Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of touring the Rivian factory in Normal, Illinois with Rivian’s Founder and CEO @rjscaringe. I happened to be in Chicago for a different event and took a day to zip down and explore the Rivian plant, which was super inspiring. I’ve been driving an R1T since the spring and it’s been amazing - watching how they get built made it even more impressive. A few highlights include: - Test driving the new electric delivery vans that Rivian is delivering to Amazon. I fully expect to live out of one of them eventually... - Multiple workers stopped us to tell RJ how much they enjoyed working there and how much they appreciated the job. I was impressed by morale. - It all felt very futuristic. A paint shop with no waste. Insane robotic welding. Plastic organizational bins made from recycled ocean trash. What made the biggest impression was RJ’s passion for the vehicles - he took such pleasure in wandering the plant floor with me and explaining every detail of the manufacturing process. I kept worrying that I was wasting his time since he’s an important CEO, but he had the enthusiasm of a little kid who just built his first model car. All in all it was an incredibly inspiring tour.