You Can Thank Hyundai For The Rivian Name
Over the past five years, Rivian has gone from a promising EV startup to a household name in the EV space, one that has successfully carved a path for itself as the leading manufacturer of electric adventure vehicles (even though it is obviously more than that).
But did you know that the Rivian name may have never happened had it not been for Hyundai? It's one of those random automotive naming stories, like Porsche having to rename its 901 sports car to 911 after Peugeot objected, or Tesla having to rename its Model E sedan to Model 3 because Ford already had naming rights.
From Mainstream Motors To Avera Automotive
Founder RJ Scaringe started the company in 2009 in Rockledge, Florida, as Mainstream Motors. The name wasn't that catchy (or inspiring), which is probably why the company was renamed Avera Automotive in 2010. Avera was a combination of the words America, verde (the Spanish name for "green"), and terra (the Latin name for planet Earth).
In late 2010, the company unveiled a fuel-efficient sports car prototype with a gas engine, but the project never reached production as Scaringe shifted the company's focus to developing electric trucks and SUVs.
It didn't sound bad, but it had one problem: it sounded too similar to Azera, or at least that's what Hyundai thought. At the time, the Hyundai Azera full-size sedan was a thing, and the Korean company sued Avera Automotive for copyright infringement, arguing that the Avera name could potentially cause consumer confusion with its Azera sedan.
RJ Scaringe wasn't going to waste the little resources the company had at the time in a lawsuit with a global giant like Hyundai, so he was forced to back down and relinquish the Avera name for his startup.
Ironically, the Hyundai Azera was discontinued after the 2017 model year in the U.S. and the name is still no longer in use today-although the flagship sedan survives as the Hyundai Grandeur in South Korea, the Middle East and other overseas markets.
The Third Time Was The Charm
As the saying goes, third time's a charm, so the third attempt at finding a name for his company that would give it a fresh, unique brand identity was successful for RJ Scaringe. To find it, he tapped into his childhood days. According to a recent post on Threads, the Rivian name is a word play on the Indian River, a wild estuary in Florida.
Scaringe grew up exploring the area, and the Rivian name honors his early connection to nature and water. It is clearly a cool name that has a nice ring to it-plus it evokes nature, which matches the brand's adventure-oriented character.
This is a cool story and one can't help but wonder whether the company would have had the same success with a name like Mainstream Motors or Avera Automotive. We'll never know that, obviously, but we're glad Hyundai sued Avera and forced it to reinvent itself as Rivian.
The rest, as they say, is history. Rivian now offers the R1S full-size electric SUV, R1T full-size electric pickup, and the RCV electric van. Recently, the company started production of its fourth model, the R2 midsize SUV, which has the potential to turn Rivian from a niche, premium startup into a mainstream player (remember Mainstream Motors?). It's funny how life comes full circle sometimes, isn't it?
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 11:00 AM.