? Update from RJ on production & deliveries -- via email letter 12/28/21

[OldGoat]

I don't think this is the reason. Purely a guess, but it's an educated guess from my engineering experience in factory startups, which frequently includes us in production planning meetings with senior management, production planners and supply chain staff.

I think some (much or all?) of it comes down to MAXIMIZING the NUMBER of vehicles they can produce. That keeps people employed, the production line running, etc. etc. As a production planner, if I know that I have a finite supply of battery cells each month, and the max pack requires approx 20% more cells, I can either build 10,000 large pack vehicles, or I can build 8,000 max pack vehicles. The answer is obvious. I think those here with production planning experience have been through meetings like this themselves.

Looking at it from this viewpoint, it's the proper decision for almost everyone - employees, production quotas, Wall Street, investor satisfaction, cash flow and 80% of the customers. The ONLY ones it's not good for are the 20% max pack customers. Tough decision, yes, but the right decision for the company and the majority of it's customers.

As a Max Packer, I have to agree this is pretty much a no-brainer.
Unfortunately for us, the cells are completely fungible assets across all vehicles. Therefore, as you note, it really is an either/or component as opposed to a this/that component which is unique to one model vs another.

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[crashmtb]

I think those here with production planning experience have been through meetings like this themselves.

funny how just reading a sentence can bring on a headache ?

 

[Guy]

Good email and it does maximize production for 2022 and allow suppliers time for those items like seats that were different.

I am an October 22 Explore trim so I always knew 2023 was the most likely date. Now it is confirmed and I am glad to see it.

The Q3 earnings call really highlighted the importance of production numbers (the 10% stock price fall straight after demonstrated that) and Rivian want to maximize that.

I really do hope they have R1S reviews and in depth information very soon, this email was a great step in the right direction of detailed information. There are other areas they need to communicate on.

 

[Bigeasy70075]

I was an early 2019 Max pack reservation. Lost out on the ability to get a launch edition ($1800 wheel upgrade penalty). Changed to an adventure because I saw the writing on the wall. Was really mad that people with reservations literally 2 years after mine were given delivery dates but today I have new hope for this process (Unlike my experience with my F150 lightning pre-order). Only concession I'm gonna explore is to get the 20 AT's without having to pay extra.

 

[moosehead]

My eyes are bleeding. SUATMM.

 

[Scoiatael]

I'm just glad Rivian is hopefully moving in the right direction in terms of communication. It makes sense to delay the max pack until Rivian had a large enough battery supply. Rivian can build 10 large pack R1Ts with the same amount of batteries as 7 max packs. Wouldn't be surprised if Ford moves in that direction for their first year too. EV trucks are just in high demand right now and it's going to be a long wait no matter which company you plan to buy from.

 

[Jferreira65]

I literally ordered a model 3 to bridge the gap between my last car and the r1s, since it seems it could be almost a year still lol

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

71k preorders. “Vast majority are Adventure with large pack”. So let’s assume conservatively that it’s 40k. 20% are max pack preorders or about 14k. Add them together and you get 54k. 71k minus 54k equals 17k for Explore trim and Launch Edition. 2k conservatively for Explore trim and that leaves 15k for LE.

I think for the purposes of production LE and Adventure are synonymous since they are close enough to identical to be insignificant. My read has been with communication like this that "Adventure Trim" includes LE.

 

[ironpig]

I do feel bad for the people here who have been ignoring the writing on the wall and are surprised by this announcement. Lets hope they can get 10k trucks out next year and all the earliest pre-order holders get their vehicles.

 

[Forager]

“ To bring added clarity and better understanding to delivery timing, in early 2022 we are introducing a new feature on your Rivian Account Page that will display your current delivery timing estimate. The information will be tailored specifically to you and the exact vehicle you configured. Our goal is to give you accurate, up-to-date details about your specific preorder so you can better plan and stay more informed”

This is great. It would be neat if one could toggle options and see the impact on delivery. Debating going from R1S to R1T, and also thinking of changing smaller things (color, wheels).

 

[Batman]

If others start delivering their EV trucks/suvs before Rivian, then folks will jump ship pretty simple. I'm in the same boat. I need a 3 row EV SUV, Model X cargo is not big enough and its over priced. But if others come start delivering 3 row EV SUV, I'm definitely going to take a hard look at them......

By the way, I took these pics of "Kandi" EV Truck the other day in Dallas. They have terrible range but its an EV truck.

 

[Matt D.]

I think for the purposes of production LE and Adventure are synonymous since they are close enough to identical to be insignificant. My read has been with communication like this that "Adventure Trim" includes LE.

This is very possible but I also feel it’s very misleading if that’s the case.

 

[Trandall]

@KiloV,
If your referring to the earnings call I believe RJ mentioned that production battery modules/ packs were constrained not the batteries themselves which is an important distinction also mentioned a second module/ pack production line coming in 2022. RJ did use the word "chips" when he mentioned something about it only takes one component out of the whole assembly to bottleneck production although I don't remember it verbatim.

 

[ja_kub_sz]

My wife will be happy... Less money out the door,I guess, but I just did my taxes and spent 8k on gas and 6k on maintenance (cracked windshield 2k WTF!)

But the range... Ugh...

 

[ja_kub_sz]

Honestly I have a few preorders and was anticipating delays, but maybe I can crunch some numbers and shit I might even have a charger installed at my work if I can. Dump my R1T when the Max Pack comes down the pipe.

The gas prices are horrendous and vehicle trade in value at an all time high.

Maybe???

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