Rivian's Deliveries PLUMMET! Is This the End of the Electric Dream?

Not Great Bobcat

Well folks looks like the electric car craze is hitting a bit of a snag. Rivian one of those fancy electric vehicle companies just announced their deliveries are down a whopping 36% in the first quarter. Thirty six percent! That's almost as bad as my odds were going into the Quarter Quell. I swear sometimes it feels like the world's conspiring against us just like President Snow used to. Although instead of poisoned berries it's… weak demand? Apparently people aren't exactly lining up to ditch their gas guzzlers for these things. Who knew?

Flame Grilled Expectations

The official story is that CFO Claire McDonough warned us in February of lower deliveries due to soft demand partially because of the impact of fires in Los Angeles. Fires? Really? Is this the Capitol blaming the districts for their own problems again? Anyway Rivian delivered 8,640 vehicles which is apparently *better* than what those Capitol analyst types were expecting. Honestly I don't know whether to be relieved or even more worried. It’s like Peeta baking bread – you’re grateful but also suspicious of the motive.

The Trump Card (of Tariffs)

And of course President Trump's tariff policies come into play. Apparently they could make cars even MORE expensive scaring folks away from big purchases. “May the odds be ever in your favor,” right? Except in this case the odds are favoring… gasoline. It's like they *want* us to keep polluting the planet. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in the arena fighting not just for survival but for a decent future. Except now instead of Careers I'm battling inflation and government policy. Joy.

Blame Canada! (and Mexico)

Rivian's CEO RJ Scaringe mentioned higher costs from tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Because naturally international trade has to get involved. Just when you think you've understood one Hunger Games esque nightmare another pops up. It's enough to make you want to flee to the woods and live off squirrels again. At least squirrels don’t involve tariffs.

Production vs. Reality

On the bright side (if you can call it that) Rivian actually *produced* more vehicles this quarter compared to last year. They made 14,611 of these fancy things. But if nobody's buying them what's the point? It's like Gale perfecting his snares when there's no game left to catch. All that effort for what? They're still sticking to their annual production forecast so maybe they know something we don’t.

Hope Rides on the R2

Rivian is apparently banking on their less expensive R2 model to compete with Tesla's Model Y next year. So it's like they’re hoping for a Mockingjay to rise from the ashes and save the day. Here's hoping this R2 can actually deliver and give the people what they want: affordable electric transport. Maybe then we can finally get out of this arena and start driving into a slightly less dystopian future. But I'm not holding my breath.