WEBVTT - Rivian Founder and CEO RJ ScaringeTalks EV Expansion, Charging Infrastructure

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Marja Sparrange is with us. He's of course head of

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<v Speaker 2>the sixteen billion dollar market CAAP automaker. We're talking about Rivian.

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<v Speaker 2>We talk about this company all the time with us

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<v Speaker 2>at Bloomberg Tech Summit here in San Francisco, and we

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<v Speaker 2>have Ed Ludlow, a member of our team cost of

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<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Technology who knows this company so well. Hey, one

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<v Speaker 2>thing I want to start with Rja is there's a

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<v Speaker 2>lot going on today, the bromance in the White House

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<v Speaker 2>between Elon and Donald Trump. It seems like it's over

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<v Speaker 2>and it's not going well.

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<v Speaker 3>So I'm just curious have you been able to kind

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<v Speaker 3>of win market share or anything as a result of

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<v Speaker 3>kind of Elon's position at DOGE And I'm just curious

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<v Speaker 3>how it might play out here.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I mean I think Teslamon, Yeah, I think in general,

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<v Speaker 4>it's the thing that's been surprised is just how politicize

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<v Speaker 4>A lot of things have be common. So I'll let

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<v Speaker 4>you equals become politicized. Specific brands within the electric vehicles

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<v Speaker 4>pace to politicized, and so what we've tried to do

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<v Speaker 4>as a brand really really focused on is to focus

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<v Speaker 4>on what we stand for, the products, the ratch meets

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<v Speaker 4>and and you know, there's a famous Michael Jordan quote

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<v Speaker 4>which is we have Republicans that you know, he said,

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<v Speaker 4>Republicans and Democrats both by Nikes. And it's the same

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<v Speaker 4>thing with Rivians. I'll go to Rivian events. I was

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<v Speaker 4>just in New York yesterday and yeah, there's it's such

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<v Speaker 4>a beautiful mix of backgrounds, perspectives, cultures that are drawn

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<v Speaker 4>to what we're building as a brand. Right and we're

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<v Speaker 4>about to launch what we call R two, which is

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<v Speaker 4>a lower priced vehicle starts at forty five thousand dollars

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<v Speaker 4>and that product will even you know, broaden the aperture

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<v Speaker 4>even more.

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<v Speaker 5>And so I think what Kars asking is if there's

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<v Speaker 5>net positive effect for you from this environment on sales

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<v Speaker 5>and pre orders.

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<v Speaker 4>I think that's what she was asking.

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<v Speaker 5>I think you were benefiting from this.

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<v Speaker 2>Environment to test some movement. Have you benefited from it?

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<v Speaker 4>I think there are a lot of customers that are

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<v Speaker 4>looking for a brand I want to connect with, so

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<v Speaker 4>that we're seeing that for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Sort of on that and thinking about the politics of

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<v Speaker 1>this rare earth. I mean, you and the team have

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<v Speaker 1>been really clear that you've been working to educate the

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<v Speaker 1>Trump administration when it comes to the complexities around processing

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<v Speaker 1>rare earth here in the US. We did hear from

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<v Speaker 1>the President earlier today after a call with President Chiji

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<v Speaker 1>and Pang. He said there should no longer be any

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<v Speaker 1>questions respecting the complexity of rare earth's products. Are you

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<v Speaker 1>still concerned about accessibility to rare earth?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, first, I'd say I appreciate that the administration recognizes

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<v Speaker 4>this is an issue that's important, and I think that

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<v Speaker 4>we've done a lot of work and smell a lot

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<v Speaker 4>of time with the administration on this topic. I think

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<v Speaker 4>this is perhaps one of the biggest topics surrounding you know,

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<v Speaker 4>the trade tensions with China. Well, it's well documented that

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<v Speaker 4>a vast majority of the world's processing for these rare

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<v Speaker 4>earth metals happens in China. So this is something that

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<v Speaker 4>you know, we're going to continue to be very focused on,

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<v Speaker 4>continue to have concerns about until we start to see

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<v Speaker 4>it really move.

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<v Speaker 1>What's your backup plan.

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<v Speaker 4>Which we have many backup playing.

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<v Speaker 1>You can't get access to these rare earths for some

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<v Speaker 1>raison an extended period of time, which are essential in

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<v Speaker 1>making evs and batteries.

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<v Speaker 4>What do you do? So what we've we've done, we've

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<v Speaker 4>spent time on over the last several months, is to

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<v Speaker 4>build alternative supply chains. But they're not they're not elegant

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<v Speaker 4>because they're not set up for scale, and and a

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<v Speaker 4>lot of people beyond us are also trying to build

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<v Speaker 4>these alternative supply chains. So I think, you know, the

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<v Speaker 4>hope is that in the short to medium term we

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<v Speaker 4>see this open back up. And I think in the

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<v Speaker 4>long term we're probably going to see both investment into

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<v Speaker 4>building earth capacity outside of China and then innovation to

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<v Speaker 4>remove rare earths from products. You know, So if you

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<v Speaker 4>take in an electric vehicle, the reason this is so

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<v Speaker 4>important is the motors use permanent magnets. Then permanent magnets

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<v Speaker 4>have earth metals, you know, things like dysprosium, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>all those things on the periodic table that you forget

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<v Speaker 4>about there. Yeah, yeah, but those those rare battles are

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<v Speaker 4>needed in the magnets. But you can create an electro

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<v Speaker 4>magnet to power the rotor, you know, the rotors a

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<v Speaker 4>spinning part of the motor. But then you've got to

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<v Speaker 4>get power to the rotors, so that you can do

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<v Speaker 4>it with a brush, you can do it with induction,

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<v Speaker 4>So it's a more complex motor product, but it does

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<v Speaker 4>remove the complexity of global trade.

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<v Speaker 2>Around or is that a little bit time away.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's not gonna you can't flip your design over overnight.

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<v Speaker 4>But I would say I think a lot of the

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<v Speaker 4>arto industry is going to start finding innovative ways that

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<v Speaker 4>are perhaps maybe be a little more expensive. That reduced

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<v Speaker 4>the RELI.

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<v Speaker 5>Once somewhere people wonder how nimble you are there, Like,

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<v Speaker 5>do you remember when we first met seven years ago

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<v Speaker 5>with respect your suppliers really wouldn't engage with you because

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<v Speaker 5>of scale. So if you have had to pivot a

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<v Speaker 5>little bit because of policy, particularly for planning that are two,

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<v Speaker 5>have you been able to get your spires to listen

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<v Speaker 5>to you and be effect to change what's changed?

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<v Speaker 4>I mean, yeah, we've talked about the slide. I mean

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<v Speaker 4>our relationship was suppliers. A leverage we have with those

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<v Speaker 4>suppliers is so much stronger today with our two and

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<v Speaker 4>what's to come than what we had, you know in

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<v Speaker 4>twenty nineteen or twenty twenty, even twenty eighteen. But I'd

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<v Speaker 4>say the thing that's really helpful for us in our

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<v Speaker 4>two is it's not as if this is a surprise

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<v Speaker 4>we saw, you know, if you're going into summer of

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<v Speaker 4>last year, we saw some of these tensions already rising

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<v Speaker 4>between the United States and China, and that was as

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<v Speaker 4>we're planning for and sourcing our two. So we contemplated

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<v Speaker 4>and in many ways anticipated a lot of these situations

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<v Speaker 4>we're now dealing with in terms of tariffs, in terms

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<v Speaker 4>of trade restrictions happening. So in the medium to long term,

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<v Speaker 4>it's we're pretty well covered. In the short to medium term,

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<v Speaker 4>you know, things get shut off. That's really challenging. And

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<v Speaker 4>so that's where I think the rare challenge is that

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<v Speaker 4>if this this happens, were it's off, it just creates

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<v Speaker 4>a lot of pressure on a very thin non China

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<v Speaker 4>supply chain.

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<v Speaker 5>I still think there's a lot of interest in Rivian.

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<v Speaker 5>What I hear is there's also a lot of interest

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<v Speaker 5>in also Chrome ability spin off. Would you consider kind

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<v Speaker 5>of de risking yourselves a little bit by allowing outside

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<v Speaker 5>investors to write you a check into that venture and

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<v Speaker 5>then get you some capital, or de risk your own

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<v Speaker 5>balance sheet in that respect.

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<v Speaker 4>So we spun this micromobility portion of rivine out and

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<v Speaker 4>we actually raised outside capitals. We brought okay, we brought

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<v Speaker 4>one hundred and five million dollars in at the.

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<v Speaker 1>Start of the year, which is from a CLIPS which.

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<v Speaker 4>Is from a Clipse exact right, and so it's now

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<v Speaker 4>independently financed from Ribbune and it's you know, it's a

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<v Speaker 4>really exciting set of products. We're going to show those

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<v Speaker 4>products in the fall.

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<v Speaker 5>But with the venture, look at even further outside capital

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<v Speaker 5>to get going a little bit.

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<v Speaker 4>We could, yeah, we could, but we're really happy with

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<v Speaker 4>where it is. It's it's exciting to build a new

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<v Speaker 4>business with the strength of all the Riview technologies and

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<v Speaker 4>starting right.

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<v Speaker 2>I said thirty seconds at the end to wrap up

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<v Speaker 2>our So with everything that's going on from the administration

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<v Speaker 2>kind of push back, it feels like against alternative energy

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<v Speaker 2>at EBS. Do you think it's a real setback or

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<v Speaker 2>things will keep moving and forgive me, it's just about.

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<v Speaker 4>The reason thirty seconds, All right, go Look, I think

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<v Speaker 4>I think there's a lot of noise in the short term,

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<v Speaker 4>but the end state is still really clear. The world's

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<v Speaker 4>going to electrify. We're going to move towards sustainable, carbon

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<v Speaker 4>neutral transportation, and the countries and the businesses that focus

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<v Speaker 4>on the future state are the ones that are going

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<v Speaker 4>to be participants in the long term. And so you know,

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<v Speaker 4>we talk about this often with demonstration, which is the

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<v Speaker 4>importance of US companies having technical leadership, production capacit around

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<v Speaker 4>these these areas and make sure we're there.

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<v Speaker 2>We did it, Dardy, thank you so much. Great way

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<v Speaker 2>for us to rap with this hour. Urguscreage, thank you

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<v Speaker 2>of course at Rivian and of course our and ledlove