Happy Friday, and welcome to Critical Materials, your source for the biggest stories shaping the future of the auto industry.

Every Friday, we break down the week’s biggest EV news, keep you up to speed on the cars we’re testing, and recap must-read stories from around the web on driverless cars, batteries, charging, and more.

– Today’s email was written by Rob Stumpf and Tim Levin.

Five years ago, Rivian and Lucid were almost always mentioned in the same breath. They were America's best-funded EV startups, each backed by deep-pocketed investors and promising to challenge Tesla from different angles.

They were founded around the same time too, a few years after Tesla in the late 2000s. They both went public in 2021, and even started delivering their first products within weeks of one another that fall. Both the Rivian R1T pickup and Lucid’s Air sedan won massive acclaim from reviewers at the time for their awe-inspiring performance and high-tech feel. Both companies went on to burn billions of dollars chasing a goal that turned out to be much harder than building a great electric car: becoming a real, sustainable automaker.

In 2026, Rivian and Lucid are still peers, of course, as rare U.S. electric car startups that managed to get to production without crashing and burning first. But the challenges they face have never been more distinct. Rivian has a popular flagship product, a powerful brand image, and a volume product that's already reaching consumers. Lucid has two slow-selling high-end products and is fighting to stay afloat long enough to launch a more affordable option.

As part of its second-quarter earnings this week, Lucid announced a broad “operational reset” that hinges on $1.4 billion in cash savings this year.

Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli was blunt about the automaker’s predicament during his first earnings call as top executive. “While there is no question that Lucid brought leading innovations and outstanding products to the market, we have disappointed on several fronts, and for far too long,” he said. “We have not executed consistently, we miss commitments, launched products before they were ready, underinvested in service, responded too slowly to quality issues, and allowed complexity to slow decisions down.”

“The work ahead is substantial,” he added.

The turnaround involves deep job cuts, lower capital expenditures, and a deliberate cut to production in Arizona so the company can focus on moving inventory. Lucid says it’s focusing on “must-win” projects, like its robotaxi deal with Nuro and Uber and its upcoming $50,000 crossover, the Cosmos.

Notably, Napoli said the automaker was delaying the launch of that crucial car from late 2026 to 2027 because he didn’t want to rush it to market and risk issues. The Air and newer Gravity SUV have struggled to gain traction—Lucid delivered some 16,000 vehicles last year—so the Cosmos, with its greater potential for wide appeal, is absolutely key. And indeed, the Gravity’s launch rollout has been hampered by software bugs that Lucid won’t want to repeat.

While Lucid’s revenue grew substantially to $405 million during the quarter, its net loss widened to over $1 billion. The company said its $3 billion in liquidity gives it runway into 2027.

Rivian isn’t making money yet either, and it also needs to scale up badly. But while Lucid is pushing back its potential Tesla Model 3 moment, Rivian is basically there. It kicked off customer deliveries of the smaller, cheaper R2 crossover in June. Now the question is how quickly it can ramp that up without kinks, and whether it can convince enough buyers to show up. Rivian recently raised its delivery guidance to 65,000-70,000 vehicles this year—up from around 42,000 sales last year.

Its finances are trending in the right direction too. Rivian raked in $1.66 billion in revenue last quarter and posted a net loss of $837 million, both improvements over Q2 2025.

So, what happened? Part of it may come down to product choice. Lucid launched with a very expensive four-door sedan. No matter how impressive it was—and it remains pretty amazing—that’s a limited market. Rivian came out of the gates with a premium pickup truck and SUV, vehicles Americans clearly crave in bigger numbers.

Rivian has also been faster to roll out models. Within about a year after launching the R1T, Rivian started selling a commercial van to Amazon and launched the R1S SUV, its top seller. The Gravity three-row SUV is a boon to Lucid, but it only came out in late 2024 and ramped up slowly.

Plus, Rivian has a secret weapon in its technology joint venture with the Volkswagen Group. That brought in some $300 million in revenue for the EV startup in Q2, plus it’s buying the company time to scale. VW is helping fund Rivian’s future through billions in stock purchases and debt.

None of this means Rivian is “safe.” The company still expects to lose money this year, and it needs to successfully launch the R2 into a weaker EV market. Nor does it mean Lucid should be counted out. Its technology remains some of the best in the industry, and Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund has supplied a number of cash infusions over the years. Last month, one Saudi prince bought 5% of the company in a key vote of confidence.

Five years ago, Rivian and Lucid seemed to be running the same race. Today, they're in very different stages of it. Rivian is trying to scale. Lucid is trying to reset. And neither journey will be easy.

-Tim Levin

Ford's affordable EV pickup finally has a name, price, and date when you can expect place your order. Meet the Ford Fathom. 

By the way, here’s a handy guide to everything we’ve learned about the affordable pickup so far.

We also finally get a first official-ish look at the Lucid Cosmos. This Tesla Model Y fighter is expected to start around $50,000 and is something that Lucid's CEO wants to be a much more refined, mass-market product compared to the Air and Gravity. 

Volvo is reportedly planning the EX50, a sub-$50,000 EV crossover to take on the Model Y.

Subaru is having a tough time selling its EVs. In fact, it's costing the automaker almost three times as much to sell a single EV compared to its gas cars.

Telo's tiny electric truck is making some big numbers. It now says that the Telo MT1 can tow up to 8,000 pounds. That’s more than a base Ford F-150.

We drove the Slate truck. It felt surprisingly solid and comfortable on the road.

We’ve got more details on California’s $3,500 EV rebate—including which Teslas qualify.

Now that i3 production has started at BMW's Munich plant, its days of producing gas-powered cars are numbered.

Rivian started delivering customer-spec R2s in June. It’s now gearing up to do double shifts in Illinois.

It might seem like an oxymoron, but EVgo is deploying hundreds of new Tesla Superchargers across its network. EVgo is utilizing Tesla's Supercharger for Business program to kickstart its expansion using the familiar-looking Superchargers.

New York City wants to make it easier to charge on the go. It's now installing 600 new curbside chargers, plus an additional 200 Level 2 chargers in lots and garages around the city.

Pilot, GM, and EVgo now have over 300 charging stations nationwide.

EVgo is adding over 500 new chargers where Americans already shop, thanks to a partnership with Brixmor Property Group.

Some Tesla owners with older hardware are reporting that their Autopilot computers are overheating after Tesla's new Full Self-Driving Lite software. Here's what we know so far. 

Toyota owners rejoice: There's a way to modernize your aging plug-ins. The automaker has expanded its Japan-exclusive factory upgrade program to include hybrids and EVs to stuff new tech into older cars, including software, driver-assistance, and performance-based upgrades across its lineup.

Amazon's Zoox robotaxi service is finally allowed to charge for robotaxi rides, and it’s starting in Las Vegas in a few days. The federal government has approved the expansion of Zoox's service and finally approved for-pay trips.

The U.S. Army’s newest unmanned ground vehicle is an extended-range EV.

Why the heck do so many EVs still have on buttons? Tim Levin investigates.

Thanks for reading Critical Materials. See you next week!