Upcoming "First Mile" Mobile Test Drive Cities Announced - Chicago, Dallas, Denver, LA, Seattle, San Francisco

[sevengroove]

I do think the travelling circus is only a temporary solution until more of the service centers are built out, at which time they will transition to appointment based drives at those locations.

That sounds great in theory, but I don't see any signs of that happening - at least at the Bellevue center in the Seattle area. The mobile drives have come and gone, and I'm not sure what the service folks are up to. Wouldn't hurt to start offering test drives to folks at a reasonable capacity, assuming they have the vehicles to conduct them in.

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[COdogman]

I do think the travelling circus is only a temporary solution until more of the service centers are built out, at which time they will transition to appointment based drives at those locations. Rivian has also said that they are prioritizing invites for First Drives to give people who are near the front of the delivery line an opportunity to drive before finalizing their order, so the locations tend to line up with where the first deliveries will be right now.

That said, it does suck that in all likelihood I will have to drive 5ish hours to Atlanta when that Service Center opens to have any access to a Rivian. I'll be pleasantly surprised if that happens before Memorial Day.

I get it. And that is exactly how it should work - those waiting in line the longest should get first shot at drives. I will be lucky to get a truck in 2023 so I'm not in a huge rush. I am trying to cut Rivian some slack for doing their best under less than ideal circumstances, but based on my readings here in this forum, they could do a lot better communicating with the people who are their biggest fans and reserved their first vehicles.

I know we are still digging out of this Omicron wave, but if I were them I would set up 4-6 places in the country where they keep several trucks for test drives and start calling people from the list to ask if they would like to set up a drive at the nearest one. That would make more people happier, faster than traveling around the country with a handful of trucks. No, not everyone would be able to make that trip, but at least they would be offering the chance.

I hope for everyone's sake who has a truck ordered they get a chance to drive it first, even if it does require driving or flying in to do it. I know I would do it if that is my only shot a a test drive.

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I know we are still digging out of this Omicron wave, but if I were them I would set up 4-6 places in the country where they keep several trucks for test drives and start calling people from the list to ask if they would like to set up a drive at the nearest one. That would make more people happier, faster than traveling around the country with a handful of trucks. No, not everyone would be able to make that trip, but at least they would be offering the chance.

TBH, I'd be fine with them just doing this out of the Normal plant at their track there. Given a range of times to choose from, I'd probably pay my own way to fly to Normal for that experience, and Normal is relatively centrally located in the US.

 

[crashmtb]

I have been pretty surprised that this seems to have fallen off the map to some extent. Then again, it probably wouldn't matter for me as it is doubtful that any locations would be close enough to me and even if they were I doubt I'd make the list to get to drive based on my order date.

The inability to even see a Rivian in person anywhere outside of Southern California is easily my biggest source of disappointment in Rivian so far.

Last time I asked CS about first Mile they alluded to Covid related staffing issues putting things on hold.

 

[Larry]

TBH, I'd be fine with them just doing this out of the Normal plant at their track there. Given a range of times to choose from, I'd probably pay my own way to fly to Normal for that experience, and Normal is relatively centrally located in the US.

I’d jump at an invitation to Normal. Now whether my Mustang Mach-E would get me there is a whole ‘nuther question.

 

[pc500]

Yup, apparently there were people whose drives got canceled in December and they couldn't reschedule because Rivian were like " ?‍ guess we're leaving!".

I was one of those people. Found out day before.

 

[COdogman]

TBH, I'd be fine with them just doing this out of the Normal plant at their track there. Given a range of times to choose from, I'd probably pay my own way to fly to Normal for that experience, and Normal is relatively centrally located in the US.

I think that's a great idea.

 

[sevengroove]

I was one of those people. Found out day before.

That sucks, friend. I was very close to getting scheduled until this happened. Can't say I have faith in the company figuring out a round 2 of test drives here very soon, but I hope they prove me wrong. At the very least I would like to see the vehicles in person, especially the color choices, before finalizing my order (which admittedly is slated for July - Sept 2022).

 

[pc500]

That sucks, friend. I was very close to getting scheduled until this happened. Can't say I have faith in the company figuring out a round 2 of test drives here very soon, but I hope they prove me wrong. At the very least I would like to see the vehicles in person, especially the color choices, before finalizing my order (which admittedly is slated for July - Sept 2022).

Might just do a day trip to Santa Monica

 

[AceSal10]

TBH, I'd be fine with them just doing this out of the Normal plant at their track there. Given a range of times to choose from, I'd probably pay my own way to fly to Normal for that experience, and Normal is relatively centrally located in the US.

Totally agree - I'd happily book a trip on my own dime to check out the R1T in Normal.

 

[SeaGeo]

That sounds great in theory, but I don't see any signs of that happening - at least at the Bellevue center in the Seattle area. The mobile drives have come and gone, and I'm not sure what the service folks are up to. Wouldn't hurt to start offering test drives to folks at a reasonable capacity, assuming they have the vehicles to conduct them in.

Yeah, I don't get it. I pushed pretty hard to have a mobile drive in December despite never getting an invite and was lucky enough to secure one. But I couldn't even get a straight answer if they were going to continue them after the Holiday. The mobile drive experience is awesome, but the communication and scheduling is an absolute dumpster fire.

 

[SANZC02]

Yeah, I don't fet it. I pushed pretty hard to have a mobile drive in December despite never getting an invite and was lucky enough to secure one. But I couldn't even get a straight answer if they were going to continue them after the Holiday. The mobile drive experience is awesome, but the communication and scheduling is an absolute dumpster fire.

I think the simple answer is growing pains.

Think of a 15 year old kid that grows from 5’4” to 6’2” over a summer, it takes a little while to be graceful with all that new height and long limbs.

 

[SeaGeo]

I think the simple answer is growing pains.

Think of a 15 year old kid that grows from 5’4” to 6’2” over a summer, it takes a little while to be graceful with all that new height and long limbs.

I get that for a lot of the hoops I jumped through with them (thanks for CS), but literally having no idea if the drives would be continuing seems like a different situation. Or at least a really basic learning situation that they can hopefully apply to any other City with mobile drives.

 

[Taycanfrank]

I think the simple answer is growing pains.

Think of a 15 year old kid that grows from 5’4” to 6’2” over a summer, it takes a little while to be graceful with all that new height and long limbs.

No way.

Rivian launched with a massive IPO and can't figure out how to give test drives, which every Ma & Pa dealership in the world can easily do. That's not growing pains, it's a bad plan or worse.

Park 2 cars at each service center you're building. Hire 2 staff at each location. Book test drives. DONE. "Staffing issues for covid" would be if you had to rebook someone's test drive for a week or two later instead.

Rivian claims it sold 1,000 cars last year but can't spare 20 to 30 for consistent test drives?

It's simple to arrange and Rivian has failed so far, let's just call it what it is and hope they do better.

 

[Autolycus]

That said, it does suck that in all likelihood I will have to drive 5ish hours to Atlanta when that Service Center opens to have any access to a Rivian. I'll be pleasantly surprised if that happens before Memorial Day.

But at least you'd be able to pick up some beers from some 4 or 5 really good microbreweries in the same neighborhood!

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