In 4th year of waiting ... beginning to question if the wait is worth it

[IlliniRivian]

NY Times article pretty much confirms my suspicion that we will hear almost nothing of substance from Rivian until the March 10 earnings call.

Sponsored

 

[Craigins]

NY Times article pretty much confirms my suspicion that we will hear almost nothing of substance from Rivian until the March 10 earnings call.

you mean the article that came out that just summarizes all the posts from this forum?

 

[GaryL]

Or perhaps they don't have enough employees to produce the vehicles now, and the incentive increases staffing so they can build more vehicles faster, moving forward everyone's preorder.

From the looks of the employees parking lots yesterday, they aren't having trouble finding employees.

 

[Craigins]

Hello potential Rivan buyers,
I am a reporter at the New York Times and I am eager to talk to Rivian customers. I wanted to better understand the market for Rivian vehicles and find out why you'd want a Rivian R1T or R1S over other EVs that are on the market or coming to market. And I wanted to get a sense of how long you might wait. Please email me on [email protected] if you can chat. THANKS A LOT! Peter

Just wanted to say thanks for a good non-biased article that relays actual information.

Quite a rare thing these days.

 

[cc84]

I imagine that they’re prioritizing employees because there are still issues to work out with the vehicles, not just because it’s an attractive perk. So I’m fine with it for now.

I agree Rivian is prioritizing employees, but as far as having issues with the vehicles, they are supposedly selling them to regular customers, so there's no need to continue prioritizing their employees, over customers, for testing purposes.

If Rivian is truly delivering to regular customers, they should now find other means in which to incentivize their prospective employees. Taking the vehicles away from long-time pre-order holders, while giving to prioritized employees, IMO, is not good for customer relations. However, very good for employees.

 

[SeaGeo]

you mean the article that came out that just summarizes all the posts from this forum?

Alternative read is that it's the article that quotes Rivian's comms effectively saying they aren't saying squat until the Q4 call.

 

[SeaGeo]

I agree Rivian is prioritizing employees, but as far as having issues with the vehicles, they are supposedly selling them to regular customers, so there's no need to continue prioritizing their employees, over customers, for testing purposes.

If Rivian is truly delivering to regular customers, they should now find other means in which to incentivize their prospective employees. Taking the vehicles away from long-time pre-order holders, while giving to prioritized employees, IMO, is not good for customer relations. However, very good for employees.

Honestly, I'm a little salty at this point over someone joining in the last 9 months and having a truck delivered within the last month. Meanwhile people that we know of with Jan/Feb delivery dates haven't heard shit. This is starting to feel very much like October again.

 

[ironpig]

The whole idea of Model Year and having an "outdated" truck because it was delivered later than you wanted is legacy thinking. All manufacturers are going to move away from Model Year idea over the next few years. It will be more like computer and phone cycles. There will be no difference between a Model Year 2022 Ford Lighting and a Model Year 2023 Ford Lightning. Just think of it as Ford Lightning V1.

Once again, Tesla started this concept and the others are following. Frankly, it's a better system.

 

[cc84]

Honestly, I'm a little salty at this point over someone joining in the last 9 months and having a truck delivered within the last month. Meanwhile people that we know of with Jan/Feb delivery dates haven't heard shit. This is starting to feel very much like October again.

You and me both. I've been a little salty since Sept and it's only gotten worse. I'll pretty much know where I'm standing by the end of this month.

 

[paariv]

I agree Rivian is prioritizing employees, but as far as having issues with the vehicles, they are supposedly selling them to regular customers, so there's no need to continue prioritizing their employees, over customers, for testing purposes.

If Rivian is truly delivering to regular customers, they should now find other means in which to incentivize their prospective employees. Taking the vehicles away from long-time pre-order holders, while giving to prioritized employees, IMO, is not good for customer relations. However, very good for employees.

I see no reason to think they have begun delivering to regular customers in earnest. Maybe 1 or 2 here and there but I just don’t think they have actually started deliveries in any meaningful way.

But there are lots of trucks out there, and it seems like all of them have some special circumstances/employee connection when you get down to the details. So I think there’s a QC problem or other reason aside from slow ramp that explains why they’ve chosen not to start real deliveries.

Do I have any evidence for this? No. But it seems a better explanation for the facts on the ground than Rivian having started deliveries in a way that excludes all the suuuuper early res holders who post on this forum and elsewhere.

 

[AdamsFan1983]

Since the last email from RJ, I’ve told myself this is put up or shut up week. I don’t know anything more than anyone else here, but I too am beginning to feel the cold hands of Octobers past tingle the back of my neck.

I hope I’m wrong, but as of now I’m VERY disappointed. Had a really crumby interaction in a css chat earlier this week too. Of course nothing new was shared but the agent was an absolute tool. —Normally they’re at least pleasant.

 

[cc84]

I see no reason to think they have begun delivering to regular customers in earnest. Maybe 1 or 2 here and there but I just don’t think they have actually started deliveries in any meaningful way.

But there are lots of trucks out there, and it seems like all of them have some special circumstances/employee connection when you get down to the details. So I think there’s a QC problem or other reason aside from slow ramp that explains why they’ve chosen not to start real deliveries.

?Oh, I agree with everything you just wrote. That's why I said "supposedly" selling them to regular customers.

If Rivian is selling to regular customers at a high rate, then there would be no need for prioritizing employees, but like you, I don't believe they are either. Once their testing is over, Rivian needs to entice future employees with something other than a vehicle, or have them fall in line like everyone else. I get the idea of incentives, but not to the extent where it delays a customer's delivery.

Do I have any evidence for this? No. But it seems a better explanation for the facts on the ground than Rivian having started deliveries in a way that excludes all the suuuuper early res holders who post on this forum and elsewhere.

No, just logic and common sense is all. Normally, I think no news is good news, but I'm not so sure in this situation. I'd like Rivian to prove me wrong. Any communication about the status of our vehicles, would be appreciated by me.

I suspect we'll know a lot more in around a month, or less, though.

 

[Longhorngirl]

Honestly, I'm a little salty at this point over someone joining in the last 9 months and having a truck delivered within the last month. Meanwhile people that we know of with Jan/Feb delivery dates haven't heard shit. This is starting to feel very much like October again.

I actually found an employee on Instagram who joined the company in October 2021 and got their truck by December.

I called CS yesterday to ask again if the employees who cut in front of us would be willing to show us their personal trucks since I have yet to see one in person. Rivianhtxdrvr on Instagram is an employee in Houston who joined the company June/July of last year and got his truck in December. I still haven’t seen one in person, and I think the least they can do is have their employees who have trucks in the area of pre-order holders let us see them. I think they should do this across the whole country for geographic locations that are not considered high priority.

 

[Taycanfrank]

I just can't wrap my head around this "no comms" strategy from Rivian. If they were just sending a simple update email once a month it would go such a long way.

Just send an email saying "Hello all. Unfortunately omnicron put a dent in our production uptick. We are working hard to get back on track but delivery windows may be pushed back a month."

That's all they have to do. Yes, that would upset some people even more but at the end of the day it would give some transparency and build trust.

 

[SeaGeo]

I just can't wrap my head around this "no comms" strategy from Rivian. If they were just sending a simple update email once a month it would go such a long way.

Just send an email saying "Hello all. Unfortunately omnicron put a dent in our production uptick. We are working hard to get back on track but delivery windows may be pushed back a month."

That's all they have to do. Yes, that would upset some people even more but at the end of the day it would give some transparency and build trust.

It's simple. Rivian's upper management doesn't respect its customer's enough to update them on progress or empower their employees who are first point if contact to do so either.

Sponsored