June Deliveries...

[lg3103]

Every single highly anticipated vehicle I really liked which accepted preorders well in advance has experienced last minute delays. Unless Rivian can pull off something Ford, Lucid, Tesla, Chevy, and others could not by delivering a vehicle by the expected deadline, Rivians will not be delivered in June.

I am rooting for Rivian, but my optimism cannot convince me that Rivian will somehow meet the June delivery goal. History tells me auto manufacturers simply cannot meet their own goals lately.

I hope I'm wrong.

We will know soon.

As long as they are building the vehicles they will be fine. I assume they use the preorder data and build the most popular colors (White, Silver, etc.) already (see vehicles spotted out on the road) and interior configurations (black and ocean). Wheels can be swapped (some companies swapped them at dealers to avoid damage during transport and use generic steel wheels on the line). If they manage to complete 20 cars a day they'll end up having a few hundred ready by to get them to customers sometime in June .
Financing Portal: we know it's Chase and looks like it's up and running in the background already. They will use Chase Technology for this
App: I'm sure that's been ongoing in the background and we won't see it until it's live

Agree with kanundrum lots of background stuff happening on the domain...no company launches these things just FYI....they are released when needed...

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[jjwolf120]

12 months? Are you using new math. (Note that Covid is and was a valid excuse. I give them a pass on that.)

 

[timesinks]

At the LA Auto Show launch, they said the R1T would begin deliveries in 2020 with the R1S to follow a couple months later (in early 2021). They never promised deliveries in early or mid-2020, just "in 2020."

I don't doubt they have used the extra breathing room from the 6-month delay (yes, only 6 months) to deal with more than just directly-related-to-covid issues, but given the insane amount of uncertainty last spring (and lingering issues with supply chains all over the world), the fact that they only pushed deliveries back 6 months is pretty incredible.

 

[SANZC02]

12 months? Are you using new math. (Note that Covid is and was a valid excuse. I give them a pass on that.)

I didn't even have to take my shoes off to see it was only 6 months....

 

[Autolycus]

I wonder how many people take this into account, consciously or not? To me it feels like TESLA is a tech company which happens to make cake cars. I think the company designs cars and incorporates features using visionary/idealistic priorities rather than customer priorities. As just one example, the company is so focused on FSD over instrumentation on the 3 and Y that they are leaving money on the table with some sales and outright losing others. If people will pay $1,500 for a paint color, do you really think they wouldn’t pay the same amount or more for a HUD if they place importance on driving without having to look down at a display?

I have a great deal of respect for TESLA and Elon Musk for pushing the adoption of EVs. My hope is that Rivian will strike a better balance (for the average driver) when it comes to leading edge tech vs. traditional car interface. We came very, VERY close to buying a Model Y as a commuter car for my husband, but some of the uncompromising vision kept us from purchasing. We would have gotten a Model X but the Falcon Wing doors are a deal-killer for us.

On some level I think TESLA would be better off if Elon focused most of this attention on SpaceX so the car business could offer some features which appeal to even more buyers.

The updated Model S/X interior is going to turn a lot of "normal" buyers off. The yolk-style steering wheel and lack of stalks to control forward/reverse, etc. are really really dumb design decisions that were driven by the FSD insanity that Elon has in his head. FSD will happen at some point, but you just cannot make decisions that create potentially dangerous situations in the meantime.

 

[azbill]

I certainly hope your prediction is not correct. This means even if GM started delivering Hummers as late as December, they would out sell Rivian by the end of this year. The big guys can easily exceed 2000 vehicles per month initially.

Some perspective. I found an article that stated the Chevy Bolt started production at a rate of 9 per hour, and ramped up quickly to 30 per hour. Even if you assume a single shift 5 days a week that is 1500 the first month.

Ford produced 2500 Mach E's in November 2020, and then 3100 in December 2020, the month they made first deliveries to actual customers.

 

[eggpaul]

Considering the following isn't up yet.

-Color Selection Confirmation (at least real pics of Launch Green)
-Financing Portal
-Rivian App
-Interior walk thru w/ pics
-Technical Specs of Charging/Architecture (optional)

I somehow dont see all of this magically coming together in 19 days unless they simply just launch it all at once under a new AWS instance and just redirect all traffic to there which would be dope but also a LOT of work. Either way the next 2 weeks are going to be crazy and June will be even crazier if they can pull it all off.

I am guessing they will start contact people last week of May for a late June Delivery and even then it will be less than 50 vehicles.

I agree. There is no way they can give us just a few weeks to go through all of this. I think many people would like to look at financing options, move money around for a possible large down payment, go through the accessories and figure out what we need. Need time to process it.

 

[eggpaul]

I certainly hope your prediction is not correct. This means even if GM started delivering Hummers as late as December, they would out sell Rivian by the end of this year. The big guys can easily exceed 2000 vehicles per month initially.

Some perspective. I found an article that stated the Chevy Bolt started production at a rate of 9 per hour, and ramped up quickly to 30 per hour. Even if you assume a single shift 5 days a week that is 1500 the first month.

Ford produced 2500 Mach E's in November 2020, and then 3100 in December 2020, the month they made first deliveries to actual customers.

My cousin works at a GM plant in MO. They build the Canyons and vans. They have 3 shifts at the plant, building vehicles 24 hours a day. I wonder if Rivian will do that.

 

[kanundrum]

My cousin works at a GM plant in MO. They build the Canyons and vans. They have 3 shifts at the plant, building vehicles 24 hours a day. I wonder if Rivian will do that.

I believe some job postings did mention multiple shifts etc.

 

[jjwolf120]

My cousin works at a GM plant in MO. They build the Canyons and vans. They have 3 shifts at the plant, building vehicles 24 hours a day. I wonder if Rivian will do that.

Maybe, eventually. I think they are going to start with one shift and then add a second shift at a later date.

 

[JeremyMKE]

Its been said before but I am getting much more concerned about Rivian's ability to deliver.

Seriously its May 12.

How do we not have a virtual version of the interior and exterior with mockup of infotainment. How do we not have all the engineering specs?

These would all have to be set by now if June 30th was the delivery date?

I am just repeating many others but my confidence has been dropping for the last 2 months. This is a new manufacturer, that is my chief concern.

Lets not forget this is NOT the initial delivery date. I am totally onboard with the COVID delay, HOWEVER the original deliveries were set for last fall.

The complete details of the Vehicle should have been communicated. If Rivian is still working on supply chain to figure out what will make LE thats scary.

It shows how emotionally invested I am in Rivian that I hated writing this, it only furthers my concern that I am not looking at this purchase objectively.

 

[Canthoney]

Its been said before but I am getting much more concerned about Rivian's ability to deliver.

Seriously its May 12.

How do we not have a virtual version of the interior and exterior with mockup of infotainment. How do we not have all the engineering specs?

These would all have to be set by now if June 30th was the delivery date?

I am just repeating many others but my confidence has been dropping for the last 2 months. This is a new manufacturer, that is my chief concern.

Lets not forget this is NOT the initial delivery date. I am totally onboard with the COVID delay, HOWEVER the original deliveries were set for last fall.

The complete details of the Vehicle should have been communicated. If Rivian is still working on supply chain to figure out what will make LE thats scary.

It shows how emotionally invested I am in Rivian that I hated writing this, it only furthers my concern that I am not looking at this purchase objectively.

I am definitely with you there. If there is bad news, or only a few deliveries being made in June best to tell us now. We are 1-1.5 months out when the first units are supposedly being made. I have no doubts they will be delivering units in 2021, but my confidence in them delivering all the launch edition is going down every week

 

[LoneStar]

I tell you what, if Rivian waits until late May, or worse sometime in June to announce another Delay of initial deliveries, it will be akin to seeing the iceberg too late. Not saying it will sink the company (or course not) but it will deflate enthusiasm immensely.

I guess I'm saying it'd be like the Hindenburg hitting an iceberg.... ? ?

 

[Mjhirsch78]

There will be no delay. This is COVID boredom mixed with your own brain trolling you. Stop doing that to yourself.

They can tell us literally nothing and still be able to produce vehicles without issue. Customer communication and production are not connected. Would it be nice to know more? Yup. Does it have any impact on production? Nope.

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