Rivian is telling customers that it won’t be building R1T pickup vans with the “Max Pack” battery alternative until 2023, as it’ll be prioritizing ones with the same old “huge” battery p.c. for production during next year (via Electrek). In an e-mail attributed to CEO RJ Scaringe, the employer says it’s going to paintings on orders for the higher-trim “journey bundle” vehicles with the normal battery first, and that the lower-end “Explorer package deal” and bigger battery will come later.
When the organization debuted its truck in 2018, the 400-mile envisioned variety afforded via the 180kWh Max % turned into a huge promoting factor. The “massive” battery Pack that comes generally with the vehicles gets an EPA envisioned range of 314 miles, however for the adventurous, off-avenue crowd Rivian markets too, every extra mile counts.
In step with the e-mail, about 20 percent of the preorders are for motors with the $10,000 Max pack option. Given the 71,000 preorders stated via the letter, that’s around 14,200 motors stricken by the delay. It’s now not the first time the corporation has had to keep off its timeline the authentic plan became to start transporting its electric-powered vans and SUVs in 2020, but the R1T didn’t begin arriving till September 2021. The agency has plans to build a 2nd manufacturing facility (which needs to come with more battery production capacity) but doesn’t expect to start generating motors there until 2024.
At the same time as Rivian’s patrol vehicles are the flashiest (and the maximum fun to force up a mountain), Rivian also has obligations to corporate customers. Amazon (which owns at least a 20 percent stake within the agency, as discovered inside the S-1 that preceded Rivian’s blockbuster IPO) has pledged to buy 100,000 delivery vehicles from the corporation by 2024.
Rivian also plans to begin selling the one’s vehicles and fleet versions of the R1S and R1T to non-Amazon corporations in 2023. Meaning that Rivian’s interest, production ability, and ,materials including ever-scarce pc chips are divided between customers and commercial enterprise contracts.
in step with Electrek, folks that want to get their cars faster may be able to change the configurations they’ve ordered. Whether or not they’ll want to will in all likelihood depend on the customer’s wishes and patience. InsideEVs published the whole letter, which thanks individuals who positioned preorders for optimum pack-equipped trucks in 2018 and 2019 for his or her “loyalty and dedication.” the e-mail says that people who hadn’t already acquired their estimated delivery window need to get it afterward Tuesday.
