Rivian postpones more expensive models until 2023, focuses on cheaper models

Recently it became clear that the American manufacturer of electric vehicles Rivian has a problem with the construction of the pickup truck, Rivian R1T. The company can’t get the production line in order and has therefore been able to deliver only about half (652 units) of the promised 1,200 Rivian R1Ts so far.

On Tuesday, the electric car maker came with even worse news. In this case for more than 14,000 people who had pre-ordered the R1T or R1S with the optional 180 kWh Max battery pack. Rivian decided it won’t start making cars with the $10,000 option until 2023. This covers about 20 percent of the 71,000 original orders that are on the automaker’s books.

Buyers would receive their car in 2022. But for many of them it is not the first time their car has been ordered late. Rivian originally planned to put the first cars on the road in 2020 and has been accepting pre-orders since 2018.

Riders with the Max pack should travel 400 miles on a full battery. Cars with a standard ‘big’ battery have a range of about 500 km

CEO RJ Scaringe of Rivian left in a personal email (viewed by Inside the EVs) for all buyers to know that his company chooses to serve as many customers as possible as quickly as possible. This means that the car manufacturer prefers to make more small battery packs than a few big ones.

Scaringe says in the letter that Rivian is making environmental adjustments. It adjusts the vehicle construction schedule so they can get more vehicles on the road as quickly as possible. This allows them to achieve a greater impact on the climate.

People who have ordered the more expensive version of the Rivian R1T or R1S can modify their order for a car with a smaller battery pack.

Amazon delivery vehicles

In addition to pickup trucks and SUVs, Rivian is currently also making pickup trucks for Amazon. The cars will be delivered for the first time this month, as the automaker begins to fulfill a massive order of 100,000 vehicles that Amazon previously placed.

Unfortunately, Rivian is honest about the fact that it prioritizes production for Amazon, and that passenger cars are now second. In addition, it is working hard to expand production capacity. There will be a second factory in the United States, but production will not begin there until 2024.

There is also a need to have a factory in Europe, which the Americans are negotiating with VDL Nedcar, among others.