A dumbed-down R1?

[teartags]

I know this has been brought up before, but with all of the doom and gloom about the financials lately I'm gonna ask again. Why not a severely dumbed down version of the R1?
I'm guessing the pool of people willing to pony up $80k+ for an electric truck is not that large. That pool is probably pretty well tapped by now (by us), hence the dwindling sales of the R1. Personally, the R1 is about the smallest truck I ever want to drive. So I don't think I'll have much interest in an R2 and I'm guessing there are others who feel the same. So, why not an R1 that's missing a lot of the premier features to encourage a new segment of buyers? One big advantage here is that the R1 doesn't need a new multi-billion $ factory to build it. I'm guessing there would be some slight mods to the Normal factory to make it work, but not over 2 years worth so it could generate income s00n.

Some of the low hanging fruit of items to cut would be
Lose a few cameras
Rear screen
electric seats
climate seats
premier interior materials
powered charge port door
power vents
camp speaker that doesn't work
Fancy Wheels
Power tailgate
Wireless phone charger

Some items that might be more difficult to re-design/ tool but would seemingly save a lot
Air suspension
Glass Roof
Could they only do 1 motor?

There's plenty of other items. They could also not include Driver+ and some others stuff. That won't necessarily "save" them money though.
Also, say that side camera only really saves them $15. We don't know that. So they can lower the price more to generate sales without pissing off all of the previous owners ala Tesla's price cuts.

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[evguy]

AFAIK, they still haven't introduced the LFP battery pack into the R1 line, which is supposed to be a substantial cost savings on its own. With LFP, and other cost savings to be implemented during the Q2 shutdown, we may see a dual motor, standard battery R1 variant priced between 64k and 69k by summer, without having to sacrifice additional features. Current starting prices are 69,900 (R1T) and 74,900 (R1S). I think a 69k R1S would drive some volume.

 

[teartags]

I would rather have a large pack and spring suspension, personally. Actually, I would take large pack over pretty much all those features I listed.

 

[sub]

You can always add $1,000 worth parts and raise the price by $10,000, but it doesn't often work the other way around. They can't remove $1,000 worth parts and reduce the price $10,000.

From what we can tell, an optimistic view would be that Rivian is breaking even right now. Removing a $1,000 worth of parts and reducing the price by $10,000 would push them from breaking even to taking a $9,000 loss.

To reduce the price by $10,000, they would need to remove $15,000 of costs. Removing everything on your list is not going to come close.

 

[COdogman]

I think they are considering a cheaper entry level R1, but I don't think part of that was changing the suspension, etc. Mostly it sounded like the Explore trim they initially offered. I'm not sure if they will do that AND offer a higher end 1000hp R1, but I agree that it would probably find more buyers than they think if it were offered.

 

[sfvR1S]

You don't make an "aspirational" (fill in the blank) and then strip it down to make it affordable for the masses.

 

[Thedude]

Strip it down like a Lightning Pro and market it to all the auto parts stores that drive base model Tacomas around. At some point a budget EV truck will be needed if governments around the world get their way with forced retirement of ICE vehicles.

 

[MidnightRivian]

I did a detailed breakdown on Rivian R1S few year ago part by part Munro style before Munro got his hands on the R1S.

At that time I realized it was underpriced and I put my order in. Few months after that, Rivian decided to raise prices ~ 20%.

Take a look and let me know where you would shave $$$ from the Quad motor build.

Total = $75,350

Part	Cost
Engine	$16,000.00​
Suspension	$7,500.00​
Cab	$6,500.00​
Battery	$20,000.00​
Wheels	$3,000.00​
Lights	$1,850.00​
Audio	$3,000.00​
Seats	$4,000.00​
HVAC	$2,500.00​
Brakes	$2,500.00​
Nav / Camera	$3,500.00​
Paint	$2,000.00​
Glass Roof	$1,000.00​
Charging	$2,000.00​

 

[sfvR1S]

 

[teartags]

You don't make an "aspirational" (fill in the blank) and then strip it down to make it affordable for the masses.

I think you consider it if you're company is struggling to survive.

 

[teartags]

"You got change for a hundred?"

 

[teartags]

You can always add $1,000 worth parts and raise the price by $10,000, but it doesn't often work the other way around. They can't remove $1,000 worth parts and reduce the price $10,000.

From what we can tell, an optimistic view would be that Rivian is breaking even right now. Removing a $1,000 worth of parts and reducing the price by $10,000 would push them from breaking even to taking a $9,000 loss.

To reduce the price by $10,000, they would need to remove $15,000 of costs. Removing everything on your list is not going to come close.

This makes a lot of sense, and I kind of assumed it was the case.
Though, I feel that items like the glass roof and suspension would save quite a bit. Heck, what if you could cut a whole motor out?!? Then again, the quad vs the dual option delta isn't near as much as I would think.
Seems like just "inspiring" a new round of sales would be good too. At some point, volume has to be a factor in how much they make per vehicle?

 

[RWerksman]

It almost sounds like the Explore trim.

 

[Wing]

I wanted the Explore trim because I'm poor.

But lucky me saved $4k by snagging a launch.

 

[sfvR1S]

I think you consider it if you're company is struggling to survive.

Seems like the last thing you do before you throw in the towel. Maybe I'm not following closely enough, but doesn't seem as if Rivian is there...yet.

Then again, if that's what the company needs to do to survive, maybe better to fold than to cheapen the brand. Someone else can resurrect it and it'll still have some value.

I don't directly own any Rivian stock so maybe others who do feel differently.

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