CEO steers electric truck startup Rivian through supply chain twilight zone

FILE PHOTO: R.J. Scaringe, Rivian's 35-year-old CEO, introduces his company's R1T all-electric pickup and all-electric R1S SUV at Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

NORMAL, Ill. (Reuters) - Rivian Automotive Inc CEO R.J. Scaringe needs to sell a lot more electric vans and pickup trucks to boost a beaten down stock price and fund his ambitious long-term growth plans, but the startup is having trouble buying the parts to build them.

Scaringe can't get all the semiconductors Rivian needs to accelerate the assembly lines at its factory in Normal, Illinois. Chip suppliers are skeptical of the young electric vehicle company's capability to hit promised production numbers. They are instead allocating more chips to established customers based on the numbers of vehicles they have built in the past, Scaringe said during a tour of the plant.