enter production in 2027 in South Carolina.
Tesla Roadster
The Tesla Roadster.
Tesla
The long-awaited second-generation Tesla Roadster was announced in 2017 and remains in development purgatory. The Roadster was supposed to go on sale in 2020 but has been continuously delayed. When it does arrive, Tesla says it should go from 0 to 60 mph in 1.9 seconds, reach 250 mph, and have a range of 620 miles.
Volkswagen ID Buzz
A 2025 Volkswagen ID Buzz EV minivan.
Volkswagen
The VW bus is back. Volkswagen relaunched its counterculture-era icon as the all-electric 2025 ID Buzz. The new bus, which starts at $60,000, comes with a 91-kWh lithium-ion battery pack and is available in all-wheel drive. The ID Buzz has an estimated 234 miles of range.
EV startup Rivian was ranked as the worst vehicle brand for reliability, while Tesla was voted the 6th least reliable of the 22 major brands surveyed.
Japanese brands Subaru, Lexus, and Toyota led the rankings, which are based on surveys of around 300,000 vehicle owners.
Percieved unreliability hasn't affected Tesla and Rivian owner's enjoyment of their vehicles, however.
86% of the Rivian owners surveyed by Consumer Reports said they would buy their Rivian EV again, giving it the highest owner satisfaction rating of any brand surveyed.
Tesla was not far behind, with 72% of owners saying they would buy their vehicle again.
In April, Tesla recalled almost 4,000 Cybertrucks over fears the accelerator pedal could become jammed at full throttle.
Consumer Reports found that conventional hybrids remain more reliable than EVs and plug-in hybrids, which had 42% and 70% more problems on average than combustion engine vehicles and hybrids, respectively, according to owners surveyed.
Rivian and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, sent outside normal working hours.
Consumer Reports has put out its annual automaker reliability list, and the top spot is relatively unsurprising: Subaru. What may come as a surprise to some is that Rivian’s EVs are dead last, especially considering the company topped a different Consumer Reports survey from earlier this year about the “most loved” auto brands. The consumer […]
Rivian has opened a new charging station in Joshua Tree, California, that is open for other EV owners to use — a first for the company. It’s part of a plan to build out a much larger interoperable charging network across the U.S., though the company is still very early in that process. The new […]
Today, Rivian announced that it is opening up the Rivian Adventure Network of fast chargers to drivers of all other makes of electric vehicles, beginning with its location in Joshua Tree, California. The Joshua Tree Charging Outpost, which has 12 DC fast chargers, is now accessible to any EV with a CCS1 charging port, as well as any Tesla or EV equipped with a native NACS (J3400) port using an adapter. A planned hardware upgrade in the future will add native NACS cables. (Rivian is switching the plugs on its own EVs from CCS1 to NACS in 2025.)
Rivian revealed its plans in early 2021 to build charging stations, a few months before it let us loose in the R1T electric pickup. The Rivian Adventure Network currently has deployed banks of fast chargers at 91 sites across the US, with another 12 in the works. (A separate Rivian Waypoint Network is building out level 2 chargers with J1772 plugs.)
All but one of the Adventure Network sites have at least six DC fast chargers, although until now, all have been the preserve of Rivians alone. In total, the automaker plans to have 3,500 DC fast chargers in the Adventure Network.
To fill a car with gas, you generally just need a credit card or cash. To charge an EV at a DC fast charging station, you need any number of things to work—a credit card reader, an app for that charger's network, a touchscreen that's working—and they're all a little different.
That situation could change next year if a new "universal Plug and Charge" initiative from SAE International, backed by a number of EV carmakers and chargers, moves ahead and gains ground. Launching in early 2025, the network could make charging an EV actually easier than gassing up: plug in, let the car and charger figure out the payment details over a cloud connection, and go.
Some car and charging network combinations already offer such a system through a patchwork of individual deals, as listed at Inside EVs. Teslas have always offered a plug-and-charge experience, given the tight integration between their Superchargers and vehicles. Now Tesla will join the plug-and-charge movement proper, allowing Teslas to have a roughly similar experience at other stations.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is on a loan-approval spree in the lead-up to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the winners are all companies manufacturing clean energy solutions on U.S. soil. Companies like Stellantis and Samsung, Rivian, and most recently, EVgo. Trump has promised to cancel any unspent federal dollars under President Joe Biden’s Inflation […]
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk have been tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Michael M. Santiago, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
DOGE is set to examine multibillion-dollar federal loans to two Tesla rivals.
Vivek Ramaswamy said the cost-cutting body would "carefully scrutinize" loans to Stellantis and Rivian.
There are concerns Musk may use his role to interfere with his companies' rivals, and regulators.
Vivek Ramaswamy said DOGE would investigate a federal loan worth about $7.5 billion to a Tesla rival.
The Biden administration said Monday it would help finance two battery factories in Indiana being built in a joint venture involving the Jeep owner Stellantis and Samsung.
The announcement provoked a furious reaction from one of the incoming Trump administration's chief cost-cutting advisors.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who was tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, called the Stellantis loan "illegitimate" and said it should be rescinded.
The former Republican presidential candidate, who has been one of Donald Trump's most vocal supporters, also criticized a $6.6 billion loan to help finance a Rivian electric-vehicle plant in Georgia, which was announced last week.
"DOGE will carefully scrutinize every one of these questionable 11th-hour transactions, starting on Jan 20," he wrote on X.
Announcing the loan, the Department of Energy said the Stellantis-Samsung factories would support up to 2,800 jobs once operational and hire 3,200 workers during construction.
Rivian and Stellantis, which owns brands such as Dodge and Citroën, both compete with Tesla in the US market.
Musk has already signaled his support for cutting the $7,500 tax incentive for new EVs, a move The New York Times said the incoming Trump administration was considering.
The Tesla CEO and analysts have both said that scrapping the tax credit would disproportionally affect Tesla's rivals, including legacy automakers such as Ford and General Motors as well as EV startups like Rivian and Lucid.
Musk and Ramaswamy aim to cut about $2 trillion in government spending and slash the federal workforce through DOGE, which is planned to be an advisory group, not a government department.
DOGE and the Department of Energy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk have been tapped by Donald Trump to help cut government spending.
Michael M. Santiago, Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The Biden administration is set to loan Rivian $6.6 billion to finish an EV factory in Georgia.
Vivek Ramaswamy criticized the move as a "political shot across the bow" at fellow DOGE boss Elon Musk.
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Musk and Ramaswamy to help cut government spending.
Rivian secured a vital loan from the outgoing Biden administration — and one of the leaders of DOGE isn't happy about it.
The Tesla rival was granted a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy to restart construction of a stalled electric vehicle factory in Georgia, which the government said would create 7,500 jobs by 2030.
Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to lead the "Department of Government Efficiency" along with Elon Musk in the second Trump administration, criticized the loan in a post on X.
"One 'justification' is the 7,500 jobs it creates, but that implies a cost of $880k/job which is insane," wrote Ramaswamy. "This smells more like a political shot across the bow at Elon Musk and Tesla."
A Department of Energy spokesperson said the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which the Rivian deal is part of, reinforced America's position as a global automotive powerhouse.
They said the program also loaned $465 million to Tesla in 2010, which the company repaid early, as evidence of its success.
Musk and Ramaswamy have said they aim to cut about $2 trillion in government spending and slash the federal workforce through DOGE, which will not be an official government department.
The pair's mandate to "slash excess regulations" has raised fears that Musk may be tasked with shaking up regulatory agencies that oversee and have frequently clashed with his companies.
The Biden administration has attempted to boost electric vehicle adoption with a series of policies in recent years. They include tax incentives of up to $7,500 for new EVs made in the US, and $7.5 billion in federal grants to build hundreds of thousands of EV chargers by 2030.
Much of that spending is expected to be rolled back under Trump.
The new administration is reportedly set to scrap the $7,500 tax credit, a move that economist Felix Tintelnott told Business Insider could lower EV sales in the US by up to 27% in the short to medium term.
The Biden administration is also attempting to finalize funding for infrastructure and the US microchip industry before its term ends. , The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that Intel will receive about $7.9 billion in federal grants under the CHIPS Act.
Ramaswamy warned that DOGE will attempt to scrutinize these grants too, criticizing them as "11th-hour gambits" in another X post.
The Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Rivian said late Monday it has secured conditional commitment for a $6.6 billion loan from the Department of Energy, funds that will help the EV maker restart construction of a massive factory in Georgia. The funds will come from DOE’s Loan Programs Office Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program. Rivian said it expects to begin […]
Tesla and Rivian may have resolved a lawsuit in which Tesla accused Rivian of poaching employees and stealing trade secrets. Bloomberg reports that Tesla told a California judge that the companies have reached a “conditional” settlement, and that it expects to seek dismissal of the lawsuit by December 24. Tesla filed the suit, which was […]
Volkswagen of America has a new CEO: Rivian’s recently departed chief commercial officer Kjell Gruner. The appointment comes just one week after VW parent company Volkswagen Group formalized a $5.8 billion joint venture with Rivian, which will be focused on EV architecture and software. While Gruner’s new post isn’t really related to that new JV, […]
