By Ed Ludlow | Bloomberg
Irvine-based Rivian Automotive is developing an electric bike, the chief executive officer told staff, potentially expanding the EV maker’s product lineup.
RJ Scaringe disclosed the e-bike effort Friday at a companywide meeting, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A small group of engineers is actively working on it, he said.
Rivian representatives declined to comment.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Scaringe was referring to a battery-electric motorcycle or bicycle. The company has patents for electric bicycle components and designs.
Read more: Rivian cuts 800 jobs in 6% pullback, spares assembly workers
Scaringe hinted at the possibility of an e-bike at a conference in October, saying that the company had long-term ambitions to move into micro-mobility, but he hadn’t disclosed work on an actual product before Friday’s staff meeting.
The potential lineup expansion comes despite a broad push to cut costs across the company. Rivian earlier this week told workers it would be cut headcount by 6%, the second significant workforce reduction in the last 12 months.
Scaringe told staff at the meeting that the cuts were made to refocus on ramping production of its electric vehicles and, longer-term, profitability, according to the people. He said the company had tried to do too much at one time, they said.
Rivian builds two consumer EVs: a battery-electric pickup called R1T and a plug-in SUV called R1S. The company also builds electric delivery vans for Amazon.com Inc., one of its biggest backers. All three models are built at its sole operational plant in Normal, Illinois.
Rivian’s shares fell 4.2% at 2:23 p.m. in New York.
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