The delays are on purpose and directly related to the IPO, Rivian does not want these trucks in the hands of the general public until the IPO happens, everyone who has one of these trucks in under Rivian's thumb currently, and that will remain so until the IPO has come and gone.
The annoying...
I have a different spin on this question, in that will a vehicle like this, that is much more dependent on technology hold its value in a used market as much as an ICE historically would?
Here is a hypothetical condition, a year after I buy an R1T ( i have one on order now), battery...