Rivian Targets Gas-Powered Ford and Toyota Trucks and SUVs with $5,000 Rebate for Electric Upgrades

Rivian is offering discounts of as much as $5,000 on its electric vehicles – and a 12 months of free charging – to customers who wish to sell their gas-powered trucks and SUVs.

The deal, which launched on April 22, targets directly the best-selling and most ubiquitous gas-powered trucks and SUVs in the marketplace, including the Ford F-150, Toyota Tacoma and Jeep Wrangler. Rivian is even going after German carmakers Audi and BMW. Depending on the model, the worth reduction ranges from $1,000 to $5,000. Rivian is offering discounts on three trim levels of the R1T pickup truck and one model of the R1S SUV.

The company promoted Monday “electrical installation modernization offer” in e-mail to potential customers, in addition to in posts on social media. The discounts come as demand for premium and luxury electric vehicles drops across the industry, prompting automakers similar to Ford, Lucid and Tesla to chop prices. Faced with uncertain demand, many legacy automakers have also scaled back plans to shift their offerings to pure battery-powered vehicles. Gas-powered vehicles and hybrids are coming back into fashion due to regular sales and the profit margins they supply.

Rivian, which is anticipated to supply only about 57,000 electric vehicles in 2024, won’t outpace the best-selling trucks in the marketplace. However, this approach may help the corporate acquire a brand new group of consumers.

Only owners of certain gas-powered vehicles shall be eligible for the exchange. These include 2018 or newer Ford F-150 trucks, Ford Explorer, Ford Expedition and Bronco trucks, except Bronco Sport. Other eligible trade-ins include the 2018 or newer Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, Toyota Highlander, Toyota 4Runner Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator. Also eligible for the competition are the Audi Q5, Q7 and Q8, in addition to the BMW X3, X5 and X7.

The deal applies to customers seeking to rent or buy a vehicle, although they have to take delivery by June 30. Rivian can be adding a 12 months of free charging on any Rivian-owned charger within the United States as an added sweet treat. The variety of Rivian fast chargers, known under the Rivian Adventure Network brand, shouldn’t be as large because the Tesla Supercharger network. The company installed 433 fast chargers at 71 stations, including: in Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and the East Coast. Rivian has also installed 482 Level 2 chargers (called landmarks) in 180 locations across the United States.