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What a Record! Rivian Customer Takes Delivery of an R1T After Only 19 Days

There might just be a Rivian lottery after all. This one lucky customer got their hands on a brand-new R1T pickup in just 19 days. It’s an impressive move coming from the startup. Here’s how it happened and what others are saying.
Rivian R1T 6 photos
Photo: Rivian
Rivian R1T pickup truckRivian R1T pickup truckRivian R1T pickup truckRivian R1T pickup truckRivian R1T pickup truck
Rivian is trying its best to meet or maybe even go beyond the output they forecasted for this year’s manufacturing efforts. The American EV maker wants to deliver as many as 25,000 units until the end of 2022. That number may seem incredibly small if we look at what Tesla’s doing, but one should keep in mind this is a startup we’re talking about. Let’s not add parts sourcing, high energy prices, and a delicate health situation to this as well. Who knows what we might get into then!

As sometimes is the case in the automotive sector, some customers get very lucky with allocations. Looking at how important the R1T has become for the North American market, it’s encouraging to see more and more Rivians out and about. One incredibly fortunate buyer managed to order the famed all-electric pickup truck, and it was delivered to them in just 19 days.

The whole process – from ordering it to signing the documents and getting a vehicle identification number (VIN) – took less than three weeks. That’s right, this one lucky person managed to overshadow the previous record holder of - what we only last week considered it to be - an unusually fast delivery of 43 days.

But the peculiarities don’t stop here. The customer says they ordered the R1T on the 21st of May and Rivian confirmed the configuration and sent the truck to this person’s location in the Greater Seattle Area just seven days later, on the 28th of May! The delivery could’ve happened even sooner if it wasn’t for making sure all the documents were in order and the truck was ready to be driven around.

Using the nickname FrowntownPitt on the popular forum Reddit, the customer tells others the pickup is “amazing,” and they will “definitely be writing up bug reports and feature requests.” The happy owner is a tech enthusiast and software engineer.

This Rivian R1T is an Adventure trim model equipped with the Large battery pack. It has a Forest Green exterior and a Black Mountain interior. The vehicle is a 7100 series production model.

Upon hearing about his experience, other forum users were happy and confused simultaneously. They offered their congratulations but also expressed regret. Some pre-order holders still expect their trucks, while completely new customers get more attention from the American manufacturer.

But the fast deliveries don’t stop here. Multiple new customers say they were unexpectedly fast-tracked into owning an R1T. Some share the same experience as described above. Rivian’s pushing hard to send as many zero-emission trucks to buyers. And that got many thinking about what’s going on behind the curtains. Even the lucky new owner of an all-electric pickup said price may be a deciding factor. This was sent as a reply to someone that said they have the same configuration, but the only difference is that they locked in the lower, original price.

As you may remember, Rivian decided to hike the prices for the R1T and the R1S but quickly changed their minds after public outrage and many order cancelations. The higher values remained in place only for those that ordered their vehicles after the “we’re raising prices” fiasco.

Now people are suspicious about the automaker favoring those who paid the extra buck. Given what’s currently happening, this may be the case. However, Rivian might also be taking some other factors into account. But until an official response is sent out, pre-order holders are entitled to their own opinions and frustrations.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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