As you know, electric vehicles are being pushed to replace your beloved gas engine. However, it doesn’t seem America is willing to make the switch. And that’s particularly bad news for an already struggling EV-only company.
If you haven’t heard, electric vehicle startup Rivian isn’t doing too well.
When EVs first began their latest push to greatness, Rivian naturally rose along with it. But as EVs have since begun to tank, the company keeps getting more bad news.
At the beginning of June, that came in the form of a report that showed a whopping 90 percent drop in Rivian stock prices since its record high. And that means it’s about to be cut from the NASDAQ 100 Index.
And if you think that’s bad news for the company, just wait.
On Monday, a video of Rivian’s top-producing product experiencing a major malfunction emerged. “Malfunction” is putting the event very lightly. If you haven’t seen it, Carscoops reported on a video of a Rivian R1T, their flagship vehicle, suddenly catching on fire while charging at an Electrify America station in California.
Video of that @Rivian fire the other day.
It appears something exploded (maybe the 12v battery?). Rivian says the high voltage battery didn’t appear to be involved.
Fire possibly started at the charger port (using @ElectrifyAm). pic.twitter.com/lv5riLNZK6
— Matthew Donegan-Ryan (@MatthewDR) June 8, 2023
Let’s just say it’s not a good look for Rivian or electric vehicles in general.
According to the report, firefighters arrived quickly on the scene. They were able to put out the flames before anyone was injured or severe damage was incurred to the vehicle’s surroundings.
However, no one can seem to figure out why the truck suddenly burst into flames in the first part. Many have theorized the battery or charging ports may have been involved. But it’s all up in the air at this point.
Of course, this is not the first instance where Rivians have suddenly become a dangerous blaze.
A local NPR outlet reported in May 2022 that there had been at least three fires in the previous seven months at the Rivian manufacturing plant in Illinois, all involving batteries. Perhaps this latest example is a sign of the future of the company… it’s all about to go up in flames.
