The Rivian name is shown on one of their new electric SUV vehicles in San Diego, U.S., December 16, 2022.Mike Blake | ReutersRivian Automotive plans to raise $1.3 billion in cash via a sale of convertible notes, joining a growing list of EV makers scrambling to hoard cash as demand falters.Shares of Rivian were down about 11% in midday trading on Tuesday.Rivian said late Monday it plans to sell the convertible notes — bonds that can be paid back with cash, stock or a mix of the two — to help fund the development and launch of its upcoming smaller R2 series of vehicles, now expected in 2026. The institutional investors purchasing the notes will have the option to buy additional notes worth up to $200 million, if they choose, above the initial $1.3 billion.Rivian isn’t in an urgent cash crunch, at least not yet. The EV maker had $12.1 billion on hand as of the end of 2022, it said during its fourth-quarter earnings presentation Feb. 28, enough to fund its operations through 2025. But it recently made a series of moves to conserve cash, laying off 6% of its workforce and pushing the R2 launch out a year.Rivian also said last week that it expects to produce 50,000 vehicles in 2023, fewer than the roughly 60,000 that Wall Street analysts had expected. That may be a sign that demand for its high-priced pickups and SUVs is falling short of …
