Have Some Renewable Vitality With Your Rivian R2 Pre-Order


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The Intertubes lit up this week with studies that the EV startup Rivian has already acquired greater than 100,000 pre-orders for its new R2 mid-sized SUV, however that’s not the one information the corporate is raring to share. Earlier this week Rivian additionally took pains to level out that renewable vitality is entrance and heart in its plans to create a holistic zero emission driving expertise for its clients.

Wow, 100,000 Pre-Orders For The New Rivian R2 EV

For those who’re questioning why greater than 100,000 individuals would pre-order an electrical automobile when EV gross sales are supposedly dropping, that’s a great query. The reply is that gross sales will not be dropping, not less than not from a big-picture perspective. Nonetheless, the numbers point out that Tesla gross sales have been dropping within the US, at the same time as gross sales general proceed to take pleasure in a rising tide. Whatever the motive for the falloff, Tesla has left an enormous gaping gap for different EV makers to refill.

That features Rivian. The corporate launched in 2009, proper across the time Tesla launched the Roadster EV. It has been enjoying catchup ever since. Ford likes to assert that it’s #2 in US electrical automobile gross sales behind solely Tesla, however Rivian is jockeying to contend as nicely. (see extra Rivian background right here).

Native radio station WGLT (a public service of Illinois State College) acquired the news on the 100,000+ pre-order story earlier this week.

“The R2 is being offered as, amongst different issues, a extra reasonably priced possibility in contrast with Rivian’s present lineup,” noticed WGLT reporter Colin Hardman on July 21. He cited Rivian VP of producing Tim Fallon, who mentioned that the corporate is “nicely over a 100,000 pre-orders for R2, and people proceed to climb — they usually actually climb organically.”

“As we actually push R1 and R1 gen 2 and proceed to get our present product on the market, the R2 continues to extend in pre-orders,” Fallon added.

Extra Renewable Vitality With Your R2 Pre-Order

The 100,000 pre-order mark is fairly spectacular, although Rivian has an extended solution to go earlier than it could match the two million+ pre-orders reportedly acquired by Tesla for the Cybertruck.

Extra to the purpose, Rivian adopted up the WGLT story with a extra emphatic thumbs-up for renewable vitality in a press launch on July 22, main off with the statement that “the total advantages of EVs will solely be realized if we cut back the carbon emissions from the vitality wanted to energy them.”

“That’s why we’re investing in constructing a carbon-free grid — and it means you help wind, photo voltaic, and different clear vitality tasks each time you cost your Rivian. The extra you drive, the extra you assist speed up the shift to renewable vitality,” Rivian explains.

Renewable Vitality, ESG, & The Three Cs

That’s a great level. Although EVs have a a lot smaller carbon footprint than gasmobiles, it’s a bit disheartening to spend so much of chilly, exhausting money on a battery-powered automobile that recharges with the assistance of coal or pure gasoline energy vegetation.

Rivian’s funding technique didn’t simply pop up out of the blue. Company renewable vitality patrons started flexing their energy to maneuver markets through the Obama administration. Rivian is constructing on that effort, however with a extra intentional give attention to advantages past decarbonization. The corporate teamed up with The Nature Conservancy final yr to develop a soup-to-nuts method to renewable vitality investing that’s in line with the ESG (atmosphere, social, governance) investing rules broadly utilized by monetary corporations (see extra ESG background right here).

The mashup between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Rivian additionally displays a strategic response to opponents of rural photo voltaic tasks. Builders are starting to appreciate that the case for renewable vitality must develop past clear kilowatts, to interact precise individuals.

“Our method ensures clear vitality improvement drives native financial progress, protects ecosystems, and will increase vitality entry and affordability, whereas sustaining monetary viability,” Rivian explains, referring to the “3C toolkit” developed in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy.

The 3C objectives — local weather, conservation, and group — are outlined in a white paper produced by Rivian and TNC, which makes the case for renewable vitality tasks that aren’t scattered willy-nilly everywhere in the panorama.

“Company procurement insurance policies can affect the clear vitality market to maneuver past conventional issues and prioritize essential co-benefits extending past the achievement of company sustainability objectives,” the authors clarify, in what feels like a ringing endorsement for ESG investing with out incurring the wrath of anti-ESG politicians.

Extra Renewable Vitality For Extra Rivian Drivers

For those who’ve been listening to concerning the Starfire Photo voltaic undertaking in Kentucky, that’s one results of the renewable vitality collaboration with TNC. The 2 companions teamed as much as interact in an influence buy settlement with the huge 800-megawatt photo voltaic array, offering the developer BrightNight with the monetary safety to maneuver ahead with building.

“To ice the inexperienced cake, the Starfire photo voltaic array will sit on the positioning of the Starfire Coal Mine, which covers elements of Perry, Knott, and Breathitt counties,” CleanTechnica noticed earlier this yr. One other 1,000 megawatts are coming if and when Brightnight builds a brand new 20-mile transmission line.

Although most of Rivian’s renewable vitality tasks are photo voltaic, the corporate does have a few attention-grabbing hydropower tasks within the cooker. One in all them entails the Atlanta agency Emrgy, which has give you a compact various to conventional hydropower. As an alternative of counting on the water strain created by huge dams, Emrgy leverages on the ambient movement of water, deploying canals and different water methods.

Renewable Vitality & Neighborhood Advantages

Maybe essentially the most impactful funding Rivian has made up to now is an settlement with the agency Pivot Vitality, which makes a speciality of group photo voltaic tasks. Neighborhood photo voltaic refers to PV arrays that native ratepayers can subscribe to, offering direct entry to renewable vitality no matter whether or not or not they’ll set up photo voltaic panels on their very own property.

Earlier this yr, Pivot introduced introduced a 60-megawatt collaboration with Rivian, underneath which Rivian will buy RECs (renewable vitality certificates) from 50 megawatts’ price of photo voltaic, along with subscribing to 10 megawatts of group photo voltaic. This explicit settlement falls into the class of “impression RECs,” which means REC agreements that contain group advantages over and above merely producing extra zero emission electrical energy.

“Affect REC agreements akin to this one are designed to channel clear vitality assets into areas poised for brand spanking new photo voltaic improvement and contribute to local people initiatives,” Pivot defined in a press launch dated Might 22.

“Rivian’s partnership allows further photo voltaic tasks to be strategically developed in places with few photo voltaic assets,” Pivot added, noting that the brand new tasks might be positioned in a area with a very soiled grid.

“By supporting these new-build distributed photo voltaic tasks by means of this REC buy settlement and group photo voltaic subscription, Rivian could have an outsized impression on emissions reductions on this area,” Pivot emphasizes.

It’s a secure guess that different EV makers are paying consideration. Rivian notes that the 3C toolkit is free for sharing, so hold a watch out for extra group photo voltaic exercise to come back. Simply bear in mind it’s 3C, not ESG.

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Picture (cropped): Rivian clients on the pre-order listing for the brand new R2 electrical SUV can sit up for extra renewable vitality for his or her zero emission journey (courtesy of Pivot Vitality by way of Rivian).


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