Rivian Gets High Praise From California Governor: “Extraordinary Work”

Rivian recently received some praise from California Governor Gavin Newsom. The California governor shared his sentiments during a conference call on Tuesday. 

The governor stated that Rivian's rise in California means that Tesla's long monopoly in the state's electric vehicle sector is ending. Newsom stated that this scenario is preferable as it promotes competition in the EV space.

"I want to applaud and thank the extraordinary work that Rivian has done," the governor said, highlighting Rivian's 71% gain earlier this year. "Tesla is not the exclusive manufacturer any longer in this space. You're seeing a dramatic shift in competition across the sector. This is exactly what was predicted. This is exactly what we have been promoting: competition in the space." 

Newsom also praised California's EV sector in a video posted on social media. 

"Exciting news in California. We continue to outpace the rest of the nation, we have no peers. We're doing that with clean cars — plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles, as well as hydrogen vehicles. They represent over 25% of all the new car purchases in the second quarter of this year. That's 10,000 more clean cars sold than the previous quarter, continuing to outpace the rest of the nation in this clean car transition," Newsom said. 

While Newsom's comments may highlight the tension between the official and Elon Musk, Tesla's sales in California have been seeing some adjustments this year. Tesla's sales in California saw a 17% drop in the first half of 2024, which is quite notable considering that the EV maker's vehicle sales only saw a 5% drop worldwide between Q1 and Q2, as noted in a Forbes report. 

California's sales of zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) reached 118,181 units in the second quarter. While impressive, it does represent a slight decline from the 125,939 ZEVs that were sold last year. The US EV segment continues to grow despite the slowdown in the electric vehicle sales in the country, rising 11.3% to 330,463 units in the second quarter, as per data from Cox Automotive

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