[Szimmer624]

So I just saw in the updated configurator they want $3500 for black 22s on the launch edition. I was fully prepared to pay $1700-2000 for the rims, but full retail negates some of the Launch Edition perks, so I’m sticking w the standard 22s.

I’m contemplating buying another set of rims for winter tires. Is there anything special about these rims specific to the Rivian? Do I need to worry about the special Pirelli tires?

I’m pretty disappointed with the cosmetic uncharges. You could be $8000+ just for colors. I’m sticking with launch free, ocean interior and the standard 22s.

 

[Rivian-WI]

The 'stock' rims are fine to me. They add accents to the vehicle.
But I did have the same thought about snow tires. With little information on the tires and wheels, and tire sites not having Rivian in their configurations, it is difficult to find tires/wheels. But what I did was take the tire size and worked backwards to guess at the wheel size. I then took that info and went to tirerack to price out some winter tires /wheel sets. I think with the cheapest wheels (which happen to be all black), it came out to to around $2000 for a full set. Does not include mounting on the vehicle. Btw, I ordered R1T with the 22" all season, but for the snow tires, I went with the 20" wheels. Once Rivian gets into the configurations it is a lot easier because I know Tirerack helps figure out different size wheels/tires for vehicles and still stay same overall size.

 

[Szimmer624]

They’re fine for me too. I’ve been wanting black rims on my SUV for the last 5 years, so I was really excited.

I’ve been supportive of all the pricing upgrades (2 tiers of paint, forest edge interior, 5 vs 7 seats, etc). If they aren’t profitable, then they won’t survive. If they don’t survive, we don’t get service, charging network, or a resalable vehicle. Of course, I don’t know the margin on/unit cost of the standard 22s vs the black 22s, so whos to say if this is reasonable.

I was fully prepared to pay ~$2k as a launch edition pre-order. This one seemed excessive and is most disappointing.

 

[Wildabeest]

The 21” rim is a new tire size specific to the Rivian. This will greatly limit options for replacement tires and make them stupid expensive. TireRack shows NO tires in 275/55R21. Just another reason to go with the 20’s or 22’s.

 

[FirstStateR1T]

I plan to remove mine (road 21") and have my powdercoat guy refinish them asap!

 

[ZheFury]

Honestly, I’ll probably just plasti-dip mine. When done right it looks good, it’s cost effective, and it’s really easy to fix if it gets scratched up.

 

[Szimmer624]

Just spoke w customer service. They confirmed the dark rims are full price. Definitely bummed.

 

[eHauler]

At $3.5k its definitely too much and I hope future options aren't priced like this.

If the R1T bolt pattern is 6x135mm/6x5 like the F-150, it will open us up to an endless amount of aftermarket wheel options. MHT has been a favorite for me on current pickups and should work well here too. Pricing is also better for what we get.

What wheel brands and model of wheel would you guys get?

BTW, this is how that $3.5k black wheel package from Rivian looks.

 

[Steve]

Same thoughts here. I am keeping my launch edition LA silver cause it’s free and launch green is not my taste. I did upgrade to green interior as I’m inside the car when using it and it looks the best to me so I felt that was worth it. And I’m keeping the 18” rims cause I’ll take this truck off road a lot and feel like they will be best for range while on the road.
I put black rims on all my cars so I was super excited with Rivian’s announcement. But I can easily get the stock one painted or powder-coated for about $1k
I know Rivian will be pushing a lot of add ons over the next few months and I will surely bite on some of them. They would likely get better conversion if they priced a bit more aggressively

 

[ZheFury]

This is the email I sent to customer service. I doubt it changes anything, but I felt like our frustrations needed to be heard.


Hi,

I was excited to see y’all are offering the dark wheels on the launch edition configurator. I was also extremely disappointed to see you’re charging $3500 for them. I’m a huge Rivian fan but y’all must be out of your minds asking that much for those wheels. Comparable aftermarket wheels run about $200-$300 per wheel, or $800-$1200 for a set of 4. Obviously you’re the company making the vehicle and you can charge whatever you want, but it’s just kind of a jerk move to price gouge your customers that badly. That’s a topic that is trending on the forums right now too. Future owners are pretty disappointed in that pricing move. I don’t expect you’ll do anything with this information, but I hope you do.

 

[ZheFury]

Got a reply from CS. It was basically along the lines of “Thanks for the input, now go F yourself. We can charge what we want.” That’s about what I expected, but their attitude is a little disappointing.

 

[Chris Adams]

It does feel like if the Launch edition comes with a "free" $1800 AT wheel upgrade, the cost of the black AT wheels should be at least reduced by $1800 for the Launch edition. I talked to customer service and shared that with them and they said "we've gotten a lot of that feedback", but that they would be keeping them at $3500.

 

[eHauler]

Sadly, they might only learn when poor sales prove that no one wants to pay $3500.
IMO, at that price, or around it, Rivian should be giving us some more off road worthy wheel/tire setup.

 

[Szimmer624]

Sadly, they might only learn when poor sales prove that no one wants to pay $3500.
IMO, at that price, or around it, Rivian should be giving us some more off road worthy wheel/tire setup.

I’m leaving the silver rims on my build. There’s a slim chance I’ll change my mind at the end, but I doubt it. Hopefully, no one adds the dark rims and Rivian gets the message.

 

[Chris S]

They originally weren't planning to offer black rims at all in 2021. Maybe they had to push their black rim supplier to accelerate a limited supply of them for the launch edition. If they don't have many available, I could see the logic of charging full price as some people will bite. The launch edition is a great value, and nobody needs black rims. I generally like black rims, but IMO the black 20's don't look as good as the "free" 20's.

 

[Sultanum]

I was excited with the black rims too, and disappointed with the price. But seriously, they have to keep their margins.

Do you guys remember that the $75,000 (77,500 for the R1S) price of the launch edition was supposed to be the starting price? At some point Rivian announced that it would be the price of a well equipped vehicle. Their starting price dropped $7500---that is 10%---and they haven't even announced prices for the smaller battery. We will probably see a price drop of over 15% for the starting price.

RJ Scaringe and other folks at Rivian may be idealists, but they are taking money from investors like BlackRock and they have to show these guys that they can have good margins on their vehicles. If that means charging $3500 for black rims and other goodies, so be it.

 

[bsohl]

I definitely agree that $3,500 is pricey for those rims. It's a double whammy that they're the same price when added to the Launch Edition when the Launch Edition already included a "free" upgrade to the AT rims. At least a small discount for the dark upgrade would have been nice. But realistically, I expect Rivian to be recouping costs through all the upgrades so that they can keep the base price down. I did email customer support about all of this, and they replied with a cordial but typically corporate reply. It was the first time though that I was left with a bit of a bitter taste after several terrific interactions with their customer support reps.

 

[eHauler]

I was excited with the black rims too, and disappointed with the price. But seriously, they have to keep their margins.

Do you guys remember that the $75,000 (77,500 for the R1S) price of the launch edition was supposed to be the starting price? At some point Rivian announced that it would be the price of a well equipped vehicle. Their starting price dropped $7500---that is 10%---and they haven't even announced prices for the smaller battery. We will probably see a price drop of over 15% for the starting price.

RJ Scaringe and other folks at Rivian may be idealists, but they are taking money from investors like BlackRock and they have to show these guys that they can have good margins on their vehicles. If that means charging $3500 for black rims and other goodies, so be it.

Great point. Fundamentals like that cannot be ignored. A way around this is to offer upgrade packages with more parts like what Jeep, Dodge and RAM does. I believe they make excellent margins and most folks don't think twice about the upgrade.

 

[Sultanum]

More parts like a $5000 kitchen! That is almost entirely profit. Doubt that cost much more than 1k for them. And it's so unique that people will buy it.

Great point. Fundamentals like that cannot be ignored. A way around this is to offer upgrade packages with more parts like what Jeep, Dodge and RAM does. I believe they make excellent margins and most folks don't think twice about the upgrade.

 

[eHauler]

More parts like a $5000 kitchen! That is almost entirely profit. Doubt that cost much more than 1k for them. And it's so unique that people will buy it.

I just want an off road package with beadlock wheels, bull bars, and the like.