Ford invests $500 million in Rivian, will develop EV on its platform

Ford is making a minority equity investment of $500 million in electric vehicle startup Rivian in a deal that will result in a new battery-electric vehicle for the blue oval that is based on Rivian's flexible skateboard platform. It also closely follows the reported collapse of talks between Rivian and General Motors over a possible investment. Rivian has been around for about a decade under various names but made its coming-out party only six months ago at the L.A. Auto Show, where it unveiled its first two products: the R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck.