California Governor Gavin Newsom has switched to a new official vehicle, replacing his Chevrolet Suburban with a R1S, the fully electric SUV from the California-based EV maker Rivian.
CBS News reported on Friday that California Highway Patrol’s Dignitary Protection Section, which provides security for the governor and other officials, recently purchased two Rivian vehicles.
Rivian is headquartered in Irvine and produces its vehicles at a plant in Normal, Illinois. The company currently accounts for around 3% of electric vehicle sales in the state, according to CBS.
The Dual Standard, entry-level trim of the SUV, starts at $75,900, while the Dual motor is priced from $83,900. The tri-motor begins at $105,900 with leases starting at $1,339 per month.
The change in Newsom’s official vehicle comes amid rising political and market tensions in the U.S. EV sector. In January, the governor accused Tesla CEO Elon Musk of “encouraging looting” during a dispute over disinformation related to the Los Angeles wildfires.
The remarks followed Musk’s repost of a false claim on X, alleging that California Democrats had decriminalized looting. The post came as some Republicans sought to tie federal disaster aid to California to partisan conditions.
Tesla’s share of new EV registrations in California fell nearly 12% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025, according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association.
In April, Rivian was offering an additional $3,000 trade-in bonus for Tesla vehicles as part of its “Electric Refresh Offer.”
The offer was available on top of Rivian’s standard trade-in value and applies to all Tesla models, including the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X.
Rivian reported first-quarter vehicle deliveries of 8,640 units, down 36% from a year earlier and a decline from 13,588 units in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company produced 14,611 vehicles in Illinois during the quarter.
In April, Rivian sold an estimated 2,970 vehicles in the U.S., down 25.5% from a year earlier and lower than the 3,910 units delivered in March, according to Motor Intelligence data.
Rivian said this week it secured a $1 billion investment from Volkswagen Group’s part of a previously disclosed joint venture. The funding is expected to be completed by the end of next month.
The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock also increased its stake in Rivian in the first quarter, adding over 2 million shares and bringing its total holdings to more than 49 million shares — a level last seen in the second quarter of 2023.
