Rivian and VW

If the Rivian/VW joint venture works, good for them. All they have to do is make an operational profit on each EV sold. My understanding is Tesla and BYD are the only companies making an operational profit. Tesla to the tune of an 18% margin, ~3x better than BYD. So when Toyota and Mercedes bought and later sold Tesla stock, both were making profits and those shares helped Tesla survive. Just they could not adopt the Elon method of engineering and manufacturing management.

Recently, Robotaxi became a buzz word. For example, Yahoo Finance claimed “Rimac” whose cheapest car is ~$2 million, will be a major player in 2026. This contrasts two, self-driving, architectures: (1) sensor rich, detailed mapped, geofenced, and (2) wide open, sensor minimum, rapid software updated computers. It is a contest between increased parts and reduced reliability versus minimum parts and computer driven.

Today, June 27, my five year old, Tesla Model 3 with 137,000 mi, will drive me and the dogs, 160 miles to Atlanta. Staying at an affordable motel with free charging, I will return on Friday, ~400 miles and no charging stops or payment. So why would I a future Robotaxi that can not drive directly where I want to go when I already own one?

Bob Wilson