Photo: Rivian | Edited
Rivian is stepping up R1T production and expects deliveries to speed up significantly in the coming months. Rivian's communications director Andy Bowman is confident that thousands of R1T reservation holders will get their trucks in the next 1-4 months. This covers existing configurations, not the ones that people waited more than a year to become available.
Rivian had a rough 2022, with production ramp-up hindered by supply chain problems. The startup had to reconsider its production estimates, cutting it in half to 25,000 units. Even this figure was narrowly missed, and Rivian claimed it had the vehicles, but they were not complete and ready to ship at the end of December 2022. The 2022 results also showed a big discrepancy between the number of assembled vehicles and deliveries. It didn't look good and suggested that Rivian could not find buyers for about one-fifth of its production.
On the other hand, many reservation holders were waiting for more than a year to have their Rivian delivered. As of September 2022, the last time Rivian shared the number of reservations, it had around 114,000 people on the waitlist. It appears that Rivian will finally be able to cut down on its backlogs in the coming months as long as people accept one of the available configurations.
Andy Bowman, Rivian's director of communications, has told The Verge that thousands of R1T reservation holders will receive an invitation to configure their truck in the coming days. Access to the configurator is only granted to people receiving the invitation, and they have to place an order to lock in the price. Once their order is confirmed, they will get the vehicle in the next 1-4 months.
Following the price hike fiasco in 2022, Rivian has removed the option to secure the price at the time of reserving a vehicle. You can only "visualize" the trucks and configure them later when Rivian sends the invitations to those whose orders can be fulfilled in the next 1-4 months. That's why not all trims are available to configure, and people still have to wait for versions that include the dual-motor drivetrain or Max Pack battery option, for instance.
The company warns those who wish to wait until their configurations are available that the pricing and availability may change before you can place an order. This might be good or bad, depending on the market trends. Considering the price war Tesla started, Rivian might be forced to lower the prices in the future, but that's not guaranteed. On the other hand, if you choose to configure the truck with the options currently available, the configuration will be price-protected as long as you don't make any changes.
Rivian said in its Q4 2022 earnings call that it expects to deliver 50,000 vehicles in 2023. These include the R1S SUV and the Amazon EDV delivery vans. The numbers are lower than analyst expectations, explaining why the stock price had plummeted. It didn't help that Rivian sought to raise more money by selling $1.3 billion worth of convertible notes, a move considered risky.
On the other hand, many reservation holders were waiting for more than a year to have their Rivian delivered. As of September 2022, the last time Rivian shared the number of reservations, it had around 114,000 people on the waitlist. It appears that Rivian will finally be able to cut down on its backlogs in the coming months as long as people accept one of the available configurations.
Andy Bowman, Rivian's director of communications, has told The Verge that thousands of R1T reservation holders will receive an invitation to configure their truck in the coming days. Access to the configurator is only granted to people receiving the invitation, and they have to place an order to lock in the price. Once their order is confirmed, they will get the vehicle in the next 1-4 months.
Following the price hike fiasco in 2022, Rivian has removed the option to secure the price at the time of reserving a vehicle. You can only "visualize" the trucks and configure them later when Rivian sends the invitations to those whose orders can be fulfilled in the next 1-4 months. That's why not all trims are available to configure, and people still have to wait for versions that include the dual-motor drivetrain or Max Pack battery option, for instance.
The company warns those who wish to wait until their configurations are available that the pricing and availability may change before you can place an order. This might be good or bad, depending on the market trends. Considering the price war Tesla started, Rivian might be forced to lower the prices in the future, but that's not guaranteed. On the other hand, if you choose to configure the truck with the options currently available, the configuration will be price-protected as long as you don't make any changes.
Rivian said in its Q4 2022 earnings call that it expects to deliver 50,000 vehicles in 2023. These include the R1S SUV and the Amazon EDV delivery vans. The numbers are lower than analyst expectations, explaining why the stock price had plummeted. It didn't help that Rivian sought to raise more money by selling $1.3 billion worth of convertible notes, a move considered risky.
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