Ford to put $500M into electric vehicle startup Rivian

(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday it will invest $500 million in U.S. electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive LLC, joining Amazon.com Inc in backing the potential rival to Silicon Valley’s Tesla Inc. On Wednesday, Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett said the deal with Rivian does not affect Ford’s discussions with Volkswagen AG about sharing the German automaker’s electric vehicle architecture. Ford’s said its investment in Rivian is separate from the No. 2 U.S. automaker’s previously announced $11 billion investment in EVs, which include 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its model lineup by 2022.

Source: www.reuters.com