Seems like they were bitten by repair costs according to the article. Which might be due to them being relatively new, crash repairers being unwilling to work on EVs (battery), EV crashes resulting in more severe body damage due to increased weight, etc. not to mention batteries
delfinom|1 year ago
Repairs? Rivian on at least their first gen pickups used massive single-body-panels. This shot repair costs to the moon because you had to pay freight to ship massive car-sized body panels and also paint and handle attaching them. Other EVs have done similar bone-headed BUT IT LOOKS COOL bullshit.
The other problem besides body, is there will probably never ever be aftermarket manufacturers for things like batteries, motors, inverters, etc. Because they all require tight integration with the rest of the car's system. And electronics/EVs make it too easy for a manufacturer to custom tailor the electronics per car and per model even on a yearly basis. And the real problem, the design of things like motors on the EV are highly patented and custom. So no different than engines for a ICE. This gives manufacturers the ability to make extreme profit on replacement parts.
AtlasBarfed|1 year ago
Sure, they may gain some me minor manufacturing cost drops with those large castings.
As for EV motors I think this is a temporary state of things. We've been making electric motors for 290 years now. EV transition has just started and there's going to be so many OEM suppliers of motors. Motors aren't nearly as large as ice engines. And patents expire.