Get in the KNOW
on LA Startups & Tech
X
Courtesy of Rivian
Rivian Misses Earnings Estimates Again As It Fights To Deliver More Electric Cars
Samson Amore
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
Rivian missed earnings expectations in its first quarter as production constraints and supply chain delays continued to slow down vehicle deliveries.
The electric automaker reported a first quarter net loss of $1.6 billion and posted first quarter revenue of $95 million, compared to expected revenue of roughly $130.5 million.
The numbers were an improvement over the $2.5 billion net loss the company reported last quarter and barely beat analysts' loss expectations—enough to boost its stock by roughly 8% in after-hours trading Wednesday.
In a shareholder letter Wednesday, Rivian said it expects to continue burning cash as it ramps up production.
“This dynamic will continue in the near term, but we expect it will improve” as production outpaces labor and overhead costs, the company said.
Rivian built 2,553 vehicles and delivered 1,227 in the first quarter, according to its report, bringing the total number of vehicles delivered to 2,148. The company needs to increase production by ten times if it’s to hit its revised forecast of 25,000 vehicles this year and 150,000 vehicles per year by 2023.
The direct-to-consumer auto startup said as of May 9 it received over 90,000 orders in the U.S. and Canada for its R1 vehicle. It also has another order to supply Amazon with 100,000 commercial electric delivery vans.
But the company has built fewer than 5,000 cars since it started production, a small figure for a company that plans to one day dominate at least 10% of the global auto market.
“Of course our focus as an organization for 2022 is to get more R1s and EVs on the road,” Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe said during the company’s earnings call. “The majority of our time is focused on ensuring our teams are driving towards ramping [up] production and deliveries to customers.”
In a bid to compensate for slower-than-expected sales, Rivian earlier this year tried to raise the price of its vehicles by 20%, but buyers quickly objected and one shareholder sued. The company later backtracked.
To meet production goals, Rivian said it’s ramping up hiring at its plant in Normal, Ill. and planning to break ground on a new $5 billion, 2,000-acre factory outside of Atlanta, Ga., which came with a hefty $1.5 billion tax break from the local government. That factory is expected to create 7,500 local jobs. Rivian said it will produce 400,000 cars annually once it reaches full capacity.
Between its planned Georgia factory and its plant in Illinois, Rivian expects to produce 600,000 cars each year when it's fully up and running.
Those plans have failed to impress Rivian’s big-name shareholders, many of whom have sold off significant portions of their stock, including Ford, which sold 8 million Rivian shares this week – though it still maintains a stake. Ford originally had plans to develop an electric Lincoln SUV with Rivian, but the deal fell through last November.
Amazon backed Rivian in 2019 and said in its April earnings report it had taken a $7.6 billion loss on its investment.
In the last three months, Rivian’s stock tanked more than 60%, and since its IPO in November 2021 the stock is down over 75%.
From Your Site Articles
- Ford Sells 8M shares of Rivian - dot.LA ›
- Rivian Shares Spike After George Soros' Investment - dot.LA ›
- Rivian Stock Tanks on Missed Earnings Expectations - dot.LA ›
- Rivian Delays SUV Delivery - dot.LA ›
- Could Rivian Layoffs Actually Signal Progress? - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Samson Amore
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
Here's How To Get a Digital License Plate In California
03:49 PM | October 14, 2022
Photo by Clayton Cardinalli on Unsplash
Thanks to a new bill passed on October 5, California drivers now have the choice to chuck their traditional metal license plates and replace them with digital ones.
The plates are referred to as “Rplate” and were developed by Sacramento-based Reviver. A news release on Reviver’s website that accompanied the bill’s passage states that there are “two device options enabling vehicle owners to connect their vehicle with a suite of services including in-app registration renewal, visual personalization, vehicle location services and security features such as easily reporting a vehicle as stolen.”
Reviver Auto Current and Future CapabilitiesFrom Youtube
There are wired (connected to and powered by a vehicle’s electrical system) and battery-powered options, and drivers can choose to pay for their plates monthly or annually. Four-year agreements for battery-powered plates begin at $19.95 a month or $215.40 yearly. Commercial vehicles will pay $275.40 each year for wired plates. A two-year agreement for wired plates costs $24.95 per month. Drivers can choose to install their plates, but on its website, Reviver offers professional installation for $150.
A pilot digital plate program was launched in 2018, and according to the Los Angeles Times, there were 175,000 participants. The new bill ensures all 27 million California drivers can elect to get a digital plate of their own.
California is the third state after Arizona and Michigan to offer digital plates to all drivers, while Texas currently only provides the digital option for commercial vehicles. In July 2022, Deseret News reported that Colorado might also offer the option. They have several advantages over the classic metal plates as well—as the L.A. Times notes, digital plates will streamline registration renewals and reduce time spent at the DMV. They also have light and dark modes, according to Reviver’s website. Thanks to an accompanying app, they act as additional vehicle security, alerting drivers to unexpected vehicle movements and providing a method to report stolen vehicles.
As part of the new digital plate program, Reviver touts its products’ connectivity, stating that in addition to Bluetooth capabilities, digital plates have “national 5G network connectivity and stability.” But don’t worry—the same plates purportedly protect owner privacy with cloud support and encrypted software updates.
5 Reasons to avoid the digital license plate | Ride TechFrom Youtube
After the Rplate pilot program was announced four years ago, some raised questions about just how good an idea digital plates might be. Reviver and others who support switching to digital emphasize personalization, efficient DMV operations and connectivity. However, a 2018 post published by Sophos’s Naked Security blog pointed out that “the plates could be as susceptible to hacking as other wireless and IoT technologies,” noting that everyday “objects – things like kettles, TVs, and baby monitors – are getting connected to the internet with elementary security flaws still in place.”
To that end, a May 2018 syndicated New York Times news service article about digital plates quoted the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which warned that such a device could be a “‘honeypot of data,’ recording the drivers’ trips to the grocery store, or to a protest, or to an abortion clinic.”
For now, Rplates are another option in addition to old-fashioned metal, and many are likely to opt out due to cost alone. If you decide to go the digital route, however, it helps if you know what you could be getting yourself into.
From Your Site Articles
- 8 Alternatives to Uber and Lyft in California - dot.LA ›
- Automotus Will Monitor Santa Monica's New Drop-Off Zone - dot.LA ›
- Metropolis CEO Alex Israel on Parking's Future - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read moreShow less
Steve Huff
Steve Huff is an Editor and Reporter at dot.LA. Steve was previously managing editor for The Metaverse Post and before that deputy digital editor for Maxim magazine. He has written for Inside Hook, Observer and New York Mag. Steve is the author of two official tie-ins books for AMC’s hit “Breaking Bad” prequel, “Better Call Saul.” He’s also a classically-trained tenor and has performed with opera companies and orchestras all over the Eastern U.S. He lives in the greater Boston metro area with his wife, educator Dr. Dana Huff.
steve@dot.la
Vet tech Modern Animal Will Use Its $75.5M Raise to Open Sites in Playa Vista, Pasadena and Studio City
03:17 PM | July 30, 2021
U.S. pet ownership rose nearly 50% over the last year as Americans, hemmed in by the pandemic, embraced their furry friends. The surge propelled the pet industry past $100 billion in revenues and exacerbated demands on veterinarians already stretched thin.
With its hybrid telemedicine subscription service, Culver City-based startup Modern Animal is looking to grow by appealing to both overtaxed vets and the new rush of pet owners. On Friday, it announced a $75.5 million investment to help do it.
The company believes its model, which relies on 24/7, app-based care, access to beautifully outfitted clinics for users and a streamlined system for veterinarians, can help upend the way the industry traditionally does business.
"The problems we were trying to solve [when we started the company] were not actually related to the animal," said CEO and co-founder Steven Eidelman. They were related to the humans: the pet-owners and the veterinarians.
Eidelman is the former founder of Whistle, a pet health startup that made a 'Fitbit for dogs' and was acquired in 2016 for $117 million by Mars. He founded Modern Animal in 2018. It has now raised $89 million.
Its first clinic opened in April last year in West Hollywood. Unlike most drab veterinarian offices, Modern Animal's clinic boasts amenities like a "beautiful Oscar Gronner mural" and "Margo's Bark root beer in our fridge". Customers pay a $100 annual membership fee per pet, which grants them free exams and around-the-clock telemedicine. The company does not offer emergency care.
The new funding is split between a previously unannounced $35.5 million Series A led by True Ventures and Addition, and a $40 million Series B led by Founders Fund. With it, the company plans to open a dozen more clinics around California over the next 18 months — including facilities in Playa Vista, Pasadena and Studio City by the end of the year. The WeHo clinic has maxed out its capacity of around 4,000 fuzzy patients; Eidelman said the new clinics will be similarly sized.
Modern Animal has largely appealed to younger pet owners. Eighty percent of its human members are between 25 and 45 years old; only 10% of the clients are over the age of 55.
"There is a very different type of behavior that younger pet owners are exhibiting, and so we wanted to build a system that, looking to the future, is built for them," Eidelman said. Members make about five visits per year during their first year of membership, which is more than double the frequency of visits to a typical vet's office.
He attributes that stickiness to Modern Animal's free initial exams and how the company pays veterinarians, which discourages them from charging for extra services.
Layla (left), and her human, Modern Animal CEO and co-founder Steven Eidelman.
About 80 employees work at the company, split evenly between the medical staff and the business side. Flush with funds, Eidelman plans to go on a hiring spree, prioritizing operational and human resource roles to support the company's expansion.
Eidelman said one of the company's cornerstones is creating a good place for often stressed out veterinarians to work.
Dr. Christie Long, Modern Animal's head of medicine, said it's one of the reasons she appreciates the company. She has been a veterinarian since 2007.
"As a profession, we give so much of ourselves away, and we have a real problem with drawing boundaries," she said.
Modern Animal takes several steps to change that paradigm, Long said.
The medical team works collaboratively, so that during a telemedicine appointment, the on-call vet has access to the pet's health records, which may have been input by their colleagues from both in-person and remote visits.
Using telemedicine also allows for a more efficient allocation of the clinical staff's time and skills, Eidelman said, as less urgent matters can be addressed without requiring a potentially wasteful visit to the clinic. And unlike much of the vet industry, the company pays its staff a salary rather than on a fee-for-service basis.
"We pay a good salary to a doctor and expect them to work their 40 hours a week and then we expect them to go home. And we want them to go home," said Long. "We are attracting a younger group of veterinarians...I'm excited to see them raise their hands and say, 'the (old) model doesn't work for me.'"
In addition to the new funding, the company also announced three board members: David Bowman, former COO and CFO of Blue Bottle Coffee; Karen Boone, former CFO of Restoration Hardware and current board member of Peloton, Sonos and Rivian; and Tony Conrad, partner at True Ventures.
Eidelman said they bring value from their experience scaling businesses with a physical presence.
"The big opportunity we see is to fix this profession," he said.
From Your Site Articles
- Airvet Raises $14M to Provide Telehealth to Pets - dot.LA ›
- Pet Tech Accelerator Leap Venture's 2021 Startup Class - dot.LA ›
- Modern Animal's CEO on How the Pandemic Boosted Apps - dot.LA ›
- Dogdrop Raises a $2.9M Series A as Pet Startups Come Back - dot.LA ›
- Dogdrop Raises a $2.9M Series A as Pet Startups Come Back - dot.LA ›
- Airvet Founder Brandon Werber On Switching to B2B - dot.LA ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read moreShow less
Sam Blake
Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake
https://twitter.com/hisamblake
samblake@dot.la
RELATEDTRENDING
LA TECH JOBS