[O. horridus]

Wow, that's some jumping to conclusions. Who ever said anything about Ocean Coast being "more complicated"?

There are a variety of reasons that the light wood could be a problem. The material is the same as the other two interiors, the milling is the same, but the finish is different. So maybe the bleached finish interacts chemically with the vegan leather and stains it. Or interacts with the screws that hold it and corrodes them. Or the metal in the screws discolors the wood over time. Or maybe the bleached finish weakens the wood and makes it harder to assemble without damaging the wood. Or maybe the bleaching chemical is in short supply or recently banned by the EPA. Etc. Etc. Etc. Whatever it is, IMO this is probably something that should have been identified during the prototyping and testing process. I can't imagine they didn't know about this long ago - I guess they were just hoping to find a solution before they had to meet some of their OC delivery windows. It would have been nice to have been notified sooner, rather than after assigning guides and signing PBAs for some people with OC. They've known since November (when they assigned the delivery windows for OC builds) that this deadline was coming.

This is a superficial and sloppy article. For example: "Rivian kicked off R1T electric pickup production at an incredibly slow rate—it made just two vehicles per day." Well, duh. They actually started at just 0 vehicles a days BTW. You don't start out making 1000 a day, of anything - you make a test run, identify problems, fix the problems, make another test run, etc. Then when you've worked out the kinks you can start doing volume production. I bet FORD only made a few Lightnings a day initially as well.

This is the second Rivian article I have read from that guy and I am not at all impressed.

 

[Lloyd]

Ford has produced only 1500 lightenings! Just for Context. 😃

 

[JEV]

They don't bleach the wood. It's just a clear coat with some white paint blended in. It's very difficult to produce a consistent color without much pigment, since wood is a natural material which can vary in color and texture. It's much easier to get a consistent appearance with darker stains. That said, you would think they would have known that going in.

It would explain why some of the pictures of OC wood looked pinkish and others more white.

 

[DROR1S]

Any indications out there of what colors will be done most frequently? Have R1S on order and would happily change the color.

 

[LifeMachine]

Oh the humanity!

 

[@Boise]

Rivian's new plan of attack to increase production seems to be focusing on "less complicated" orders first.

If you've ordered a Ocean Coast interior your order is going to get leap frogged by orders with Black Mountain and Forest Edge interiors. I didn't think the light wood is more challenging to produce than the darker woods.

Rivian Will Speed Up R1T Production by Delaying More Complicated Orders

Rivian kicked off R1T electric pickup production at an incredibly slow rate—it made just two vehicles per day. And while the company is slowly inching toward a more reasonable production volume, its latest revelation may disappoint some customers. Basically, complicated vehicle customizations...

www.reviewgeek.com

Rivian kicked off R1T electric pickup production at an incredibly slow rate—it made just two vehicles per day. And while the company is slowly inching toward a more reasonable production volume, its latest revelation may disappoint some customers. Basically, complicated vehicle customizations take more time to manufacture, so they’re getting delayed.

In an email sent to Rivian R1T and R1S customers, Rivian announced that vehicles with Ocean Coast interiors won’t start arriving until “later this fall.” The Ocean Coast interior uses fancy light wood paneling, which is more difficult (and perhaps more expensive) to produce than the Black Mountain and Forest Edge interiors.

Additionally, Rivian says that it will focus on a “batched” production schedule. It’s just easier for the company to pump out a ton of trucks and SUVs that use the same paint and wheel colors. (So, vehicles with simple or default paint jobs may take priority—Rivian hasn’t really clarified this point.)

Honing its production schedule should help Rivian deliver more cars in 2022. The company notes that Adventure Package vehicles should roll out with Launch Edition orders over the coming months. Also, Rivian will reach out to customers in May about their vehicle’s configuration; if you change certain options, you could receive your delivery early.

Rivian has always communicated batch processing, configuration/location/pre order date in that order.

The current primary mid to long term issue is parts supply. Rivian has clearly and repeatedly communicated it could build and deliver more that 13,500 (15k built, 13.5k delivered) R1s in 2022 IF it had the parts. Looming is battery supply that could idle production for significant periods of time.

Rivian is doing everything it has control of to deliver and sell R1s. It is a baby fish in a tank filled with huge made OEM fish!

 

[NY_Rob]

Wood has been around, well like forever and we have been "processing" it for 1000's of years to suit our tastes and desires. So in 2022 it's suddenly "complicated" to produce a whitewashed piece of Ash? Pleeeeese......

 

[JEV]

Wood has been around, well like forever and we have been "processing" it for 1000's of years to suit our tastes and desires. So in 2022 it's suddenly "complicated" to produce a whitewashed piece of Ash? Pleeeeese......

Have you done any wood finishing work with white wash ? Wood is a natural material and varies in grain texture and color. Darker stains can cover up flaws, but white wash with a clear finish is harder to do with a consistent appearance. I saw an OC interior at the first mile event and I didn't like it. It can come out as more yellowish or pinkish depending on the piece of wood. I'm surprised they offered it as standard and only up charged for FE. I think BM is standard now and OC/FE are optional.

 

[IThinkFreely]

Had my First Mile drive today and the Rivian guys seemed way less concerned by the Ocean Coast delay. They figure maybe a couple of months - no big deal. They had already received some Adventure R1Ts at the Brooklyn SC so delivery of those is imminent.

 

[NY_Rob]

Have you done any wood finishing work with white wash ? Wood is a natural material and varies in grain texture and color. Darker stains can cover up flaws, but white wash with a clear finish is harder to do with a consistent appearance. I saw an OC interior at the first mile event and I didn't like it. It can come out as more yellowish or pinkish depending on the piece of wood. I'm surprised they offered it as standard and only up charged for FE. I think BM is standard now and OC/FE are optional.

Yes, I actually stained my kid's dresser (oak) and captain's bed (pine) about 10yrs ago using Pickled Oak. Sanded, chemically cleaned and primed the wood to prevent blotting then stained, sanded, stained, varnished, sanded again, etc... till they were done. It was a process but they came out beautiful and both are still in use today. It was not that difficult and I am a rank amateur when it comes to staining.

If the ash they use is so difficult to stain, switch to oak or another hardwood that's easier to stain... or go with a synthetic material, they could even use recycled material like BMW did with the i3 interior. How this is a problem at this late stage just shows how poor their pre-production planning was. What did they do, make two OC dashboards and they said "we're good to go"? Come on, it's ridiculous that a multi-billion dollar vehicle manufacturer can't produce a usable wood dashboard.

 

[sciencegeek]

Holy carp you guys are really in the weeds, uh woods, there.

I just don't have reason to question a presumably reasonably rational decision about this quandary on part of Rivian. They have reasons. Just don't whine if you, as the early risk-taker, don't get your entitled expectations fulfilled without a glitch.

 

[JEV]

All we can do is speculate based on what little information they share. I get the frustration, I'm waiting on my delivery just like everyone else. I switched from FE to BM in early March after my guide said it would get me a truck sooner. And here we are at the end of April and I still don't have a delivery date. Now they are saying FE is available, but I'm already locked in for BM. I'll take either one, since I like them both. I guess I'll stick with BM rather than spend $2000 additional for FE. The only interior color I don't like is OC. It's all a matter of personal taste.

 

[watchhand]

Rivian's new plan of attack to increase production seems to be focusing on "less complicated" orders first.

If you've ordered a Ocean Coast interior your order is going to get leap frogged by orders with Black Mountain and Forest Edge interiors. I didn't think the light wood is more challenging to produce than the darker woods.

Rivian Will Speed Up R1T Production by Delaying More Complicated Orders

Rivian kicked off R1T electric pickup production at an incredibly slow rate—it made just two vehicles per day. And while the company is slowly inching toward a more reasonable production volume, its latest revelation may disappoint some customers. Basically, complicated vehicle customizations...

www.reviewgeek.com

Rivian kicked off R1T electric pickup production at an incredibly slow rate—it made just two vehicles per day. And while the company is slowly inching toward a more reasonable production volume, its latest revelation may disappoint some customers. Basically, complicated vehicle customizations take more time to manufacture, so they’re getting delayed.

In an email sent to Rivian R1T and R1S customers, Rivian announced that vehicles with Ocean Coast interiors won’t start arriving until “later this fall.” The Ocean Coast interior uses fancy light wood paneling, which is more difficult (and perhaps more expensive) to produce than the Black Mountain and Forest Edge interiors.

Additionally, Rivian says that it will focus on a “batched” production schedule. It’s just easier for the company to pump out a ton of trucks and SUVs that use the same paint and wheel colors. (So, vehicles with simple or default paint jobs may take priority—Rivian hasn’t really clarified this point.)

Honing its production schedule should help Rivian deliver more cars in 2022. The company notes that Adventure Package vehicles should roll out with Launch Edition orders over the coming months. Also, Rivian will reach out to customers in May about their vehicle’s configuration; if you change certain options, you could receive your delivery early.

 

[watchhand]

My suggestion to Rivian is offer the dark wood with the Ocean Coast interior instead of the light color wood. Our order for the R1S was placed in Oct 2018 and my wife does not want a black or green interior on her white exterior car. I'm pretty sure that many others would be totally fine with the black wood as a replacement to still get the car sooner. We did take delivery of our R1T with black interior 2 weeks back.

 

[O. horridus]

In the email sent out on Friday, Rivian specifically said they will not be doing that.

 

[watchhand]

In the email sent out on Friday, Rivian specifically said they will not be doing that.

Yep I read that too, however I still believe it is a better option than delaying long term orders.

 

[O. horridus]

For some perhaps, but they've clearly ruled that out. For me, I would rather keep the "light" look - adding the black wood greatly increases the contrast in the interior and defeats part of the purpose in having a light colored interior. I would prefer they just fix the problem with the Ocean Coast finish, or just use a simpler finish that's equally light colored - such as a clear finish to show the natural color of the wood.

 

[Broker21]

I've read most of the responses in this forum, and would like to point out that it's unbelievable that how far fetch some of them really are.
I preordered my R1S with the Ocean Coast and light wood. Prior to placing my preorder, I contacted Rivian to question asto why I was limited to Ocean Coast with light wood and not have the opportunity to select Ocean Coast with Dark Wood or Forest. I was told that those combinations were the only options. I once had a vehicle with similar light wood. Over time I found myself totally hating it. It changed colors at least twice. It may be that RIVIAN has discovered this and require additional time to resolve color fading.
Finally, I spoke to a Customer Service Representative to ask if there is problem with the light wood as mentioned, and is there a possibility that I could change to Ocean Coast with Dark Wood or Forest which Tesla offers. Which could be a that Tesla does not offer the Light Wood. "I was told that light wood availability was the issue!"
Finally I'm reading a disturbing email that the options are to switch upon notification in May, or wait out my already two and half year wait for Ocean Coast with Light Wood.

 

[IThinkFreely]

My suggestion to Rivian is offer the dark wood with the Ocean Coast interior instead of the light color wood. Our order for the R1S was placed in Oct 2018 and my wife does not want a black or green interior on her white exterior car. I'm pretty sure that many others would be totally fine with the black wood as a replacement to still get the car sooner. We did take delivery of our R1T with black interior 2 weeks back.

I don't think you placed an order in October 2018.