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Rivian Spills the Beans About the First Two Delivered R1S, No Money Changed Hands

Rivian last week announced the first deliveries of its long-awaited R1S SUV. Although the bulk of the orders will not be delivered until next summer, two lucky guys already got their cars. Thanks to a Rivian post on Twitter, we now know who they were.
Rivian "delivered" the first two R1S units to company's managers 6 photos
Photo: Rivian
Rivian "delivered" the first two R1S units to company's managersRivian "delivered" the first two R1S units to company's managersRivian "delivered" the first two R1S units to company's managersRivian "delivered" the first two R1S units to company's managersRivian "delivered" the first two R1S units to company's managers
Rivian is a hot subject these days, as the company plans to ramp up production and at the same time is looking to build new plants to expand its tiny foothold into the automotive world. The American EV maker is already underway with R1T pick-up truck deliveries but R1S SUV is still missing in action, at least from the perspectives of the customers who ordered it.

Nevertheless, Rivian announced the first two “deliveries” of the R1S SUV last week, with more to come by the end of the year. This is despite an announcement made earlier that warned customers of lengthy delays that could push the deliveries as far as next summer. Now, Rivian also revealed who were the lucky folks that put their hand on the R1S’s wheel.

The company shared in a tweet the two cars were handed over to the company’s CEO RJ Scaringe and CFO Claire McDonald. It is not unusual, at least for Rivian, as you remember the first R1T pick-up was also delivered to RJ Scaringe. Most of the initial R1Ts ware also delivered to Rivian’s employees and only recently did the outside customers start receiving their cars.

Based on that, we expect the next R1S deliveries to also be for Rivian employees, presumably to those who didn’t want or need a pick-up truck. It could be considered as some sort of internal beta-testing before the cars get in the hands of actual customers. This allows for ironing out some teething problems, mostly software we guess, as not much can be changed that far into the production cycle.

Based on the recent Q3 2021 report, Rivian has more than 70,000 preorders for the R1T/R1S duo. As of December 15, the production count reached 652, with 386 of those already delivered, including the two R1S SUVs.

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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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