Official Rivian Email: A Look Ahead to 2023. Rivian Membership cancelled and unbundled into subscription services

[Akay07]

I just hope the LTE is free or at least ultra-cheap ($10-$30/year) for "basic vehicle functionality", with a higher cost reserved for HotSpot use and (if they ever add it) streaming video. I don't want to pay $10/month just to be able to use remote app controls and live traffic navigation.

I think LTE and hot spot is through AT&T on rivian. I almost bought a lightning and it was 200$ a year service add on through AT&T

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[Gavinmcc]

I'll pay a one time fee for Apple Car Play. Other than that, I'm not sure what I get from a membership with no RAN around.

 

[Thedude]

No free charging? Such bullshit, I remember the last ICE truck I bought came with free gas for life.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I'll pay a one time fee for Apple Car Play. Other than that, I'm not sure what I get from a membership with no RAN around.

I expect Remote Vehicle Access is going to be one of the first currently free features to fall.

 

[Blueassassin]

Ya I really think they need to add more apps, games, streaming videos that kind of stuff before they start charging for the LTE.

 

[COdogman]

I also thought when they previously said the “first year” of membership was free they meant MY first year of ownership.

Oh well. The way I see this is if we want Rivian to survive as a company they have to start making money. And they can’t start making money if they give everything away for free. I knew I would eventually be charged for some kind of membership and I never expected charging to be free.

I just want to know what it is I’ll be paying for and what my choices are.

 

[m33rkat]

I'm curios about the loss of features in a Non Free Membership plan.
If I choose to not pay for internet connectivity, how does that affect my navigation experience related to things like traffic etc. Will that also mean I can't unlock the car from phone etc?

 

[NY_Rob]

Couldn't imagine Rivian's LTE service costing more than Tesla's "Premium Connectivity" package:

"Premium Connectivity provides the ability to access all connectivity features over cellular, in addition to Wi-Fi, for the most intuitive and engaging ownership experience. Premium Connectivity currently is available as a monthly subscription of $9.99 plus applicable tax or as an annual subscription of $99 plus applicable tax and can be purchased at any time from your vehicle touchscreen or the Tesla app. "

 

[Dark-Fx]

Oh well. The way I see this is if we want Rivian to survive as a company they have to start making money. And they can’t start making if they give everything away for free. I knew I would eventually be charged for some kind of membership and I never expected charging to be free.

Rivian is planning on clawing back the money I saved on my pre 3/1 reservations. I knew that going in I suppose.

https://jalopnik.com/rivians-ipo-filing-leaked-how-the-company-plans-to-make-1847829458

 

[zefram47]

Yikes, if that's not a giant middle finger to everyone taking delivery in 2023 and beyond. Pretty much every manufacturer out there offers all of their connected services on a complimentary basis for 1-3 years from purchase. And of course they don't mention what you'll be paying for beyond the obvious LTE and charging. If they make folks pay for their shitty nav that'll be hilarious...but would likely explain why they refuse to implement CarPlay and AA.

 

[GHuff]

Sounds like we're going to know more on the 16th. Rivian has a published support article that just says the same thing as the e-mail.

https://rivian.com/support/article/what-s-the-latest-on-membership

The thing I don't think I understood was that Rivian intended the membership to only be free for Rivian's first year of deliveries and not the first year that I own the vehicle. For that, I'm disappointed.

I'm almost certain the fine print of the BETA Membership had language that said it was free for one year after delivery.

 

[nc10]

My first response is that Rivian's services aren't ready to start charging for. But I'm not that sure what the "bundle of benefits" is. What beta products have we been able to test?

The R1's cellular service is one? I don't see anything that warrants paying for it in addition to my current cellular service, except that Rivian won't let me use my cell phone to display maps and routes or charger locations that I have a high confidence in on the R1's screen. Alexa continues to disappoint.

The RAN is only 9 charging stations, according to the Rivian website, so the number of owners that could be using it to any extent worth charging for is small.

Edited: A Membership benefit may also be software updates?

 

[MrMetlHed]

I also thought when they previously said the “first year” of membership was free they meant MY first year of ownership.

Yeah, this seems like such an own-goal. So few people have got their vehicles that their 'first year' talk means basically nothing. I know they need money, but man. Make it a year of "membership" (whatever that entails) from the day you get your vehicle, and xx miles of charging because the RAN basically only exists in ephemeral form at the moment. My Jeep, as terrible as computer in it is, came with a year of Sirius XM, a year of connectivity and vehicle control through the app, and 3 years of weather and traffic or something. Hard to believe Rivian can't offer at least as much.

Oh well. Depending on the costs I guess I may have to start looking for a way to mount my phone visibly on the dashboard somewhere.

 

[dleepnw]

excited about seeing R1S in the Shop.

but the Membership thing is kinda a joke. no one really knows what we get, no one at Rivian talks about it, their website has no info and now its going from bundled to a la carte? what's to like or dislike about this decision, when we have no idea what we were getting in the first place. only known is that those who already have vehicles will have gotten LTE and charging free for a good long time.

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