My Rivian Hookup/Founder - RJ Scaringe

Summary

Podcast Summary: Tosh Show – "My Rivian Hookup/Founder - RJ Scaringe"

Episode Details:

• Title: My Rivian Hookup/Founder - RJ Scaringe
• Host: Daniel Tosh
• Guest: RJ Scaringe, CEO and Founder of Rivian
• Release Date: August 12, 2025

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1. Introduction to RJ Scaringe

Daniel Tosh welcomes RJ Scaringe to the show, highlighting his impressive background. RJ shares his full name, Robert Joseph Scaringe, and recounts a humorous anecdote about getting banned from Ron John’s store for stealing a sticker as a teenager.

RJ Scaringe [08:32]: "I believe in ghosts. I do not."

2. Early Life and Education

RJ discusses his upbringing in Rockledge, Florida, dispelling misconceptions about the area. He reveals his strong work ethic from a young age, working as an apprentice machinist and in restaurants, which led him to purchase a house at 17 with his father's help.

RJ Scaringe [10:36]: "I worked so hard, I ended up buying a house when I was 18, when I was still in high school."

He earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, deliberately choosing it to gain credibility quickly without spending two decades at a traditional car company.

RJ Scaringe [17:10]: "I wanted credibility as quickly as I could. When I was 20, I thought that would be in the form of a PhD from MIT."

3. Founding and Evolution of Rivian

RJ details the inception of Rivian at age 26, initially aiming to create a sports car to build the brand, akin to Tesla's strategy with the Roadster. However, realizing the product strategy was flawed, he pivoted to focus on SUVs and trucks tailored for active and adventurous lifestyles.

RJ Scaringe [20:01]: "We realized we wanted to build the brand around enabling active and adventurous lifestyles. We wanted to start with an SUV and truck flagship product."

This strategic shift led to the development of Rivian's flagship vehicles, emphasizing unique design elements like distinctive headlights that leave a lasting impression.

RJ Scaringe [21:15]: "We wanted something that, when you see it, you remember it. Like, you see a Porsche 911 and remember the silhouette, or a Jeep with its round lights. Rivian should be memorable too."

4. Design and Manufacturing Philosophy

RJ emphasizes Rivian’s commitment to timeless design to ensure vehicles remain stylish over years. He describes the extensive testing processes, including crash and durability tests, to ensure safety and performance.

RJ Scaringe [27:06]: "We do durability testing, crash testing, life testing, and extreme off-road situations to ensure our vehicles are safe and reliable."

Rivian's manufacturing footprint has significantly expanded, with a 6-million-square-foot plant in Normal, Illinois, supporting a workforce equivalent to a small city.

RJ Scaringe [12:15]: "Our plant in Normal, Illinois, has about 6,000 people working on-site. It's like a full city, serving 20,000 meals a day."

5. Partnerships and Market Strategy

Highlighting Rivian's strategic partnerships, RJ discusses a $5.8 billion software licensing deal with Volkswagen, aiming to enhance Volkswagen’s vehicle software stacks and foster a more competitive electric vehicle (EV) market.

RJ Scaringe [35:00]: "We embraced more competition and more choices, which is why we partnered with Volkswagen to help improve their vehicle software."

He underscores the importance of expanding EV options to achieve higher market penetration, moving from 8% to potentially 50-70% of new vehicle sales being electric.

6. Product Features and Innovations

RJ elaborates on Rivian’s vehicle features, such as the quad motor setup allowing for 0-60 mph in approximately 2.4 seconds, surpassing traditional sports cars. He also teases upcoming innovations like the "kickturn" feature and new motor designs.

RJ Scaringe [28:52]: "With our new quad motor, you'll experience unparalleled performance, allowing for feats like tank turns and rapid acceleration."

Additionally, Rivian is expanding its product line to include electric bikes and outdoor gear like tents, aligning with the brand’s adventurous ethos.

RJ Scaringe [30:17]: "We’re working on electric bikes and have a whole micro-mobility company in the works."

7. Future Plans and Vehicle Lineup

Looking ahead, RJ outlines Rivian’s roadmap, forecasting the release of multiple vehicle models (R2, R3, R4, R5) to diversify offerings and cater to various market segments. He assures that current models will maintain a timeless appeal, avoiding rapid obsolescence.

RJ Scaringe [49:25]: "We plan to introduce up to five or six different vehicles, ensuring a range that meets diverse customer needs while maintaining timeless design."

8. Personal Life and Work-Life Balance

RJ shares insights into his personal life, including his family and how outdoor activities like hiking, biking, surfing, and skiing contribute to his decision-making and productivity. He emphasizes the importance of daily exercise in maintaining high-quality business decisions.

RJ Scaringe [42:07]: "I love outdoor sports. Hiking, biking, surfing, skiing—they keep me inspired and help me make better decisions."

9. Overcoming Challenges and Advice for Entrepreneurs

Addressing the hurdles faced in building Rivian, RJ offers advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. He highlights the necessity of perseverance, substantial capital, and unwavering conviction in one’s vision when tackling complex industries.

RJ Scaringe [48:32]: "If you’re starting a complex business, recognize it’s going to take a lot of work and capital. Be fully convinced about building this business in this space."

He recounts the early struggles of raising funds and convincing investors, emphasizing the importance of resilience and strategic pivots.

10. Closing Remarks

Daniel Tosh wraps up the interview with light-hearted banter, expressing admiration for RJ's accomplishments and hinting at a budding bromance. They exchange jokes about Rivian products and personal anecdotes, maintaining the show's comedic tone.

Daniel Tosh [51:15]: "I feel a bromance coming on. Me and RJ hanging out, just two dudes."

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Notable Quotes:

• RJ Scaringe [20:01]: "We wanted to build the brand around enabling active and adventurous lifestyles."
• RJ Scaringe [21:15]: "We wanted something that, when you see it, you remember it."
• RJ Scaringe [28:52]: "With our new quad motor, you'll experience unparalleled performance."
• RJ Scaringe [48:32]: "Be fully convinced about building this business in this space."

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Conclusion:

In this engaging episode of Tosh Show, Daniel Tosh delves deep into the journey of RJ Scaringe, exploring the inception, challenges, and triumphs of building Rivian into a leading electric vehicle company. From RJ's early life in Florida to his strategic decisions in design and manufacturing, listeners gain an intimate look at the passion and resilience driving Rivian's success. The conversation also touches on future innovations and offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs aspiring to make their mark in complex industries.

Transcript

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[Dan]

Did you regret buying Twitter? Posh show. Posh show. Toss show from show. Hi, welcome to Toss Show. I'm your host, comedian Dan. Dan the Mustard man. Been a while since somebody's called me Dan. Dan the Mustard Man.

[RJ]

This used to happen.

[Dan]

Oh, yeah. Really? Yeah, people used to. Dan, Dan the Mustard Man. Swinging on a rubber band, fell into a frying pan.

[RJ]

Oh, what the.

[Dan]

I don't know what they were saying. Do you like mustard? What?

[RJ]

Do you like mustard?

[Dan]

No, I don't like mustard. I like mustard. I mean, I do like mustard. Wait, wait, how much do you like it? I didn't like mustard when they used to call me this. I was a child. Yeah, you don't. You have to be at least 18 years old before you really start craving mustard. No kid craves mustard. You're right. You don't crave mustard before 18. You show me a 16 year old that craves mustard and I'll show you a 16 year old got a thumb up his ass. Great to be here today. I'm in a swell mood because Eddie and I are both heading up to Lake Tahoe. That's right, to the mountains. Two experienced mountain men gonna be on the lake. Now this year has been a tragic time up in Lake Tahoe as some people died on the boats. There was a. You know that one boat had eight people or it had 10 people. Two survived, eight died. The seas got angry. Eight foot swell. Now, in my lack of boating experience, here's what I do. If things got out of control quickly, I would point my boat towards shore and gun it. And I'm going to destroy my boat, right? But guess what? Nobody's dying on my watch and I'm certainly not going down with my vessel. Last year there was a storm on Lake Tahoe and I had a little tiny inflatable boat, little jet boat, had a little engine on it, you know, I putted around the lake it was fun because I could go in shallow waters. My wife loved it, and guess what? Storms ripped her away and destroyed her. And this was a boat that was just left at the house. When I purchased the house, it came with the house, Right. I don't think it was worth much, but believe it or not, it was insured. And the insurance company gave me a fortune for it. I was like, what? I thought I was going to get like three or $4,000. No, they cut a big old fat check. I was like, man, insurance is great. Maybe that's. Is that insurance fraud?

[RJ]

No, no, it was insured.

[Dan]

I mean, they came there, they took the boat away that was destroyed and then they wrote me a check.

[RJ]

Yeah, that's. You insured it? That's why it's insured.

[Dan]

That's why. Yeah, that's just weird because it wasn't worth that. They were bad at their job.

[RJ]

You probably had replacement insurance on it.

[Dan]

Oh, interesting. But you don't have to replace it when you buy replacement insurance. Is that the case?

[RJ]

Yeah, they just cut you the check. You do whatever you want?

[Dan]

Well, because they gave me the option of keeping it and they gave me an amount or they'd give me a few thousand more and they take it away and I'm like, well, it's a broken, destroyed boat. Take the whole thing and pay me more. And pay me more. That's great. You're cleaning up and you're giving me more money. That's a no brainer.

[RJ]

I mean, was the amount enough to buy a new boat?

[Dan]

Yeah, they gave me enough to replace it. But the thing is, it was an old boat that they don't really. It's not readily available. But then I found one available in Florida and I'm like, Pete, see what it would cost to ship this across the country? And he did. And I'm surprising my wife with this. So guys, don't say a word. But I. She's going to get this new replacement boat. By the way, it didn't. Didn't cost very much at all compared to what they, they gave me to replace it. It's just win, win. This is great. Everything's coming up roses for Dan, Dan, Dan the mustard man. He's making a run, everybody. But anyway, I'm looking forward to getting up there in the Tahoe. I know Carl is Carl. When he's there. The dog just. He gets juvenated almost immediately as soon as he steps in that brisk mountain air. No, I'm bringing the pig up too, which is a horrible idea. I don't drive, mainly because I have a Rivian. I don't like doing stops with electric cars and the Rivian's good for the environment. I know, but the PJ is better for my marriage, so get up there quick. All this outdoorsy stuff makes me want to talk to a real truck guy. Enjoy. Support for today's episode comes from Square, your all in one business partner, making your day to day easier. And by support I mean money. I believe in Square so much. I do this ad for free. But I will not do this ad for free. I don't even like to say that I will not do this ad for free. From point of sale systems and payments to inventory and customer tools, Square brings everything together in one simple platform. So you can stay organized, sell anywhere and keep things moving. Nothing is better than walking into a business set up for easy cashless transaction. Because I'm not a pirate with a sack of doubloons. You run a business, not a garage sale Square. By the way, at a garage sale you should probably have Square. Square keeps up so you don't have to slow down. Get everything you need to run and grow your business without long term commitments. Right now you you can get $200 off of square hardware at square.com go tosh that's square s q u-a r e.com g o tosh run your business smarter with Square. Get started today. Okay, time for our weekly stand up comedy wrap up.

[Alex]

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[Dan]

Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline.

[Alex]

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[Dan]

I gotta work this into my routine.

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[Dan]

My guest today got his PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT to build pickup trucks for people who want to be off the grid in under three seconds and in luxury with wi fi. And out of the two people I can think of in the entire world who have built an electric car company from the ground up, he is certainly the more likable of the two. Please welcome the CEO, founder of Rivian, rj.

[RJ]

Thanks for having me.

[Dan]

What does RJ stand for?

[RJ]

Robert Joseph.

[Dan]

Oh, I was hoping Ron John.

[RJ]

Ron John. Ron John has a shirt that says rj.

[Dan]

Did you ever go to Ron John's?

[RJ]

I did, yeah.

[Dan]

I got banned for life from Ron Johnson.

[RJ]

How come?

[Dan]

I got caught stealing.

[RJ]

What were you stealing?

[Dan]

Are you ready for this?

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I'm embarrassed by the way it shaped me into a person. I think all kids sometimes go through a phase where they may steal. Well, anyway, my sister. My older sister was dating a guy that stole something. I was with him. He stole a sticker. And I ended up pulling a sticker off a tag at Ron John's and put it in my pocket.

[RJ]

And you're banned.

[Dan]

And I got busted. And they. But it. It worked.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I'll never. I'll never go back.

[RJ]

Or you never steal?

[Dan]

Oh, I would never steal.

[RJ]

Never steal stickers.

[Dan]

No. First question, I haven't even started. Do you believe in ghosts?

[RJ]

I believe in ghosts. I do not.

[Dan]

It's the right answer. Imagine if he believed in ghosts. That would have blown all of our minds in here. Are you kidding me? You have a PhD from MIT and started a car company at 26, but you grew up in Brevard County? It just doesn't make sense to me at all.

[RJ]

Why? What's wrong with Brevard?

[Dan]

Are you kidding me? Are you the richest person to ever come out of Brevard County?

[RJ]

I don't know.

[Dan]

At your peak?

[RJ]

At my peak? I don't know.

[Dan]

At the peak, when the stock was at the top, were you. You have to be. I was the first person from Titusville, Florida, to make over $75,000 a year. Where are you from originally?

[RJ]

I'm from Rockledge, Florida. Really close to where you lived.

[Dan]

By the way, here's what I used to think of Rockledge as a kid. I used to be scared of Rockledge. I'm like, oh, they have gangs there and they know how to fight. I just remembered. I remember that. Was that a thing? Are they tougher?

[RJ]

I don't know if they were tougher.

[Dan]

Did you fish?

[RJ]

I did not really fish.

[Dan]

I didn't fish either.

[RJ]

No.

[Dan]

Then I got called gay for not fishing. I was like, good grief. Florida was it Was bizarre.

[RJ]

It's a bizarre place.

[Dan]

Do you consider the term Florida trash offensive or do you embrace it?

[RJ]

Let's see. I was born and raised in Florida, so I guess I'd have to say somewhat offensive, but somewhat offensive. No, I don't, I don't know.

[Dan]

I remember when I first moved to.

[RJ]

Florida's a unique place.

[Dan]

I was immediately like, are you a surfer or are you a redneck? I'm like, I, I, I'm a surfer. And they're okay.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

It was just so quick. I had, I had to make a decision on day one of.

[RJ]

Could be both.

[Dan]

Oh, I don't know. Where'd you go to high school?

[RJ]

Melbourne Central Catholic. Huh? Yeah.

[Dan]

Well, so the writing was on the Raw. Were you valedictorian?

[RJ]

No, I, I worked a lot in college or in high school, so I, I had a job as a apprentice machinist, which was for. So I could learn how to make things out of metal, basically. And then I also worked in a restaurant, so I was voted hardest working in my class.

[Dan]

Good for you.

[RJ]

But yes, I worked so hard, I end up buying a house when I was 18, when I was still in high school.

[Dan]

Oh, so you're 18? I was going to ask about you buying a house in high school because technically you are not allowed to sign mortgage papers if you're under 18.

[RJ]

Well, I actually bought it when I was 17. In what? You know, I financed it.

[Dan]

Okay.

[RJ]

It was.

[Dan]

Do somebody co sign for that?

[RJ]

I had to have my dad co sign it. And then when I turned 18, I took it over myself.

[Dan]

That is pretty, pretty impressive. You named Rivian because you grew up on the Indian River?

[RJ]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

Imagine if you'd have grown up on the Banana river just adjacent to it. What would have your company been called? Ravana. What is it?

[RJ]

Ravana. Ravana, yeah.

[Dan]

By the way, I'm proud of you. I don't even know you, rj, yet. I'm proud of you. Are you proud of yourself?

[RJ]

Some days, yeah.

[Dan]

Do you ever take time and just go, holy cow?

[RJ]

Yeah, some days.

[Dan]

What a nonsense thing you went for?

[RJ]

It's, you know, it's one of those things where you're, you're like, so focused on building and you're just like grinding away, whether it's the tech or the business or the manufacturing of the product, and then sometimes you, like, take a step back to like, oh, wow, this is, this is like, this is a big thing. And I had one of those moments a few weeks ago. I was at our plant in Normal. In Normal, Illinois, we have maybe 6,000 people that work on site there and it's like a full city. Like the plant itself, you know, we've got, we're serving 20,000 meals a day. We've got huge infrastructure just to support all the people working in the facility. And when you see that, you're like, wow, there's a lot of people here. And you know, people come up to me like, oh, thanks for starting Rivian. I love, I love working here. And it's in those moments you're like, oh, wow, this is, this is no longer like me and three other people in a garage designing a car. This is a big company. We've got 16,000 employees.

[Dan]

Yeah, that's nuts. I've got four people here and every day I just say to myself, job well done, Daniel. Yeah, job well done. You started Rivian when you were 26?

[RJ]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

And you're 42.

[RJ]

Yeah, I know that's a blink of.

[Dan]

An eye, but still it does feel.

[RJ]

Like a blink of an eye. Yeah, it feels, some days it feels like two seconds ago it was just myself and a few other people. And those few other people are still at Rivian, which is really cool. But then the company has become like, we're no longer a small company. It's a, we have a, you know, huge divisions that focus on different aspects of technology. And so I've had to really learn how to run a much different type of company than what it was a decade ago. And so I, you know, the process of relearning, how do you run Rivian when it's got a hundred people is different than how do you run it when it has a thousand, which is way different than when it's got 16,000 and we're about to launch a much lower priced product which we call R2, and that's going to really massively expand the business. I couldn't be more excited for the next couple years.

[Dan]

Ugh, it just seems like a lot. Why not just, have you ever considered just like, you know what, I'm going to tap out. That was fun. I'm going to try something completely different. Could you do that? Is that even possible? Could you just say, I'm going to, I'm done with this, it's completely over.

[RJ]

I, I, it's not in my nature to do that.

[Dan]

Of course it's not. Yeah, but is it possible?

[RJ]

Like, is it possible?

[Dan]

Can you shut down Rivian? Turn it off? Could you?

[RJ]

I couldn't shut it down. It's a public company now. Uh huh. I Could quit and go, you know, live on a beach.

[Dan]

Will you spend money?

[RJ]

Do I spend money?

[Dan]

Are you frugal or.

[RJ]

No, I'm pretty frugal. Yeah. I work a lot, so I don't.

[Dan]

How do you get into normal?

[RJ]

How do I get there? Yeah. On a plane.

[Dan]

You got pj? On a private jet on a pj.

[RJ]

Depends on. Depends where I'm coming from.

[Dan]

Yeah, I. I just. Are you a nerd or a gearhead?

[RJ]

Sometimes both. Uhhuh. Yeah.

[Dan]

But growing up.

[RJ]

That is a good question. When I was young, I. So I grew up restoring classic cars. So I've been working on cars since I was. Since I was a kid. I've always loved working on cars, building cars. But then I also really like tac, and so I'd say it's sort of pretty close. It's, like, intertwined. It's sort of. One of the things that makes me really unique is I understand how the car's built, and I also am deep on all the technology in the vehicle.

[Dan]

When you were an undergrad at rpi, was it still the Troilet? Because Troy is actually nice now.

[RJ]

Yeah, Troy's.

[Dan]

It's like a nice city now, but it used to be referred to as the Troilet. You never heard that?

[RJ]

Oh, I've heard that.

[Dan]

Okay.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Was it the Troilet when you were there?

[RJ]

I was just. I was just there. It's 20 years since I graduated, and the school invited me.

[Dan]

Did you go to your reunion or they. They gave you an award?

[RJ]

No, they invited me to give the commencement speech.

[Dan]

And you did it?

[RJ]

And I did it on my 20.

[Dan]

Nervous?

[RJ]

I wasn't nervous. It was very cool because I. I have three kids, and it's in the list of things that I never expected to happen, but, you know, never did I ever think that I'd be giving the commencement speech 20 years after graduating and look out and see my three boys standing there, like, with, like, smiles, ear to ear, like, waving at me as I'm doing this. It was surreal.

[Dan]

Are they. Are they smart?

[RJ]

Yeah, they're smart.

[Dan]

Like, off the charts. Are they off the charts?

[RJ]

Yeah. This might, of course, writing on the wall. They're all very, very clever in different ways. You know, my middle son can remember, like, very specific details. My oldest is able to, like, interpret rooms and read the room in a way that, like, adults can't. And then my youngest is. He's a deal maker. He just can. He figures out he could walk into this room and he'll like, okay, I own the Room, you'd be working for him within.

[Dan]

There's zero chance that would happen. I'm not a hard worker. No, no. You know, he probably wouldn't hire me. My son's just emotional. Just.

[RJ]

How old's your son?

[Dan]

Six.

[RJ]

Okay.

[Dan]

But just sobs at anything, really. Just no matter what it is. Hey, we're gonna go out to lunch. Just balls. Starts balling. Wasn't ready for that. He didn't know lunch was on the agenda. Well, let me go to MIT for a second. Only people we have on the show, Stanford grads, but now we got an MIT guy.

[RJ]

There you go.

[Dan]

Put on the board, what's MIT like?

[RJ]

I almost went to Stanford. In fact, I, I. So when I graduated from Rensselaer, I graduated number one in the school, so I had like a chance to go anywhere I wanted. And it was, it was like being recruited for a nerd sports team because MIT offered me like this amazing role. Stanford offered me this amazing role. And I actually accepted a Stanford and was enrolled for like a day, but realized I actually preferred the program mit. And the reason I really liked what MIT had is it had an automotive specific program and a lab built around automotive. And I knew I wanted to start what eventually became Rivian, but I knew I wanted to start a car company. And my reason for wanting to get a PhD was wonderfully naive, but actually like, very intentional. I thought, I'll need a lot of money. I don't have any money. And if I'm going to get other people to invest money into this thing that I want to build Me Having a PhD from MIT or equivalent makes that more likely. And I didn't want to go work at a car company for 20 years and earn credibility. So I wanted to get credibility as quickly as I could. When I was 20, I thought that that would be in the form of.

[Dan]

I mean, it's not a bad. It seems like a perfect plan.

[RJ]

And it worked like it actually people gave you.

[Dan]

You ever add that up? How much money have people invested in you before you turned a dollar?

[RJ]

Oh, a lot.

[Dan]

Isn't that crazy?

[RJ]

It's like 14 billion maybe before we had our first.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's just absurd. Yeah, 14 billion.

[RJ]

That was what we raised before we went public. And then when we were public, we raised a lot more.

[Dan]

Yeah, Good for you. I sometimes ask for a little money. Everybody just keeps quiet.

[RJ]

You'll laugh at early on though, like, so when you start a car company, you think about the product and attack and what you're going to build, but you realize quickly A big part of it is you need enough money. And so I had to learn how to pitch the idea. And in the early years, like in the beginning, everyone says no. The idea of even getting the meeting is a big deal. So I'd find myself in the most obscure places trying to raise capital in like, the first hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, maybe a million dollars. You know, before I was even able to pitch, like, venture capitalist, I was in like, yacht clubs and pitching people on, like, the idea of a. Of an electric car company. That was a really wild journey. And then the challenge is they say, well, you want to start a car company? Okay, great. Well, tell us about the technology. And you say, well, we don't have any tech. That's what we need capital for. All right, well, you must have a great design. Well, we don't have a design yet. Okay, well tell us, where's your manufacturing? Oh, we haven't built that yet. All right, well, you must have, like, an amazing team, you know. Who's on the team? Well, it's me, and there's this guy over there. And suddenly you're like, oh, wow. As you're answering all these questions, you're just like feeling like, oh, boy, this is very unlikely to be successful. And that happened over and over and over again. And then slowly we had a few people invest a small amount of money, enough to make a little bit of progress.

[Dan]

I wish you would have found me earlier.

[RJ]

Yeah, you would have come and been like, here's $100 million.

[Dan]

No, not 100 million, but I would have been good for a quarter a million at the early stages. Thank goodness you were good looking. Imagine if you were hideous. All the doors would have been worse. Was the plan always to start the car company trucks? Because originally you started a sports car.

[RJ]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

And when did you say, all right, I'm not doing the sports car?

[RJ]

Well, we. This is interesting. So along that line, we started, raised maybe a million dollars, worked on this sports car, built a prototype of it. And while we're doing it, you know, when you have to pitch something or sell an idea, you really can tell quickly whether it's like, whether you believe it, because you have to, like, answer all the, the questions coming in. And so I realized something was wrong. I didn't know quite a quite well, but as we're pitching it, I'm like, something's wrong. I just felt it almost as soon as we completed that first prototype. It was like crystal clear to me that the product was wrong. And the idea was very simple. It's like, use a sports car to build the brand, use the brand to then launch mass market products. But that strategy was what Tesla used and used it very successfully. They launched a sports car called the Roadster and then of course launched Model S, Model X and then their high volume products, the Model 3, Model Y.

[Dan]

I don't give a shit. Yeah, sorry.

[RJ]

And so we realized we wanted to do something that was really unique and added something authentic and was totally on its own and there was nothing quite like it. And so I decided to shelve that product. Everyone disagreed with it. It was really hard if you're on the team working on it to say like, hey, we're just like ground it out for the last two years, we're going to shut this thing down. I had to go tell our investors who just put money into this less than 10 person car company that we're going to change product strategy. And no one loved that. But we put it on the shelf and it wasn't as if we knew the next day what we were going to work on. We put that on the shelf and we said, all right, now we're going to figure out why we exist, what we're going to build, how it's going to differentiate us, why it's going to, why it's important for the world for this company to even exist as a company. And that very long, twisty path eventually brought us to what you now see as Rivian. So we realized we wanted to build the brand around enabling active and adventurous lifestyles. We realized if we wanted to build a brand in that space, we wanted to start with an SUV and truck flagship product, which you own. And then those flagship products would really be the handshake of the world for us to then launch these lower priced products that fill in that same need.

[Dan]

Did you physically make the first truck?

[RJ]

Yeah. Yeah. You don't just imagine it, you have.

[Dan]

To make it, you know, whatever. Do you ever do that dumb thing that I always see in car commercials where you're taking a block of clay?

[RJ]

Yeah, yeah, we have clay. Yeah.

[Dan]

I didn't know that. Yeah, I didn't know. Everybody's doing that.

[RJ]

You still do it? Yeah.

[Dan]

You still do it?

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

That just seems like so much clay.

[RJ]

To make a prototype car. It's. If you do a nice prototype car, it's a couple of million dollars. A clay model is nothing. It's. You can mill and then hand finish a clay model in two days and so you can really quickly iterate through ideas.

[Dan]

You got a big kiln do you put it in a kiln?

[RJ]

No, it stays soft.

[Dan]

Who designed the headlights?

[RJ]

Our head of design and myself. I was heavily involved with it.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah.

[RJ]

So we had a bunch of competing headlight designs, and we wanted one that actually captured this idea of when you see it, you remember it. And so if you saw it once, you could sketch it on a piece of paper. And there's very, very few products, let alone cars, that have that ability to, like, imprint a memory. You see a Porsche 911, you remember the silhouette. You see a Jeep, you remember the round lights. You see a Rivian, you could sketch the front of it. If you're not a car person, you've only seen it once. And so that was. That was the idea. And so that was one of the competing themes, and we ultimately selected that. But I remember the day before we revealed the car, Jeff and I, our head of design, were sitting in the studio looking, and I'm like, what do you think everybody's gonna think? And it really has resonated well. We love the look.

[Dan]

I remember specifically the first time I saw the truck, and I went, there it is. This was.

[RJ]

That's exactly what we wanted.

[Dan]

This was designed for me. I'd never. I grew up in Florida.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

A surfer.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Never had a truck.

[RJ]

Yep.

[Dan]

Everyone had trucks. All the people here in Malibu have trucks. I never had a driver. I always. I had a deal with Subaru for years. I was kind of. I was like a paid spokesperson. But they didn't really like to advertise that I was, because I was doing subliminal stuff. Anyway, by the way, I'm a great spokesperson. Let me tell you why I'm going to pitch myself to you. They would give me free Outbacks, and then parents in Malibu would come up to me and say, hey, thank you for making the Outback cool, because my kid wants one. It's a safe car. It's affordable. These are Malibu parents that'll buy their kids anything.

[RJ]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

And so I was like. I was a hero in my neighborhood for a while. But anyway, that ran its course.

[RJ]

It's done.

[Dan]

I'm not going to get into the nitpicky with you, but I always hated Tesla. I don't know why. It just rubbed me. I didn't. I was never on board. I was. I feel like I was one of the front runners of the anti. But anyway, I saw the truck. I'm like, that's it. That's. That's what I want. So then I start telling Pete, you know, I don't do things for myself.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I can barely function. I'm like, get me this fucking truck. It exists. I'm looking at it.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And then he's, like, making phone calls. He said nobody would get back to him. This was in March of 2019? Yeah, March of 20. And then by August of 2019, he's like, listen, they got back. They said a lot of people are really interested. So then I'm just, like, hammering them, like, every two months. Get us the truck. Never happened. But we got an early delivery. I wasn't the first in my neighborhood. I was the second. But, man, I was happy.

[RJ]

Yes, you've got the launch green.

[Dan]

Here's the thing, though. I get this truck. I'm not who you want. Because people would stop me constantly and want to talk about it. And here's all I would say. I love it. I'm not a car person. Sorry. Like, I don't. They're like, what is. I'm like, I don't know. It's fast. Everything works. If I've, I've had no problems, like, I, I, I don't like to talk to strangers in the first place, but here, I'll say this. You gotten some hot water? I don't know if it's hot water or not. I don't care if you even want to talk about it. If you don't want to, you can ignore it. There was a price set for the, the truck, and it was like in the 7 70s, something. And then all of a sudden, you go through Covid everything, and, hey, prices are different. It's gonna be this. And you sent out the email, and then people get furious, and you're like, whoa, okay, people that bought this, you get it at this price. Now this is where I get yelled at by my fans constantly. Cause of how out of touch I am. I was like, I get it.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You thought it was gonna be this. It's now this. I don't, I don't care. Just give me my fucking truck.

[RJ]

Yeah, but it.

[Dan]

That didn't happen. But then you honored the first price, and I'm like, oh, that's great. But that makes sense to me. I don't, I just don't understand how people can actually. You started a company from nothing and you built trucks and then, yeah, it's more expensive now. And people are like, oh, but you said it was going to cost this much. I don't know how you deal with the public anyway.

[RJ]

We should have you help us on that.

[Dan]

My bowl. Anyway, my point. My wife Gets into my truck. She goes, I didn't know it was gonna be like this. She had a G wagon.

[RJ]

Okay.

[Dan]

You know, like a typical Malibu mom.

[RJ]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

But then she's like, well, I like this. I'm like, well, they're making an suv. They'll put you at the top of the list if you want. The suv. That's what Pete pulled off. That was my big. My name. Got me that.

[RJ]

Yeah, you really worked it anyway. Worked the system.

[Dan]

I'm like, well, do I get it at the cheap rate? And they're like, absolutely not. And I'm like, all right. But we got that one right away. She was the first SUV on this block by a mile. Is the Amazon delivery trucks going to have the same headlights? They do, don't they?

[RJ]

No, they have big round eyes.

[Dan]

They're round, but they still look like eyes. Kinda.

[RJ]

They look really friendly.

[Dan]

Can I get an Amazon truck?

[RJ]

You can't.

[Dan]

I want to. Like, like, do I need to buy a Sprinter if I'm going to. In the market or can I wait for you to pull off a.

[RJ]

We sell them now to. We're selling them to other commercial customers. So if you want to run like a small logistics service, maybe.

[Dan]

Because I just want to customize it.

[RJ]

Yeah, it's a great surf fan.

[Dan]

Okay, wait, well, you don't. Don't say that. I can do it if I can. I gotta find a workaround. I mean, as best you can. Talk about the unbelievable complexity of running a car company is safety alone. How many trucks have you destroyed, like intentionally?

[RJ]

Yeah, like just gone out there with a, like a big hammer with your.

[Dan]

Dumb crash test dummy stuff.

[RJ]

Oh, hundreds.

[Dan]

I mean, hundreds of trucks. You've just had to destroy them.

[RJ]

Well, not always, not always a crash test, but we do durability testing, we do crash testing, we do life testing. We do extreme off road situations. We drive vehicles through water.

[Dan]

Yeah, I watched that one pool video a few times. I don't feel confident enough to do it with my truck, by the way. Let me let's. You know the only thing that your company did, bait and switch, that it has me furious. And if anybody has filled you in, I've said it on this show before, this is the one that got me, that made me upset is you sold us on tank turns. You advertised tank turns. And then we get trucks and we're not allowed to do tank turns. And then you say, oh, it's because the environment. We don't want you guys destroying the thing. But then I came up with a perfect Scenario of where I can do my tank turns safely in a church parking lot in Tahoe city when the snow is out. It's where I go to do my donuts.

[RJ]

Yeah, yeah, it's great.

[Dan]

I took my father in law, he's from Florida. I'm like, come on, have you ever done a donut? He's like, oh, Daniel, I've never done a donut. And I'm like, well, watch this. And we start whipping around. But my point is that's a safe place that's not gonna destroy anything. Unlock my tank turn.

[RJ]

So, you know, we have a gen 2 of the R1 vehicle, and we're about to launch the new quad. So we have a. Now we have a dual motor, a tri motor, and a new quad motor. The new quad is incredible. It's way more powerful than your quad.

[Dan]

I don't care. Mine's powerful enough.

[RJ]

But in the new quad, we'll have something called kickturn, which is even better. So you can do a tank turn, but you can also do turns while you're driving. And it spins on its axis.

[Dan]

Okay, but just unlock. You can unlock mine to make it do it.

[RJ]

We designed it all around the new motor design.

[Dan]

I'm sorry, I just don't know why I saw it do tank turns.

[RJ]

It can do. But the control isn't as the new version's.

[Dan]

I don't need. I don't care about the control and I don't care about the consequence. Don't.

[RJ]

You didn't want to be just shredding it.

[Dan]

You sent me a. You made videos of tank. Turns out I've got lots to do. I want to do it with my truck, by the way. Let me just go. Should I go into venting real quick?

[RJ]

Yeah, go to venting.

[Dan]

People mock you for the vegan leather just because it's called vegan. You shouldn't have called it vegan leather.

[RJ]

What should we have called it?

[Dan]

You're just asking people to be like assholes about it.

[RJ]

What would you have called it?

[Dan]

I don't know. Just call it. What's the shitty stuff that we used to have? Pleather or vinyl or whatever. Yes, because you're just asking the other side. And you know what I mean when I say the other side. You know, real truck people. I'm not gonna sit on anything called vegan leather. Those people. I think I made my point. The headrests are hard to remove, and I need to get my child's seat through there to hook to the latch.

[RJ]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dan]

There's like One button you have to push. It's a little difficult. That's my complaint. It's not a big one. It's a little tough to do. The phone charger is garbage, and, you know, it does. So my brother got me an aftermarket thing. I'm gonna just show it to you just so you can see. This thing is beautiful.

[RJ]

We have a new one that's coming, and it's backwards comp.

[Dan]

My brother got this in.

[RJ]

In my.

[Dan]

Yeah, I love it. But anyway, he has a Rivian, but he's. He told me. He's like, they've got an E bike in the works.

[RJ]

We got a whole. Yeah, we started a whole micro mobility company.

[Dan]

Okay. Well, anyway, I want the E bike.

[RJ]

It's insane.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[RJ]

Whatever it is. We haven't said anything about it, but what I rode.

[Dan]

I have one of those ride Cake, which, by the way, is the worst name in the history of E bikes. But they're. They're. Their brand is good. They. They have it. Visually, it looks good.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You know what else I do on my Rivian? Look at this. I get the stickers to cover your warnings.

[RJ]

Why?

[Dan]

Because I don't like to see stuff that's.

[RJ]

That warning is required by law.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah. Not anymore.

[RJ]

No, no, no.

[Dan]

Warning's required by law. By the way, this company sells the stickers exactly the right size on all of them. They're all covered in my car. And. And it look. And it looks beautiful.

[RJ]

So we would love to not have all those labels.

[Dan]

Of course you would.

[RJ]

But we have to put them.

[Dan]

I understand.

[RJ]

I just want you to know that I would. I appreciate that. Okay, that's good. That's. That's nice. The other thing, our head of design and I like. We try very hard to put all this.

[Dan]

Nah, that's a $2Amazon purchase.

[RJ]

Yeah. Nice little cut.

[Dan]

The rear seat, it doesn't come up. Easy to get storage underneath there. I don't. Is there a trick to it? I'm just yanking on it, and then sometimes it opens.

[RJ]

Well, it should open every time, but.

[Dan]

Well, eventually it'll open. But not every pole.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah. That's my only little one.

[RJ]

You know what's funny? That rear seat storage. Most people with the truck don't even realize it's there.

[Dan]

I know. They don't know it there. That's why I put stuff in there.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You know what? I normally I. The only. The reason I'm really in there is because I got to tell Buzz, my car wash guy. Hey, lift that up. There's probably 300 yogis from my daughter in there.

[RJ]

All your contraband goes in there.

[Dan]

I don't, I don't do anything illegal. I'm. I'm running clean. Oh, I do love watching TV now on the screens. That's. I'm glad you guys finally got that.

[RJ]

Worst coming to this.

[Dan]

Sounds like an infomercial. I'm not even doing an infomercial. I'm not even getting paid for this. Jesus.

[RJ]

But for all your venting, I would pay a lot for this.

[Dan]

None of my complaints. All of them. You, you know, you're like, those seats do a little bit. The headrest is a little tricky. Okay. But the screen. Any way I can keep that screen on while I'm driving? God, I could.

[RJ]

He can watch movies.

[Dan]

I'm not watching movies. I'm trying to keep knuckleheads in the back, you know.

[RJ]

Unfortunately, no. We do have a new accessory though for the rear seats where you can plug an iPad in on the back of the seats.

[Dan]

Well, yeah, and there's. There is an outlet in the outlet. Yeah, but that I don't.

[RJ]

I like. The problem is people driving and watching TV is hard. Even when you're in self driving mode. Unfortunately, we still have to.

[Dan]

Well, your self driving mode is its own thing. It's a little sketchy.

[RJ]

Well, you're on Gen 1. You've got to get to the newer.

[Dan]

Don't tell me to spend more money right now. I mean I got to keep. How far away are we from battery life? Just going 500, 600 miles.

[RJ]

I don't think we're going to see it like a nonlinear step like that. We're going to continue to see progress. But the thing is, is it's as we make progress, we're just going to continue taking. Reducing the amount of batteries to take cost out. I don't think there's a market for five or six hundred miles. There's some, but it's a pretty narrow market. We think the Sweet spot's like three to 400 miles.

[Dan]

Here's my mom. This is. My mom goes, I heard in California all your roads are destroyed because you guys have all those heavy EV cars. And I'm like, yeah, I don't think that's true, mom. But she's like, oh, that's what we're hearing in here in Florida, that the cars are too heavy. Although it does make me feel safe.

[RJ]

Very safe car. It's the safest car you can drive right now.

[Dan]

What about the person that I run into?

[RJ]

Depends on what they're In, Yeah.

[Dan]

Did you regret buying Twitter? Have you ever owned a Tesla?

[RJ]

I have, yeah. I've owned two, yeah. You've owned two, yeah.

[Dan]

Do you embrace all these people trying to get into the, into this world?

[RJ]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, jokes aside, you've got. If you're, if you want to buy an electric car today, there are very few what I would call like highly compelling choices. And Rivian today exists. We're the best selling premium electric vehicle in the market. So over $70,000. We're the market share leader by a significant amount. We're the best selling premium electric SUV in the United States. We're the best selling premium suv, electric or non electric in California. But when you move down into that $50,000 price point or around there, there's really very few choices. But if we really believe in the idea of going from 8% of new vehicle sales being electric to let's say 50%, 70% or eventually 100%, we need more than a handful of choices. We need lots of choices. And so we like fully embrace it. And in fact, that idea of embracing more competition, more choice is what underpinned how we approach this big partnership we put together with Volkswagen. So we did a $5.8 billion software licensing deal with Volkswagen. It's across the whole group. So Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, they have a few other brands in Europe where we're helping them basically with their software stack in the vehicles, which will make their vehicles more compelling, but hopefully get more, you know, highly compelling vehicles.

[Dan]

The microbus was a miss.

[RJ]

Have you, have you been in it?

[Dan]

No, but I loved it when I, when I saw it and then when I saw it in person. I like. Ah, it's too big.

[RJ]

Yeah, it's big.

[Dan]

That looks weird. I don't, I'm not into it. I wanted to love it. I love micro. I have an old 1969 Subaru sandbar.

[RJ]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

And like that. I drive that around. I take kids in the neighborhood to school and it. The brakes aren't good. It's very dangerous.

[RJ]

But.

[Dan]

I was going to get.

[RJ]

Is that how you tell the other parents that take your kids if their.

[Dan]

Kids live on a flat area without this big hill, if I can pick them up, I can do it. But yeah, no, it's so far nobody's gotten hurt.

[RJ]

If there's a hill, all bets are off.

[Dan]

EV range anxiety is real. What do you say to people to calm those fears?

[RJ]

So charging network's key. And I think for people that don't own an ev, which, you know, one of the nicest things is the car charges at home. You get in the car in the morning and it's charged. And so this is like a very different concept than if you, like, have to go to the gas station. You're running late. You got out of bed late running to get in your car. You're like, oh, shoot, I've got 10 miles of gas left. And you got to stop at a gas station with an ev, provided you have a charger at your house, which most do. It's just charged. So it's a whole different mindset.

[Dan]

That's why I got into it. I just, I hated pumping gas.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I despised it.

[RJ]

It's a weird thing once you go back to a gas car and you're at the gas station. So it's a. I still have tons.

[Dan]

Of gas cars too.

[RJ]

It sounds like you got a 25 horsepower Subaru.

[Dan]

I do. I also have a. You know Jonathan Ward Icon.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Do you know him?

[RJ]

I don't know him, but I know I know the Icon. Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

He made I have I 17. The 17, right. I, I, I loved it. I was so excited about. But then all of a sudden, Ford brought back the Bronco and I'm like, yours is cooler. It is, but I've liked it better.

[RJ]

When the five liter.

[Dan]

Yes. Yeah, I like it.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I don't, I don't take care of it the way you're supposed to. People with those type of trucks do. And I just.

[RJ]

You just beat on it.

[Dan]

I do.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

It's fun.

[RJ]

Are you a car person?

[Dan]

Nope, Nope, not at all. My dad was, but he didn't pass it on to me.

[RJ]

But you're not at all. You have a 1969 Subaru.

[Dan]

That's because I was. Worked for Subaru for a long time and I thought it was funny and cool.

[RJ]

You have a. Yeah. I got Coyote powered redo Bronco from Icon.

[Dan]

I'll be. That was my midlife crisis purchase. I was like, oh, I need to have do something. And yeah, I drove around Harley. I drove around Subaru, opec. You know, Subaru used to tell me when, when I would was there, kind of unofficial spokesperson. They gave me three rules. They said, please don't bring up World War II. I swear to God.

[RJ]

That was one of the rules.

[Dan]

Yep. That was rule one.

[RJ]

I'm sure they love you giving out the rules here too.

[Dan]

Doesn't matter. They don't give me free cars anymore. They actually took one of my cars back and made me rebuy it because they're like, oh, that was just a loner. I'm like, what? Anyway, rule two, rule two, don't mention lesbians.

[RJ]

Okay. Yeah.

[Dan]

And rule three, don't call the outback a station wagon.

[RJ]

What do you call it?

[Dan]

They wanted me to a crossover of. I don't know, whatever the they cared about, I guess an suv. What's your dream car like to own? Like if I went back to a 16 year old version of you, what was your dream car?

[RJ]

16 year old version of me would have said like a Porsche 356. Carrera. Carrera 1.

[Dan]

Do you own that car now?

[RJ]

No.

[Dan]

Do you own any Porsche?

[RJ]

No. But like the version of me now probably would still say like a classic, like a 356. A maybe speedster, like a 57.

[Dan]

Do you ever drive other cars or do you have to only be seen in a Rivian?

[RJ]

I drive like for. For testing purposes all the time.

[Dan]

Okay.

[RJ]

Yeah, we have a big fleet of.

[Dan]

All right, but what about for fun? You don't have just some weird old classic car that I. That would be like. That you're like, you care about? I don't know.

[RJ]

I have. The first car I ever owned was a Volkswagen corrado with a VR6, which is a narrow 15 degree angle V6.

[Dan]

I don't know what that means.

[RJ]

It's like a V6 that is like this. It's, you know, very tight, so it packs in. It fits into the front of the car really well. Anyways, I bought that car again.

[Dan]

Oh.

[RJ]

Which is sort of fun. So.

[Dan]

But a similar or the exact one?

[RJ]

Not the exact one, but similar. Same year, same car.

[Dan]

I had a Honda Civic.

[RJ]

You don't have that anymore?

[Dan]

No, no, I got totaled. I sold it to someone at the end of its run and then, then he totaled it. So I give no chance to buy it back. Oh, she was nice. 91.

[RJ]

91 special year for the Civic.

[Dan]

I don't know that it was. You have a similar story to me about smoking a Ferrari on. On the PCH in Rivian.

[RJ]

You've done that.

[Dan]

Mine was a Lamborghini. I didn't. It wasn't a Ferrari, guys. It was a Lamborghini. I was at the light in front of Pepperdine.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And with my son in his car seat in the back. And literally like the movie Fast and the Furious where the. The guy pulls up with the hot chick in the front seat. And I looked at him and I told my son, I go, buddy, we're going to do this. Okay. And we went and you know, zero to 60, I didn't smoke him, but he. He went for it, too.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

And at 65, 70, I stopped.

[RJ]

But if you get a new quad, you'd easily smoke them all the way, way past 100.

[Dan]

You got to get the new quad.

[RJ]

Boy, I'm really not really pushing it.

[Dan]

Not getting the new. I don't. Guys, I'm going to let you borrow.

[RJ]

One, and then you'll be. You'll be stuck.

[Dan]

What's your Ferrari story?

[RJ]

The same.

[Dan]

You just got him at a red light.

[RJ]

No, I mean, it was.

[Dan]

Look at him.

[RJ]

Well, we talked. So we're sitting there at the light.

[Dan]

Does he know who you are? Do you get recognized?

[RJ]

I do more than I used to. Which is.

[Dan]

By men or women?

[RJ]

Both. Yeah.

[Dan]

I don't know. It's just a question.

[RJ]

I don't know where that's going, but yeah. So I looked over him. He looked over me. He says, hey, that's the new Rivian. I said, yeah. And he said, let's go. And I was like, you want. You want to see this? What it can do? And he said, yeah. And so we took off. And I was way ahead of him, like, completely smoked. And we get to the next light, and he's like, this sucks. And I'm like, why? He's like, your pickup truck just smoked my $350,000 Ferrari.

[Dan]

Yeah, I know. And I was like, time traveled.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I mean, is there a cap to this? Is this. This zero to 60? I mean, what. What's terminal velocity for a pickup truck?

[RJ]

Our new quad does 0 to 60. About 2.4 seconds.

[Dan]

All right, but at what point are we, like, that's it, guys.

[RJ]

Probably. We were just having this. I don't think we're going to. That's probably the limit. Maybe we get down to two point.

[Dan]

Is it that? Is that a selling feature? It is, isn't it?

[RJ]

Well, like, we're talking about it. It's totally unnecessary. Like, no one needs a car that could do zero to 60 in two and a half seconds. But it is.

[Dan]

I do it. I, I, we. My wife gets nauseous, but I constantly am doing the. The floor thing. I mean, what's the point? It's. It's fun.

[RJ]

Yeah. In the new version, we have this launch mode where the car. The front leans forward a little bit, the dampers tighten up a little bit. So it's just. It's like getting launched out of a cannon. It's just like. It is so much fun.

[Dan]

What do you like to do for fun?

[RJ]

I love outdoor sports, so hiking, biking, Surfing?

[Dan]

What kind of surfboard do you ride?

[RJ]

A traditional surfboard. I just, actually just started surfing.

[Dan]

Okay.

[RJ]

Skiing, I love skiing.

[Dan]

Can you do things? Are you like one of these little geniuses that like every minute of your day is planned out forever until you're five hours of sleep?

[RJ]

No, it's not overly planned as a.

[Dan]

You want to go surfing right now?

[RJ]

Right now, yeah.

[Dan]

I have a private surf spot, right. Point break. I got some soft tops and we'll go out and you just cruise.

[RJ]

That sound fun? I could do that.

[Dan]

Yeah, I've got everything.

[RJ]

I would do that.

[Dan]

All right, I'll take you surfing. We'll see if you do it. I'll let you know if he does it. I'm in my head right now. What do you think? 20% likely that he did. Coin flip, man, you. Oh, you say coin flip. That's better than I thought. All right. So you're always exercising and everything?

[RJ]

Yeah, I do, I do something outdoors every day. And I didn't for like the first more than 10 years, from like 2009 to 2000. 2021. 2022. I was just so heads down and it actually was, I was less productive. And so what I, I figured out is that if I exercise, get outdoors, do something, every day, I'm just better. And a big part of my job is making decisions and making high quality decisions. So I just find I make better decisions, more inspired.

[Dan]

You make decisions quickly?

[RJ]

Depends.

[Dan]

Oh, man, I always feel like that. Yeah, that's the key. Do you like to be referred to as a former billionaire or do you like to say, or do you prefer like a future billionaire?

[RJ]

Once again, I don't, I've never thought of that. But it's a funny question.

[Dan]

Did you stare at your account constantly, like when, like when it was. No. You didn't just go, look at this, what I'm worth right now?

[RJ]

No.

[Dan]

No. Why not? It's, I know you're in it for.

[RJ]

Money, but it's the objective. And once the number, once you have, like, I'm fortunate to have be, you know, because of the success rate to, to be well off. So it's like, it doesn't really make a difference in the end.

[Dan]

How about the folks? Were they just like, are they just tickled pink at what you pulled off?

[RJ]

Yeah, I think they're proud. Yeah.

[Dan]

I mean, because I get so proud.

[RJ]

My mom doesn't quite appreciate it. She doesn't?

[Dan]

Oh, she does.

[RJ]

No, I, I, I don't think she fully like, realizes the scale of it because she'll be like, RJ, I sent you a birthday card. I put $100 in it for you, so if you want to get something really nice. And I'm like, mom, I really don't need $100 from you right now. And she's like, no, but if you want to buy something, I'm like, okay, thanks, Mom.

[Dan]

That's her. But she needs to. Like, my mom years ago just said, like, just, I will never give you another thing. You just. All you do is make fun of us for giving you things, and then you. Then you give it away to somebody else. So on my show, I, I give people stuff for coming on the show, but it's just stuff at my house that I don't want anymore.

[RJ]

Okay.

[Dan]

And I, and some people would be so stressed out giving gifts to, you know, the head of a company. But let's see. All right, here's what I. Here's what I got today. My favorite shaper from. From Florida, From Titusville, Florida. He'll love this. He'll get a kick out of this.

[RJ]

Oh, wow.

[Dan]

This is a Daniel Tosh board that he made me. This is good for your kid, probably for your 9 year old. It's going to. It's epoxy. It's. It's a little too small for me. I don't know. Well, whatever. It doesn't matter. It's nice. Just keep it down here. You'll. But this is a good board for one of your kids if they want to start playing in the water. Yeah, it's durable. This is a board. You could probably play on this if you wanted it. I don't like al America. This is local. This is the Hoglet. I never got into this shape, so I was like, by the way, I have just tons of. We'll get rid of that board. I've got some fins for you. This is a coffee table book. It's all about Florida. You put it in your bathroom. They sent it. The spine was a little broke, so I complained. They sent me another one. So then you get this one. But it's just all about Florida. You. Whatever. You'll like it. And the, the reason people were probably, if they're going to get you, get nice board. Yeah, you'll like it. You'll. You'll have fun. But why not get the ev. Guy just, you know, I was like, oh, give them electric bikes that are laying around my house. No, no, I went with stuff that. That makes your kids, you know, play outside. Maybe this is for you and your.

[RJ]

Where this skateboard this is cool.

[Dan]

This has never even been ridden. It's beautiful. There's an arbor skateboard.

[RJ]

You'll love it. Wow. This is great.

[Dan]

Yeah. You ride there on your. How many square foot is your factory in normal?

[RJ]

6 million.

[Dan]

Yeah, 6. Speaking of, better invention than your trucks. Okay, whoever invented this, the Araby Frisbee, that person. That person was a true genius. Let's be clear. But I don't have enough property for this thing. Every time my kid throws it, I'm like, now I have to go talk. I hate my neighbors, and I have to go talk to them. So I'm like, I figure you've got land. Okay, do you have. Have you bought land yet?

[RJ]

I own land.

[Dan]

No. Do you own, like, some, like. Like, horrible ranch in Montana yet?

[RJ]

No.

[Dan]

Like, 10,000 Yellowstone acres?

[RJ]

No.

[Dan]

No. You're going to do that soon, aren't you?

[RJ]

It's on the list. Yeah.

[Dan]

By the way, I like the tent. I like the tent for the day. Those are the things I want from you in the future. I want two E bikes, and I want a tent, and then I want.

[RJ]

We have a new tent. That's insane.

[Dan]

Okay, fine. I want that. Then I want. Then I want the R3. But I want to give that away to somebody that deserves it. This is called a backcountry bathroom. This is for your outdoorsy people. They just hook it to a tree and then they can poop. Somebody gave this to me because I have ibs and I said, guys, I can't. I don't have time to hook shit around a tree to go to the bathroom when I have to go. It's like, now, and I gotta run.

[RJ]

It's a different kit for you.

[Dan]

No, yours is just for me. It's just. I just need toilet paper in the. In the truck. Get all this off my desk. Good gosh, rj, how good does it feel to know that out of all the brilliant people who've gotten an engineering degree at mit, you are the most successful?

[RJ]

There's a lot of successful people at mit.

[Dan]

I know. I didn't really research it, but I figure you're up there. Yeah, probably I'm the most successful person with a marketing degree from ucf.

[RJ]

Yeah. There you go.

[Dan]

Oh, man. I use my marketing. You know where my marketing degree is? It's in my chicken coop. It's not a lie either.

[RJ]

Why?

[Dan]

I don't know. I decided. I was like, where am I? What am I? I'm not gonna throw it away. I'm like, I don't want this anywhere So I hung it in my chicken coop.

[RJ]

Yeah, that's what people do with degrees usually.

[Dan]

What do you do with yours?

[RJ]

I. In a closet at my folks. My dad's place, I think. I don't know.

[Dan]

It's somewhere obviously, most people could never achieve what you've done. What do you say to someone who thinks they can start a big company in a difficult industry?

[RJ]

That's a good question. I think if you're starting a complex business, you just need to recognize it's going to take a while. It's going to be really hard for me, at least it's been way harder than I expected, and I expected it to be really hard. So you're going to. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take a lot of capital, you know, so this is a. In our case, many, many billions of dollars. Like, you have to really be convicted around the idea. Not. Not necessarily the tactics of the specifics. Those will evolve and change. But, like, do you believe in building this business in this space?

[Dan]

It's over. I mean, I get angry. People used to say that they thought I was really hardworking. But that's in show business, and show business is garbage. Like, it's not. You don't really work hard, but it's just amazing. I can't. Is the electric market the same as. Are you eventually going to have to start churning out a different model every year, or is that done?

[RJ]

We think we'll probably end up with like, maybe five or six different vehicles. So there's R2, there's after R1, there's R2 and R3, and after R2 and R3, there's R4 and R5. And that's as far out as our product, like, plan goes today and what we're working on. But there may be, like an R6. I don't know. But, like, the. I can't obviously talk about it here or show it to you. I could show it to you offline, but the R4 and R5 is so cool. It's like. But that's the next. Next thing after R2 and R3.

[Dan]

When will my R1 look like it's. Oh, it's really dated.

[RJ]

Oh, it'll still look. That was one of the big things we focused on design. We want to feel timeless so it doesn't age that quickly. Yeah, it'll be okay for a couple years. Good. You should still upgrade to the quad.

[Dan]

The thing is, you're doing this to the right person, because I can be shamed into stuff constantly.

[RJ]

I'm working on it.

[Dan]

Yeah, it's very easy. By the end of the day, oh.

[RJ]

I'm like, all right, I gotta deliver it tonight. Yeah, this old launch edition truck.

[Dan]

Rj, thanks for being here. Oh, look at that. Okay, time for our weekly stand up comedy wrap up.

[Alex]

Alex. I didn't get to any stage shows, but I did switch to T Mobile with their new Family Freedom offer.

[Dan]

Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline.

[Alex]

Well, my old phone bill with AT&T was a joke, so I'm doing a whole new bit with T Mobile. They paid off my family's four phones up to $3200 and gave us four new phones on the house.

[Dan]

I got to work this into my routine.

[T-Mobile Representative]

Introducing Family Freedom, our lowest cost. To switch our biggest family savings all on America's largest 5G network. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com familyfreedom. Up to $800 per line via virtual prepaid card. Typically takes 15 days. Free phones via 24 monthly bill credits with finance agreement, eg Apple iPhone 16, 128 gigabyte $8,029.99 eligible trade in eg iPhone 11 Pro for well qualified credits. End and balance due if you pay off early or cancel contact T Mobile.

[Dan]

Paw show. I want to thank RJ for being on the show. And I don't want RJ to think that I have ulterior motives since he's got cool toys in the pipeline that I certainly want for free. But I mean, this may be a little cart before the electric horse, but I feel a bromance coming on. Me and RJ hanging out, just. Just two dudes, you know. What do you guys think?

[RJ]

I think we'd all like free Rivians.

[Dan]

You see, you're gonna ruin the relationship by asking for free stuff. Now, I've already said that I think he should send me two of these free bikes that he's not saying that they're working on, which I know they're working on. And I also want that new tent that he talked about. And I tell you what, they twisted my arm about getting the upgraded truck. Fine, take my truck, give me the upgrade, and then down the road when the R3 comes out, sure, I'll take one of those to give a special person in my life. And then if there's room, give you guys, you know, 5, 6% discount on some trucks.

[RJ]

Thanks, bud. He's looking out for us.

[Dan]

Now if he wants to give us a slew of trucks that'd be nice. How well would this podcast have to do for him to be like, guys, send them four trucks. Now, that would suck because Dylan wouldn't get one. Yeah. Anyway, let's talk about plugs. Tossshowstore.com, eddie's tour. My tour. Come see me in NorCal. Come see me in Vegas. Okay, our final free plug. Hit the music. Our final free plug is for Lindsay Lohan. This is for a person, not a project or a store or anything. Just. Just for Lindsay, huh? Good for her. She's looking great these days. You guys seen her?

[RJ]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan]

Is she having a glow up or is that not considered that? Do you not say that for women?

[RJ]

Yeah, you say that.

[Dan]

I mean, she's definitely having a moment again. She looks good. She's. She had a movie come out last week. I. I doubt. I doubt it's any good. But the Freaky Friday thing, right?

[RJ]

Yeah. Freakier.

[Dan]

That's not freakier. Ugh. All right. I've always liked her. I've always felt like, oh, she. She got. You know. You know who I think is responsible for her downfall? I'll go ahead and say it.

[RJ]

I'll.

[Dan]

I'll, I'll. I'll say names now. Wilmer Valderrama. I think when he talked about her privates, that caused a snowball effect. But anyway, I'm glad she's having a moment. She's married now. She has a kid. Did she have that kid?

[RJ]

I believe so.

[Dan]

Good. I remember that one video of her one time where she was talking in a weird accent like, children, children, come. Come with me. She was, like, trying to rescue children that were just clearly fine. Right. I remember that. Yeah. She's like, come to my hotel. I have movies. You're like, what are you? Where's this accent? And why are you stealing these children? She was like, live streaming. It doesn't matter.

[RJ]

She was on drugs.

[Dan]

That was a while ago. That was when things were a little haywire. But now she's back on track. Carl. Carl. Lindsay. Lindsay Lohan. She's back. She looks great. And she should do one of those Herbie movies again.

[RJ]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan]

I'd love a new Herbie movie. So good to get another Herbie one. Well, yeah. And you don't have to do it now. You could do it with the micro bus from vw. You wouldn't have to do the bug.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

I'm just thinking. I'm just in an ev. State of mind right now.

[RJ]

Yeah.

[Dan]

You know that Lindsay used to. She used to be the voice on Tosh Point zero. She would do the warning for many years before the show started, we weren't allowed to talk about it. We still might not be able to. I could get Comedy Central in trouble. I think if they said it was her voice. Maybe I'm not supposed to. She was nice. Anyway. I'm glad she's she's doing well. I wish her nothing but the best. And I can't wait to see Freakier Friday. Carl, head up. We're talking about Lindsay Lohan. See you next week.