Ford is sinking a half-billion dollars into electric vehicle startup Rivian in a deal that has the companies working together on a new Ford electric vehicle based on Rivian underpinnings.
Ford Motor Co. will become a minority partner in Rivian, which is based outside of Detroit and recently rolled out a new electric pickup truck and an SUV that will go on sale late next year.
The tie-up is another sign that automakers and tech companies are pairing up to share the huge capital costs of developing electric vehicles and even those that drive themselves. Ford and Rivian executives both said there's room for the partnership to grow and for the companies to share expertise.
"We are learning a great deal from this wonderful company and its leadership," Ford CEO Jim Hackett said Wednesday. "We're open-minded to its fresh approach to electric vehicles."
Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe said his company will benefit from Ford's manufacturing and lightweight vehicle expertise. The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker's top-selling Ford F-Series pickup truck has an aluminum body that shaved off as much as 700 pounds from the previous version of the truck.
Rivian will remain an independent company. But Ford President of Automotive Joe Hinrichs will get a seat on the startup's seven-member board. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval.
Scaringe said the Ford deal was separate from a $700 million investment from Amazon that was announced in February. The companies haven't disclosed how that deal will take shape.
On a conference call with reporters and analysts, neither company would disclose what Ford vehicle would be built off the Rivian underpinnings, which the company calls its "skateboard platform." Hinrichs said the partnership will speed development and save money on the new Ford vehicle. Rivian would build the platform, which would be sent to Ford for final vehicle assembly, Hinrichs said.
The partnership could extend to autonomous vehicle technology in the future. Hackett said executives in charge of Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle company partly owned by Ford, know Scaringe well.
Rivian has a large engineering and administrative operation in a former cash register factory in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth Township, Michigan, as well as outposts in San Jose and Irvine, California, and Surrey, England. The company also is starting manufacturing operations in a 2.6-million-square-foot factory in Normal, Illinois, that was once used by Mitsubishi.
The company's R1T pickup and R1S SUV that are supposed to have more than 400 miles of range on a single charge. The five-seat pickup is aimed at the market for off-road capable trucks with outdoorsy features, a market that electric vehicle competitor Tesla Inc. has not yet entered. A basic truck with smaller 230-mile (370 kilometers) battery pack will start under $70,000. A truck with the longer-range battery will be around $90,000. They'll roll out in the U.S. first, then to other markets.
Scaringe said Rivian has plans for lower-cost vehicles in the future, and both companies said they likely would have products that compete for buyers.
Ford said the Rivian vehicle is in addition to Ford's plans to invest $11 billion in electric vehicles including a Mustang-inspired SUV and a zero-emissions version of the F-150 pickup.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A $8 billion defense package approved by the U.S. House of Representatives over the weekend will “strengthen the deterrence against authoritarianism in the West Pacific ally chain,” Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te said Tuesday, in a reference to key rival China.
The funding will also “help ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and also boost confidence in the region” Lai, currently Taiwan’s vice president, told visiting Michigan Representatives Lisa McClain, a Republican, and Democrat Dan Kildee at a meeting at the Presidential Office Building in the capital Taipei.
In the face of “authoritarian expansionism,” Taiwan is “determined to safeguard democracy and also safeguard our homeland, Lai said.”
Also known as William Lai, U.S.-educated former medical researcher is despised by Beijing for his opposition to political unification with the mainland. In recent elections, the pro-unification Nationalists won a narrow majority in the legislature, but their influence on foreign policy and other national issues remains limited.
The Senate will vote Tuesday on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The package covers a wide range of parts and services aimed at maintaining and and upgrading Taiwan's military hardware. Separately, Taiwan has signed billions in contracts with the U.S. for latest-generation F-16V fighter jets, M1 Abrams main battle tanks and the HIMARS rocket system, which the U.S. has also supplied to Ukraine.
Taiwan has also been expanding its own defense industry, building submarines and trainer jets. Next month it plans to commission its third and fourth domestically designed and built stealth corvettes to counter the Chinese navy. as part of a strategy of asymmetrical warfare in which a smaller force counters its larger opponent by using cutting edge or nonconventional tactics and weaponry.
Lai, of the pro-independence ruling Democratic Progressive Party, won the January election handily and takes over next month from President Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing has sought to isolate for the past eight years.
China is determined to annex the island, which it considers its own territory, by force if necessary and has been advertising that threat with daily incursions into waters and air space around Taiwan by navy ships and warplanes. It has also sought to pick away Taiwan's few remaining formal diplomatic partners.
While Washington and Taipei have no formal diplomatic ties in deference to Beijing, McClain emphasized the need for the entire world to observe the strength of the relationship.
“Peace is our goal. But to do that, we have to have relationships and we value your relationship. Not only militarily, but economically,” she said.
Kildee said the timing of the visit was especially significant given the recent passage of the funding bill to “provide very important support to insure security in this region.”
"It’s important for the people of Taiwan, it’s important for the people in the United States, it’s important for the entire world,” Kildee said.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, from left Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee, Lisa McClain, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. McClain and Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Mark Alford, center left, a member of the House Armed Services Committee shakes hands with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Lisa McClain, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, U.S. Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee, left, meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Kildee and Lisa McClain, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Lisa McClain, left, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. McClain and Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Lisa McClain, left, secretary-general of the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives meets with Taiwan President-elect and Vice President Lai Ching-te in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. McClain and Democratic Congressman Dan Kildee jointly led a cross-party group of lawmakers to visit Taiwan from April 23 to 25 . Members also include Mark Alford, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
