[JimmyEV]

Looks like RJ Scaringe sent out a new year update to preorder holders.

2021 New Year Update From RJ

An email arrived this morning from RJ Scaringe to what I’m assuming is preorder holders. Sharing here! Happy New Year! I hope you and your…

rivianstories.com

Happy New Year!

I hope you and your families are safe and well. Thank you for your continued support over the past year. You’ve had to wait a bit longer than anticipated for your Rivian, but your excitement hasn’t waned and we feel it, even from a distance.

This will be a historic year for Rivian. With deliveries of our R1T and R1S beginning this summer, as well as the launch of our last mile commercial vans for Amazon in the fall, we couldn’t be more excited. I started Rivian 11 years ago, and while our strategy has evolved considerably relative to the initial plan, at our core, the objective has always been the same — maximize our positive impact on the planet. These products are only the start of what we are building. We are working to further scale Rivian and our product offerings to help build the kind of world our kids and our kids’ kids deserve.

PREPARING FOR PRODUCTION

With our first deliveries only a few months away, we’re testing our vehicles and systems across every climate and condition you might encounter. I’ve been driving an R1T over the last few months and my kids have kicked, scratched and spilled on every surface in the vehicle. This is what they’re made for. Life. I can’t wait for you to get to experience these vehicles day in and day out and make your own memories in them.

OWNING A RIVIAN
Owning a Rivian should feel as delightful as driving one. Our vehicles have been developed to require minimal service, but in the event that anything needs attention, servicing a Rivian will be convenient regardless of where you live. We are building a network of mobile service vans and physical service centers so that we can either come to you or we can come pick up your vehicle and bring it in to one of our service locations.

We are also building the Rivian Adventure Network — a large network of DC fast chargers — to make it easy for you to go anywhere on the map. As we build this network, we’re focused on the most popular routes and destinations first. While we won’t have every point on the map connected on day one, our goal is to build the most explorer-centric charging network in the world. In addition to this DC charging network, we’re installing Level 2 chargers at many of the longer-stay and overnight destinations. Beyond our Rivian network, we’re ensuring our vehicles easily integrate with third-party networks, and given that the majority of charging will happen at home, we’ll have a home charging option available, too. We’ll be announcing the initial charger locations later this year, and this charger map will be integrated with our in-vehicle and mobile applications.

GATHERING AGAIN
Before the pandemic, we had the pleasure of hosting events around the country and meeting many of you in person. These were incredibly memorable moments for our team and we look forward to bringing people together again safely in 2021. We’ll be launching 10 experience centers across the U.S. in 2021 — each one connecting you to the people, places and things you love.

Thank you for being on this journey with us. We’ll be in touch soon with more updates on test drives, additional configuration options and more.

I wish all of you a great 2021!

RJ

 

[eHauler]

I hope they give of a sneak peak at what the Rivian experience centers are like sometime soon.

 

[MilesK]

I hope they give of a sneak peak at what the Rivian experience centers are like sometime soon.

I wonder how they're going to be spaced out and which states will get one.

 

[Fergie36]

I wonder how they're going to be spaced out and which states will get one.

Same here. Hope they don’t cluster this limited number of experience centers in coastal metros and skip over the Midwest.

 

[Mr. Gee]

Same here. Hope they don’t cluster this limited number of experience centers in coastal metros and skip over the Midwest.

Their factory is 2 hours from Chicago, not much of a stretch to set something up in the Midwest.

 

[JimmyEV]

I wonder how they're going to be spaced out and which states will get one.

Their factory is 2 hours from Chicago, not much of a stretch to set something up in the Midwest.

If I were to guess there's going to be at least 1 in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, and Texas

 

[Sultanum]

I am afraid the only way to test drive is to going to be to go to one of the experience centers. I don't live in a big city and I really don't want to have to drive 2 hours each way just to test drive the car

They need to have some options like they are doing for maintenance, where they drive to where you are.

 

[JimmyEV]

I am afraid the only way to test drive is to going to be to go to one of the experience centers. I don't live in a big city and I really don't want to have to drive 2 hours each way just to test drive the car

They need to have some options like they are doing for maintenance, where they drive to where you are.

I really hope that's not the case. They can't afford to turn potential customers away like that. Especially as a company that brands itself as selling adventure vehicles.

 

[R99]

Their factory is 2 hours from Chicago, not much of a stretch to set something up in the Midwest.

That should be one the first places they set up since it's so close to the factory.

 

[CO-Adventurer]

Here's hoping for a Denver experience center. It seems plausible at least as there have been a few references to Colorado in the video materials, and the Q and A with RJ and Alex Honnold was here when they announced the partnership with the Honnold Foundation. Not sure if Denver is a big enough city to beat out the larger metro areas, but seems like it fits with the Rivian brand pretty well.

 

[inkedsphynx]

I really hope that's not the case. They can't afford to turn potential customers away like that. Especially as a company that brands itself as selling adventure vehicles.

They don't have any shortage of customers. The only people that care about test drives right now are pre-order holders and early adopters. They have more of those than they can supply in the first 2 years of production, at which point they could easily have more robust test driving scenarios in place. If you or anyone else decides to drop their reservation due to inability to test drive, that just moves the next person up one spot.

I wouldn't argue that they don't care about us as consumers, but they certainly don't care about you as one individual consumer, just like no big company with plans bigger than one person does.

 

[eHauler]

I wouldn't argue that they don't care about us as consumers, but they certainly don't care about you as one individual consumer, just like no big company with plans bigger than one person does.

Yup, it often takes the collective and if not, good luck.
Fortunately Rivian's customer support team has been very responsive regardless how you try to reach them. They also updated the FAQ portion of the site with lots of info. So although its nothing like actual seat time, at least we're not being left in the dark.

 

[Rivian-WI]

I might be an odd one, but I have never bought or not bought a vehicle based on a test drive. I have always done my research first. Maybe a 'drive-by' of the vehicle to get a physical look at it. But if I enter the dealership, I have already decided to get the vehicle. With modern times and tools like the internet and email, it is a lot easier. The current vehicle was a 'walk away' via email because the dealer screwed things up, but they then gave me a real good deal. All was done before I even went to the dealer.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

I might be an odd one, but I have never bought or not bought a vehicle based on a test drive. I have always done my research first. Maybe a 'drive-by' of the vehicle to get a physical look at it. But if I enter the dealership, I have already decided to get the vehicle. With modern times and tools like the internet and email, it is a lot easier. The current vehicle was a 'walk away' via email because the dealer screwed things up, but they then gave me a real good deal. All was done before I even went to the dealer.

All well and good to do your research... But I would never buy a vehicle without spending some time in the physical model. Maybe it doesn't have to be the same VIN I'm buying... But it's got to be the same model.

 

[mattman44]

I might be an odd one, but I have never bought or not bought a vehicle based on a test drive. I have always done my research first. Maybe a 'drive-by' of the vehicle to get a physical look at it. But if I enter the dealership, I have already decided to get the vehicle. With modern times and tools like the internet and email, it is a lot easier. The current vehicle was a 'walk away' via email because the dealer screwed things up, but they then gave me a real good deal. All was done before I even went to the dealer.

Agreed. Haven't been disappointed yet.

 

[Mr. Gee]

I am afraid the only way to test drive is to going to be to go to one of the experience centers. I don't live in a big city and I really don't want to have to drive 2 hours each way just to test drive the car

They need to have some options like they are doing for maintenance, where they drive to where you are.

There are no Audi dealers in Wyoming and only 1 each in North and South Dakota, which means that at some point a potential customer there will have to make a trip to get one. Tesla was pretty limited initially. You don't go from non-existent to "within an hour of every American" overnight. They will start with urban centers to hit the maximum number of potential customers with each location and then gradual spread out their network. Trust me, there will be plenty of frustrated people in LA, Dallas and Chicago at first. It's not just you.

 

[Sultanum]

What you are saying makes sense and I would definitely not hold it against Rivian if I can't test drive the car.

But keep in mind that none of the other automakers have maintenance going to your house. So it would not surprise me if they have a similar scheme for test driving.

There are no Audi dealers in Wyoming and only 1 each in North and South Dakota, which means that at some point a potential customer there will have to make a trip to get one. Tesla was pretty limited initially. You don't go from non-existent to "within an hour of every American" overnight. They will start with urban centers to hit the maximum number of potential customers with each location and then gradual spread out their network. Trust me, there will be plenty of frustrated people in LA, Dallas and Chicago at first. It's not just you.

Definitely wouldn't mind buying it without the test drive. My wife though would kill me if I buy a $77500 dollars car without even seen one in person.

I might be an odd one, but I have never bought or not bought a vehicle based on a test drive. I have always done my research first. Maybe a 'drive-by' of the vehicle to get a physical look at it. But if I enter the dealership, I have already decided to get the vehicle. With modern times and tools like the internet and email, it is a lot easier. The current vehicle was a 'walk away' via email because the dealer screwed things up, but they then gave me a real good deal. All was done before I even went to the dealer.

 

[MilesK]

I might be an odd one, but I have never bought or not bought a vehicle based on a test drive. I have always done my research first. Maybe a 'drive-by' of the vehicle to get a physical look at it. But if I enter the dealership, I have already decided to get the vehicle. With modern times and tools like the internet and email, it is a lot easier. The current vehicle was a 'walk away' via email because the dealer screwed things up, but they then gave me a real good deal. All was done before I even went to the dealer.

I like to do a lot of research too and the test drive for me is the final step to make sure everything I've looked at is right. For the most part it's sealed the deal but a couple of times it's made me reconsider a car.

 

[BoltEVowner]

Bought my first Volt in 2012, and BoltEV in 2017, both sight unseen, was not disappointed by either choice. First GM vehicles in MANY years.

Everything about the Rivian R1T looks and sounds great, except $10k to wait for the 400+ range. But 300+ is still better than my 240 mile BoltEV, and the R1T will charge at least 3X faster on a DCFC by EA. A lot to like. Still won't be as good as a future model with a solid state battery, but cannot live in the future.

A wise comedian once said, "You should never purchase something you can't afford... unless you really want it!"

So, do you really want it?

 

[Mr. Gee]

Bought my first Volt in 2012, and BoltEV in 2017, both sight unseen, was not disappointed by either choice. First GM vehicles in MANY years.

Everything about the Rivian R1T looks and sounds great, except $10k to wait for the 400+ range. But 300+ is still better than my 240 mile BoltEV, and the R1T will charge at least 3X faster on a DCFC by EA. A lot to like. Still won't be as good as a future model with a solid state battery, but cannot live in the future.

A wise comedian once said, "You should never purchase something you can't afford... unless you really want it!"

So, do you really want it?

I'd love solid state battery tech but QuantumScape's latest estimate is 2024, so there are lots of tomorrows ahead before we get cheaper/better/longer range.