(Credit: Tesla, Rivian)
Final production numbers for 2023 show significant growth for both Rivian and Tesla compared to the year before, but Tesla remains far ahead.
So, why even compare them? Although the two companies are at very different stages, they share more in common with each other than legacy automakers like Ford and GM.
Both were founded in the past 20 years and only make EVs. They are on the forefront of battery technology and pride themselves on slick, software-rich dash screens with funky features. They will also soon share a charge port, as Rivian will manufacture its vehicles with the Tesla-backed NACS port in 2025, along with most other EV brands.
But at the same time, Tesla blows Rivian out of the water when you look at the numbers. In 2023, Rivian produced 57,232 vehicles; Tesla produced 1,845,985.
To Rivian's credit, that's double the 24,337 vehicles produced in 2022, and a sign that it continues to climb out of its pandemic production hell. Tesla also grew year-over-year, though not as dramatically, as it manufactured 1.3 million EVs in 2022.
Tesla has a wider and more affordable range of cars; 95% of the vehicles Tesla produced were the Model 3 and Y, not the pricier Model S, X, and Cybertruck. The base Model 3 is now under $40,000, whereas Rivian's vehicles are larger and start at $73,000.
Rivian is working on a more affordable vehicle, dubbed the R2, which should accelerate sales if it can keep up with production. Rivian also followed Tesla's lead by switching to lower-cost LFP batteries and is one of the few automakers to retain eligibility for the US federal tax credit in 2024.
Though Tesla has already overcome its early stage production issues and sales are off-the-charts, it now faces different challenges than Rivian. Its market dominance slowly eroded over 2023 as new competitors cropped up.
Just a few years ago, 70% of EVs on American roads were Teslas, but that's now around 50%, Reuters reports. Outside of the US, Tesla lost its crown to China's BYD as the top-selling EV company worldwide, Business Insider reports, though BYD vehicles are not sold in the US.