Five years ago, Rivian and Lucid were almost always mentioned in the same breath. [We discuss Rivian, Lucid, Ford's Fathom EV truck, and more on this week's Plugged-In Podcast, available here.] Rivian came out of the gates with a premium pickup truck and SUV, vehicles Americans clearly crave in bigger numbers. The company still expects to lose money this year, and it needs to successfully launch the R2 into a weaker EV market. Not too long ago, Rivian and Lucid were basically running the same race.