@moosetags theory makes sense if you look at it as an attempt to buoy the stock price right before the IPO. The more perorders... the more valuable the company appears.
Rivian underestimated the complexity of offering the different packages. It's obvious to me that this is the case because of what happened with the interior trims they are shipping. My opinion is that they are adding complexity with the vinyl offerings because their supplier won't be able to keep up with them for the wood ones.
I think basically Tesla just wasn't this popular and in demand early on. EVs were still quite new then and I bet buyers had concern about being far from a service center instead of near the ubiquitous dealership.
I really don’t think Rivian induced people to submit preorders without intending to ever deliver — just to plump up the pre-IPO order book. I do think they were overly optimistic about the pace of their production ramp but I don’t think it was malicious or fraudulent. Also, I don’t think Rivian is using excuses to delay deliveries to pre-March 1 2022 preorders hoping we cancel. After all, what percentage of the thousands of R1 vehicles produced by Rivian in 2022 have been delivered to folks who ordered after the March 1 price hike?
Here, Tesla would send out a “ranger” every few months, who would stay for a couple of weeks working through their backlog. 3 or 4 years ago they finally had a mobile service person based Here permanentl, and more recently they rent a bay at the only bodyshop in the city certified by tesla. But they don’t have an official, advertised service centre.
Rivian can delay all they want. We're still here and plan to get our R1T even if it is a 2027. We will probably our 2020 Silverado Duramax in 2024 and keep on trucking.
No one knows what the intent was. They are definitely delaying pre-March R1S preoders using lame excuses. New R1T orders (with new pricing) should not be delivered until a good chunks of preorders (R1T & R1S) have been delivered, period. Plus, not giving long time preorder holders that live far away from a SC the option of accepting the risks of such ownership is lame, IMHO.
225 miles is pretty far. And some people waiting are almost twice that distance, that isn’t an insignificant amount. Another problem may be that they may be the only orders in their geographical area, are part of a very small set. Think about the recent recall that took 5-10 minutes to tighten bolts. 400 miles a mobile tech may be driving 6 or more hours to one customer to tighten a couple bolts, and then have to drive 6 or more hours home. As bad is Rivian may look for not delivering to distant areas (yet with no foreseeable end), it would be far worse for them to push maintenance for far flung customers. Sure, some far flung customers who received delivery are out there, but let’s not pretend that tows or service aren’t costing Rivian money, and the further someone lives, the more that costs Rivian.
SLO isn’t exactly the middle of nowhere. It’s not like… Fresno, or Saskatchewan
How could Rivian not think something like this would be a bad idea when they started taking deposits for preorders? Rosy projection/ambition aside, there have been plenty opportunities for them to communicate this as a reason for potential delay. Even then, Rivian should at least offer the option of taking delivery at your own risks rather than delaying delivery "until further notice."
I’d have taken my chances with the nearest service Centre being a mere 8 hours away, and even limited mobile service ?‍
Nope. Not a launch edition. I still have no idea how or why I got mine so early.
