Rivian Automotive Inc. is planning to go public Wednesday, the latest electric-vehicle maker to tap into investors’ interest for the growing market.

The startup’s initial public offering has garnered buzz on Wall Street. Rivian is backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., and recently began selling its first all-electric pickup truck—a model that targets well-established names such as the Ford F-150 and General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Silverado. The company plans to use its battery-electric technology to power commercial...

Rivian Automotive Inc. is planning to go public Wednesday, the latest electric-vehicle maker to tap into investors’ interest for the growing market.

The startup’s initial public offering has garnered buzz on Wall Street. Rivian is backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co. , and recently began selling its first all-electric pickup truck—a model that targets well-established names such as the Ford F-150 and General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Silverado. The company plans to use its battery-electric technology to power commercial delivery vans and fully electric pickup trucks.

Enthusiasm for electric vehicles, among car buyers and on Wall Street, has been rising over the past couple of years. Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. is the world’s most-valuable auto maker, and its market cap recently crossed $1 trillion. 

Here’s what you need to know about Rivian and its IPO.

When is Rivian going public?

Rivian plans to go public on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Wednesday under the ticker symbol RIVN.

The company is planning to offer 135 million shares in its initial public offering. Because of investor interest, Rivian has raised its expected per-share price to between $72 and $74, up from its initial range of $57 to $62.

Following the IPO, Rivian’s valuation is expected to top more than $70 billion, not far from traditional auto makers’ valuations. Ford has a market cap of $78.4 billion, GM’s is $84.4 billion and Stellantis NV, the former Fiat Chrysler, is valued at $64 billion.

Rivian is taking a different path from many rival electric-vehicle startups, a number of which went public within the past year through mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.

What is Rivian?

The Irvine, Calif., company that became Rivian Automotive was founded by RJ Scaringe in 2009, the same year he finished his doctorate in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company originally set out to make a sports car, before pivoting to electric pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, where it saw both a bigger market and a chance to have a bigger environmental impact.

Rivian has three models in the works. An electric pickup called the R1T began deliveries to customers in September. A midsize SUV called the R1S is set to follow in December, along with an electric delivery truck designed and built for Amazon, its first commercial customer. The online retailer has an order for 100,000 of the delivery trucks. Rivian said in filings that it plans to hand over its first 10 EV vans to Amazon by the end of this year.

The company will start taking orders for its electric delivery vans from other customers in 2022 and begin deliveries in early 2023, according to its website.

Electric-truck maker Rivian plans to go public in the fall and is seeking a valuation in the tens of billions. But why are investors excited for this IPO and what makes their offering different from other EV startups? WSJ’s George Downs explains. Illustration: George Downs

How does Rivian stack up against Tesla? 

Tesla has a big head start on Rivian. While Rivian is just starting to produce its vehicles, Tesla delivered nearly half a million vehicles globally last year and, based on its performance through September, is in a position to deliver nearly 900,000 vehicles to customers this year. 

Tesla is also valued at more than $1 trillion, while Rivian is on pace to have a market cap of more than $70 billion. 

Tesla has production plants around the world and an established supply chain. Rivian is producing vehicles at a factory in Normal, Ill., that it purchased from Mitsubishi Corp. in 2017. The company has plans to expand that facility and has said it is scouting locations for a new factory elsewhere

In 2020, Tesla posted its first full year of profitability. Rivian is losing money as it continues to plan the mass production of its vehicles.

Rivian plans to emulate Tesla’s model and sell directly to consumers, an approach complicated by state franchise laws that protect the traditional dealership model.  

With whom does Rivian compete?

Rivian’s focus on pickup trucks and SUVs pits it more directly against the profit engines of Ford, GM and Ram truck maker Stellantis. However, most of Rivian’s competitors won’t be releasing their electric vehicles until next year.

Tesla has its own electric truck model—dubbed the “Cybertruck”—that will start at about $40,000, with a higher-end model capable of traveling more than 500 miles on a single charge costing around $70,000. Yet parts shortages were contributing to product delays, leading the company to postpone the rollout of its trucks for about a year. Production is now likely to start in late 2022.

Rivian’s pickup truck, which began deliveries in September, has a maximum range of 400 miles and is sold at around $77,500.

Lucid Group Inc. , a California-based upstart that went public in July through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, began building its first all-electric Air sedans in Arizona in September and started delivering them to customers last month.

Other competitors include Toyota Motor Corp. , Volkswagen AG , and Chinese makers Nio Inc., Li Auto Inc. and XPeng Inc. , the three of which reside in the world’s largest electric-car market.

Who owns Rivian?

Amazon currently holds a roughly 22% stake in Rivian. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos showed off his commitment to the company as he prepared to go to space in July; he and fellow astronauts rode to the launch site in a Rivian SUV.

Ford owns a 14% stake in the electric-car company, beating out legacy rival GM for a piece of the fledgling company that could give it access to hot EV technology while also satisfying Wall Street’s appetite for future revenue sources.

Ford’s stake, based on the projected price range, could be worth as much as $7 billion from the deal, compared with its initial investment of $500 million. It chipped in more during later funding rounds to reach $1.2 billion.

Ford has built its own EV lineup, rolling out the Mustang Mach-E SUV and has plans to debut the electric F-series pickups by 2025. It is also making significant investments in factories to make its own batteries.

Ford’s stake will be pared to about 12% after the offering and Amazon’s will be around 19%—though the tech giant has indicated an interest in building its stake.

Is Rivian profitable?

In the capital-intensive auto industry, Rivian has had to spend heavily before shipping its first vehicles.

From the start of 2020 through this June, the company posted an operating loss of roughly $2 billion and estimated a loss last quarter of between $745 million and $795 million, according to a company filing. 

One of the biggest challenges these companies will confront is mastering the intricacies of mass production, analysts say.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com