This Week In EV News: STi Becomes Electrified, Rivian Supply Chain Woes, Blazer SS EV Announced
In this week’s EV News roundup — Subaru’s STi will be electric, but won’t arrive for a while, according to a company announcement, Rivian shares take a hit, and Chevy announces electric Blazer.
Subaru halts internal combustion engine development for current generation WRX STi.
Subaru has recently debuted the 2022 Impreza WRX, with many folks waiting for the spicier STi version. However, in a message to Subaru retailers in the US, President and CEO of Subaru North America Thomas J. Doll indicated that a WRX STi won’t be happening on this generation’s platform. “As the automotive marketplace continues to move towards electrification, Subaru is focused on how our future sports and performance cars should evolve to meet the needs of the changing marketplace,” Doll notes. According to Courier Post, Doll added, “Subaru Corporation is exploring opportunities for the next generation Subaru WRX STI, including electrification.”
While this might not mean the STi would be a full EV, it does indicate it may be a hybrid. Which make sense as the new era of World Rally Championship cars are about to enter a hybrid era. In coverage of the switch to hybrid tech, Motorsport.com indicates that teams will have in total 514 horsepower when combined with the regulated 1.6 liter engines. If thats the case, this will actually bring the STi closer to the rally spec it was originally born with.
Rivian’s supply chain issues force investors to go bear.
Supply chain issues are affecting every auto manufacturer these days, but Rivian just took one on the chin. A report from Reuters indicated Rivian now plans to produce just half if its intended 50,000 vehicles for 2022. Reuters continues that this news sent “shares of the EV maker down more than 12% in extended trading.” Losses in Q4 for the startup were reported to be $2.46 billion dollars, losing nearly 7 times as much compared Q4 the year prior.
Rivian’s RT1 was hit the hardest, as it is already in production. But Rivian could claw back some of the losses with the EDV-700 and EDV-500 electric delivery vans for Amazon. Amazon has a 20% stake in Rivian, and has ordered 100,000 vans with production slated to start by Q2 of this year.
Chevrolet announces next Blazer SS will be full electric.
With just a short teaser, Chevrolet announced the 2023 Blazer SS. Details? Well, it’s all electric, and is the first EV from Chevy with the SS designation. Performance stats? We don’t know, but we’ll get them for you as soon as we have them!