There's no denying the fact that the Tesla Model Y is the best-selling electric car in the world, but is it the best electric car available today? If we add "for under $50,000" to that question, then the answer seems to be a "yes," according to Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe.
If we take Elon Musk and Tesla out of the equation and just focus on the car, we here at InsideEVs tend to agree with Scaringe. Some of our staff believe that the Hyundai Ioniq 5 comes in at a close second to the Model Y in the "best EV for under $50,000" category, but there are some other choices out there.
Back to Scaringe for a moment. At a roundtable we attended at the LA Auto Show, Scaringe talked a bit about Tesla. Regarding Tesla, he said "The world doesn't need another one of those," which kinda seems to paint a negative on Tesla but that's more connected to Tesla's massive market share, which gives it strong control over suppliers. Scaringe went on to say that "We think Tesla has done an amazing job. It's a great brand; they have great products."
How good are Tesla's products? Considering that Scaringe has owned both a Tesla Model 3 and a Model Y, we'd have to say that Rivian's CEO is very fond of Tesla's cars. Scaringe added that there "less than five highly compelling choices" among electric cars that are priced under $50,000 and concluded that the Model Y is the bar-setter among this small group of EVs.
In the near future, Scaringe will probably prefer a couple of other sub-$50,000 EVs over the Model Y. That's because Rivian has a few more affordable EVs on the horizon, including the R2, R3 and R3X, all of which should start at under $50,000. Rivian's current offerings, including the R1T and R1S, are priced well above $50,000, even despite recent price cuts.
