Las Vegas, Nevada — Details shared by Rivian and Lucid Motors during this year’s SEMA Show about the structural makeup of the automakers’ vehicles demonstrated that components are more common than stereotypes perhaps popularly project.
Rivian Collision Service Engineering Senior Manager, Dan Black and Lucid Body Repair Technician Manager, Matthew Pitta spoke during a session at this year’s Society of Collision Repair Specialists’ (SCRS) OEM Collision Repair Technology Summit, held on November 2, 2023 in Las Vegas.
Here, Black discussed how despite a few feature parts, Rivian’s R1T and R1S are identical from the B pillar forward and are otherwise built with common parts such as conventional steel and aluminum—“the same common materials used throughout the entire [automotive] industry.”
Pitta seconded this statement by discussing how Lucid Air vehicles are 95 percent aluminum, including a mix of stampings, castings and extrusions including the A and B pillars and roof.
For both speakers, the benefit of common materials in electric vehicles is that it helps prevent against introducing complexity in terms of service parts.
Pitaa also mentioned that Lucid is trying to use 3D printing in manufacturing as it is “extremely underutilized for reparability.”
During the panel, Black and Pitta were also asked if it’s true that Rivian and Lucid vehicles are more expensive to repair.
On this note, the automakers noted that the use of common materials in electric vehicles means that common procedures are typically not more expensive, but the increase in technology in EVs and modern vehicles means that sometimes, procedures are more expensive.
In closing comments for the event, Black emphasized that repairers should always access repair procedures with every repair and Pitta encouraged repairers asking questions.
