Rivian postpones first deliveries by several weeks

The electric car start-up Rivian, which is supported by Amazon and Ford, among others, has slightly postponed the start of deliveries for the Launch Edition of its R1T electric pickup from June to July 2021. The completion of deliveries is announced for spring 2022.

++ This article has been updated. Kindly continue reading below. ++

Previously, there had already been corresponding discussions in the Rivian Owners Forum, and the information has now been confirmed by the company itself. However, so far this only concerns the deliveries of the R1T pickup. Rivian does not give a reason for the postponement to July. It remains to be seen whether the R1S SUV, which is expected to be delivered from August, will also arrive a few weeks later.

Rivian had opened the configurator in November 2020, first for pre-orderers, later also for non-pre-orderers. The “Launch Edition” was subsequently sold out for both models within a short period of time, despite a base price of the special model of $75,000 for the R1T and $77,500 for the R1S.

According to Rivian, all pre-orderers of the Launch Edition of the R1T and the R1S electric SUV will be given their expected delivery date by the end of November. The manufacturer plans to launch its driving events in August 2021, initially in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Detroit and Seattle. More cities are to be announced soon.

In addition, Rivian has made some small changes in the configurator. The off-road upgrade is now no longer part of the standard equipment, but available as an option. However, the installed air compressor, which was previously part of the off-road upgrade, is still part of the standard equipment.

Meanwhile, there is also the accessories catalogue called “Rivian Adventure Gear”. There you will find, among other things, a roof tent, special carriers for bicycles, boards and kayaks as well as the loading equipment. As part of the “Adventure Gear”, there is also an outdoor kitchen that can be pulled out of the cargo area placed transversely behind the passenger cabin.

Update 19 July 2021: Rivian has pushed back the start of deliveries for the Launch Edition of its R1T electric pickup by a few weeks. After the start of deliveries had already been postponed from June to July 2021, deliveries will now only begin in September and be completed in spring 2022.

Specifically, the pre-orderers were asked to check again in their Rivian account the deposited address to which the vehicle is to be delivered. According to Rivian, this data will be used to determine the scheduling of deliveries. Afterwards, the customer advisors – called “guides” in the brand jargon – will call the customers to discuss the configuration of the vehicle and to inform them of the expected delivery time. So it is possible that delivery will depend on certain features. “All R1T and R1S Launch Edition preorder holders will hear from their Guide by the end of November with their expected delivery timing,” Rivian said.

The renewed delay in the start of deliveries and also the span to spring 2022 for the Launch Edition are somewhat surprising – after all, Rivian had announced about a week ago that it would also launch in Europe from early 2022. The expansion to Europe, even while the vehicles of the pre-orderers are still being delivered in North America, thus seems to be a very ambitious schedule.

insideevs.com, electrek.co, rivian.com, carscoops.com, cnbc.com, rivian.com (last three update)