I have a max battery pack as part of my preorder and I'm wondering if Rivian has built, or knows how to build, a max pack batter configuration. Putting aside the current challenges with batter supply, do we have any information from Rivian on just how "real" the max batter config is? Or, are they selling something that just has not yet been built?
I think the Max pack is real, but its size limits its use to the R1T. There is evidence, but no real confirmation, for this belief.
Rivian presently allows customers to opt for the Max pack on the R1T, though not the R1S and never has. This is a significant change from what Rivian initially indicated with respect to the Max and the R1S. When I first put my deposit in place, May of 2020, the website referenced the Max battery pack option for both the R1S and the R1T. When the configurator went live, you could only configure the R1T with it. Not only did Rivian not offer it as an option for the R1S, they also removed any reference to "Max" on the SUV webpage. Calls to CS about this confirm that it's been removed, and the reps are careful to say only some form of "we're working on a longer range battery pack for the R1S and hope to be able to offer it in the near future. That "near future" has been well over a year however.
My reservation is for an R1T Max, and the December 2021 email from Rivian with my delivery window referenced the first half of 2023. Others have gotten a second half of 2023 window for their R1T Max reservation. As far as I'm aware, Rivian has not offered a Max delivery window in 2022.
As an editorial comment, given the parts shortages, supply chain issues and general production difficulties that Rivian is experiencing, I strongly suspect that no R1T Max's will be in driveways until very late in 2023 at the earliest. I'll also say that I strongly suspect Rivian will not offer anything other than the 135 kWh battery pack (aka, the Long Range pack) on the quad-motor R1S; the "Longer Range" will be deferred until the dual-motor R1S is available.
So to recap, given that Rivian allows new customer to configure their R1T pre-order with the Max battery, and has also provided delivery windows for the R1T Max to many existing pre-order holders, I'm satisfied that it's real.