Official Rivian Email: A Look Ahead to 2023. Rivian Membership cancelled and unbundled into subscription services

[Taco Corp]

With demand based pricing. Heated seats start as low as $0.99/mo (in July)

Soon to come, Gear Guard powered by Ring. Requires purchase of a Ring bundle with Professional monitoring, plus a $10/mo integration fee with the Rivian.

There is a RAN location that is almost completed in Aberdeen, WA, in case you are interested. Images for the site can be found here:

There is also one planned for Lynwood, WA that currently appears to be in permitting still: https://dbs.lynnwoodwa.gov/apps/selfservice/#/permit/feaa23ed-7787-4f3d-8009-afd0bf7fc4ca

That's good to know, I've used the EA station at the Walmart a couple times going to/from the coast. Now just add a couple of them in Port Angeles to cover the northern side of the park and the beaches.

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[milliemc]

​ ​ ​ Hi,​ It’s an exciting time at Rivian having just completed our first full year of deliveries. We continue working hard to accelerate deliveries even further and get more of you behind the wheel. As we kick off 2023, we want to share some updates you can expect in the year ahead. R1 Shop The R1 Shop continues to be the fastest way to take delivery if you are flexible with your choices. Early this year we plan to introduce the R1S into the R1 Shop and will reach out to more customers to browse available configurations, with deliveries happening anywhere between 1-8 weeks depending on your location. Of course, those preferring their specific build will be able to wait for their delivery window to arrive. Expanding our Service Center footprint We plan to expand the size of our Mobile Service fleet and add several new Service Centers across the US and Canada this year. This will increase our capacity to make deliveries and further support our owners requiring vehicle care. Look for new Service Center locations in Cincinnati, Portland, Boise, Washington DC, St. Louis, Detroit, Colorado Springs, Tampa, Toronto and more. Membership We launched Membership as a beta program, offering a complimentary bundle of benefits during our first year of deliveries. After a year of beta testing and listening to our owners, we are moving away from the bundled Membership model and will begin offering services in more of an à la carte fashion. This unbundled approach allows owners to select the services they prefer without the cost of paying for ones they may not use. This change will take effect on January 16, 2023. Rivian will continue covering the cost of vehicle LTE connectivity through 2023, with charging on the Rivian Adventure Network covered through April 2023 (terms and conditions apply). We plan to introduce additional services over time. Charging We will continue adding fast-charging sites to the Rivian Adventure Network targeting high-traffic corridors that connect major metropolitan areas to adventurous destinations. We plan to add multiple routes in the next few months, including Southeast Michigan to the Upper Peninsula, Portland to Central and Southern Oregon and I-95 connecting NYC to DC. We also plan to add to our Rivian Waypoints network of Level 2 chargers in destinations like national and state parks. More ways to see a Rivian We love meeting customers and friends at events. In 2023, we’re planning to host more of these experiences in cities across the US and Canada so even more of you can see our vehicles up close and get to know our team. We also plan to expand our mobile drive program to help more customers get behind the wheel. This year we are focused on building out additional spaces with several launches planned for the second half of 2023. These locations will showcase our products and team and help us grow deeper roots in cities like Austin, Brooklyn, Laguna Beach, San Francisco and more. As we look ahead to 2023, we again want to thank you for your support. Your input and feedback make us better, directly resulting in improvements to our products and ownership experience. We’ll continue listening and learning about the things you feel are going well and, more importantly, the areas where we can continue to improve.​

​ ​ ​ On behalf of everyone at Rivian, we wish you and your family all the best in the year to come. Here’s to more deliveries and adventures ahead. Tony Caravano Head of Rivian Customer Engagement​

So--this was in an e-mail yesterday. As someone who reserved as of July 2022, I hope ot hear form them soon! Inviting Reservation Holders to Configure Soon we will begin inviting reservation holders into the configurator to begin the ordering process, moving more of our community closer to delivery. We will test our process with some of our earliest reservation holders, inviting them to configure vehicles scheduled for build this year. Once invited they may also have access to the R1 Shop. More information about timing for these invitations will be available soon. R1 Shop The R1 Shop continues to be the fastest way to take delivery if you are flexible with your choices. Early this year we plan to introduce the R1S into the R1 Shop and will reach out to more customers to browse available configurations, with deliveries happening anywhere between 1-8 weeks depending on your location. Of course, those preferring their specific build will be able to wait for their delivery window to arrive. Expanding our Service Center footprint We plan to expand the size of our Mobile Service fleet and add several new Service Centers across the US and Canada this year. This will increase our capacity to make deliveries and further support our owners requiring vehicle care. Look for new Service Center locations in Cincinnati, Portland, Boise, Washington DC, St. Louis, Detroit, Colorado Springs, Tampa, Toronto and more. Membership We launched Membership as a beta program, offering a complimentary bundle of benefits during our first year of deliveries. After a year of beta testing and listening to our owners, we are moving away from the bundled Membership model and will begin offering services in more of an à la carte fashion. This unbundled approach allows owners to select the services they prefer without the cost of paying for ones they may not use. This change will take effect on January 16, 2023. Rivian will continue covering the cost of vehicle LTE connectivity through 2023, with charging on the Rivian Adventure Network covered through April 2023 (terms and conditions apply). We plan to introduce additional services over time. Charging We will continue adding fast-charging sites to the Rivian Adventure Networktargeting high-traffic corridors that connect major metropolitan areas to adventurous destinations. We plan to add multiple routes in the next few months, including Southeast Michigan to the Upper Peninsula, Portland to Central and Southern Oregon and I-95 connecting NYC to DC. We also plan to add to our Rivian Waypoints network of Level 2 chargers in destinations like national and state parks. More ways to see a Rivian We love meeting customers and friends at events. In 2023, we’re planning to host more of these experiences in cities across the US and Canada so even more of you can see our vehicles up close and get to know our team. We also plan to expand our mobile drive program to help more customers get behind the wheel. This year we are focused on building out additional spaces with several launches planned for the second half of 2023. These locations will showcase our products and team and help us grow deeper roots in cities like Austin, Brooklyn, Laguna Beach, San Francisco and more. As we look ahead to 2023, we again want to thank you for your support. Your input and feedback make us better, directly resulting in improvements to our products and ownership experience. We’ll continue listening and learning about the things you feel are going well and, more importantly, the areas where we can continue to improve.​

On behalf of everyone at Rivian, we wish you and your family all the best in the year to come. Here’s to more deliveries and adventures ahead. Tony Caravano Head of Rivian Customer Engagement​

 

[av8or]

I’m a few weeks away from taking delivery of my R1T and as others here have mentioned, this latest news has me more than ever reconsidering my purchase. I mean for Rivian to feel like they have their shit together enough to start charging beta testers for doing their testing for them IMO is laughable. As a shareholder I want the company to do well, but these blunders have to stop or I not only won’t be an R1T owner, but also not a stockholder either.

Im really bummed out about this. I will still take delivery of the truck in a couple weeks, but depending on what they come up with on the 16th will determine if it stays in my driveway or not.

 

[av8or]

I’m a few weeks away from taking delivery of my R1T and as others here have mentioned, this latest news has me more than ever reconsidering my purchase. I mean for Rivian to feel like they have their shit together enough to start charging beta testers for doing their testing for them IMO is laughable. As a shareholder I want the company to do well, but these blunders have to stop or I not only won’t be an R1T owner, but also not a stockholder either.

Im really bummed out about this. I will still take delivery of the truck in a couple weeks, but depending on what they come up with on the 16th will determine if it stays in my driveway or not.

I just sent a similar email to my guide, Tony, and RJ. What do you all think? Will I hear anything back from anyone? I will post if I do.

My feeling is maybe a sorry from my guide, but nothing else.

 

[freshpow]

I just sent a similar email to my guide, Tony, and RJ. What do you all think? Will I hear anything back from anyone? I will post if I do.

My feeling is maybe a sorry from my guide, but nothing else.

I'm not singling you out as your concerns have been expressed many times by others, but I can't figure out why this change, which will probably amount to a few hundred dollars a year, is moving the needle for folks buying an ~$80k+ vehicle. We've known for some time that they would eventually start monetizing subscription services and I get that the recent announcement may not be exactly in line with what was initially advertised, but we're talking peanuts here. I don't get it ?‍

 

[av8or]

I'm not singling you out as your concerns have been expressed many times by others, but I can't figure out why this change, which will probably amount to a few hundred dollars a year, is moving the needle for folks buying an ~$80k+ vehicle. We've known for some time that they would eventually start monetizing subscription services and I get that the recent announcement may not be exactly in line with what was initially advertised, but we're talking peanuts here. I don't get it ?‍

For me it’s definitely not the money, it’s the judgment shown by the company. Rivian is simply not sorted out enough to start charging. Maybe they should wait for a RAN network before they start charging for it.

They made a promise to their early adopters and then just took a big steaming shit on us and said “ oh yeah all that complimentary stuff we talked about……that was only for the few that lived close enough to a SC to get delivery in the first year”.

Also if someone can name a car company that the free trial period is for one year of the company and not for a year+ of ownership of the car, please do.

 

[freshpow]

For me it’s definitely not the money, it’s the judgment shown by the company. Rivian is simply not sorted out enough to start charging. Maybe they should wait for a RAN network before they start charging for it.

They made a promise to their early adopters and then just took a big steaming shit on us and said “ oh yeah all that complimentary stuff we talked about……that was only for the few that lived close enough to a SC to get delivery in the first year”.

Also if someone can name a car company that the free trial period is for one year of the company and not for a year+ of ownership of the car, please do.

The judgement shown by the company is that they need to find additional revenue streams, perhaps more quickly than they initially thought, to make up for the fact that they're selling many of us $100k vehicles for $80k. Let's be reasonable - that goodwill from the price increase debacle should be enough to help you look past this small premium. We also don't know any of the details yet, which should be the most upsetting part of all this - that their communication remains god awful.

 

[GHuff]

The judgement shown by the company is that they need to find additional revenue streams, perhaps more quickly than they initially thought, to make up for the fact that they're selling many of us $100k vehicles for $80k. Let's be reasonable - that goodwill from the price increase debacle should be enough to help you look past this small premium. We also don't know any of the details yet, which should be the most upsetting part of all this - that their communication remains god awful.

If they aren't ready to define exactly what is in the Membership, then keep it free. That's only reasonable. I know that the email says this will go into effect on January 16th, but I have a feeling all that means is when you ask for something like vehicle extraction service post Jan 16th, they are going to charge you for it. I am extremely doubtful that they will define the Membership, all of the a-la-carte options, and the exact pricing for everything on Jan 16th (or ever). And they most definitely will not say it is an exhaustive list that won't change. Whatever they come out with on Jan 16th will not be final and not exhaustive. They may still choose to charge us for X in the future even if it is not mentioned on Jan 16th.

So, again. Until they are able to make final decisions that can't change, then they shouldn't charge for any membership services.
By making everything a-la-carte and charging for everything, what they are really doing is admitting that there really isn't (and never was) a membership. If you want something, you are going to have to pay for it. And they are never going to define any of it.

Let's please come back to this post Jan 16th. I'm willing to bet that they will not have an exhaustive list of every charged option. And I'll bet my Rivian that anything they come out with will have language that says that it can change at anytime without notice. And that alone is why I'm so upset about this...because it defeats the entire purpose of coming out with anything at all.

There never was a membership to begin with! I'm honestly genuinely curious if there is a single customer that has used any membership benefit other than RAN and LTE. And now they are just charging for everything. That is total BS. They are completely getting rid of the membership that we were promised. And still not going to define what they will and won't charge us for in the future.

 

[DJG]

For me it’s definitely not the money, it’s the judgment shown by the company. Rivian is simply not sorted out enough to start charging. Maybe they should wait for a RAN network before they start charging for it.

They made a promise to their early adopters and then just took a big steaming shit on us and said “ oh yeah all that complimentary stuff we talked about……that was only for the few that lived close enough to a SC to get delivery in the first year”.

Also if someone can name a car company that the free trial period is for one year of the company and not for a year+ of ownership of the car, please do.

They aren't going to charge you for RAN if you don't use it. They are saying that when you pull up to one starting after April, you'll have to pay to use it. That's it. Perhaps they add a subscription similar to EA where for a small monthly charge you get better pricing with each charge, but that's different and would be an option, but you'd still have the pay as you charge option.

The LTE connectivity, and the Membership at large, was only advertised as being free for "a trial period". The LTE portion of that is now going to last through 2023 for existing owners, so will end up being anywhere from a year to nearly two for owners as of today. It remains to be seen what rolling trial period they give to new deliveries going forward (end of this year and beyond), but I would assume they do for anywhere between 3-6 months as is industry standard.

People have been wanting to know when the free gravy train ends and Rivian just answered that question as requested. The follow up questions are largely around what services will require the LTE subscription, but that will be answered in due time. Baseline expectations should be in line with industry standards - live traffic, satellite maps, WiFi hotspot and music streaming. Nothing has changed with what has been advertised all along, other than instead of a more expensive all inclusive program, they are separating out things individually, as most owners want. Everything from that update is positive.

 

[jjswan33]

For me it’s definitely not the money, it’s the judgment shown by the company. Rivian is simply not sorted out enough to start charging. Maybe they should wait for a RAN network before they start charging for it.

They made a promise to their early adopters and then just took a big steaming shit on us and said “ oh yeah all that complimentary stuff we talked about……that was only for the few that lived close enough to a SC to get delivery in the first year”.

Also if someone can name a car company that the free trial period is for one year of the company and not for a year+ of ownership of the car, please do.

They may still offer a free year for new owners, I think they should. Aside from charging and LTE I'm not sure what complimentary stuff I have gotten from my membership. For example they certainly were not actually offering off-road extraction when my suspension broke on the WA BDR.

So in my opinion we should relax and wait to see what they want to charge us for what. I certainly never expected LTE to be free forever and it sounds like through the end of 2023 it will be. As for RAN just giving it to everyone for free is going to cost Rivian a bunch of cash and only benefit a select few so if we want the network to be well maintained and have a robust rollout we should be willing to pay for it.

Now if they actually start charging us for heated seats or snow mode or whatever other feature then we would be right to revolt but that is all speculation at this point.

Edit: Grammer

 

[freshpow]

If they aren't ready to define exactly what is in the Membership, then keep it free. That's only reasonable. I know that the email says this will go into effect on January 16th, but I have a feeling all that means is when you ask for something like vehicle extraction service post Jan 16th, they are going to charge you for it. I am extremely doubtful that they will define the Membership, all of the a-la-carte options, and the exact pricing for everything on Jan 16th (or ever). And they most definitely will not say it is an exhaustive list that won't change. Whatever they come out with on Jan 16th will not be final and not exhaustive. They may still choose to charge us for X in the future even if it is not mentioned on Jan 16th.

So, again. Until they are able to make final decisions that can't change, then they shouldn't charge for any membership services.
By making everything a-la-carte and charging for everything, what they are really doing is admitting that there really isn't (and never was) a membership. If you want something, you are going to have to pay for it. And they are never going to define any of it.

Let's please come back to this post Jan 16th. I'm willing to bet that they will not have an exhaustive list of every charged option. And I'll bet my Rivian that anything they come out with will have language that says that it can change at anytime without notice. And that alone is why I'm so upset about this...because it defeats the entire purpose of coming out with anything at all.

There never was a membership to begin with! I'm honestly genuinely curious if there is a single customer that has used any membership benefit other than RAN and LTE. And now they are just charging for everything. That is total BS. They are completely getting rid of the membership that we were promised. And still not going to define what they will and won't charge us for in the future.

Boo hoo. You were never promised anything. Sure the membership was advertised but companies, particularly startups, have to evolve and make changes at a rapid pace in order to succeed. I'd rather they make these small changes and continue to adapt than try to stick to every little thing they thought up in the beginning to keep entitled pre-order holders and owners happy.

 

[DJG]

If they aren't ready to define exactly what is in the Membership, then keep it free. That's only reasonable. I know that the email says this will go into effect on January 16th, but I have a feeling all that means is when you ask for something like vehicle extraction service post Jan 16th, they are going to charge you for it. I am extremely doubtful that they will define the Membership, all of the a-la-carte options, and the exact pricing for everything on Jan 16th (or ever). And they most definitely will not say it is an exhaustive list that won't change. Whatever they come out with on Jan 16th will not be final and not exhaustive. They may still choose to charge us for X in the future even if it is not mentioned on Jan 16th.

So, again. Until they are able to make final decisions that can't change, then they shouldn't charge for any membership services.
By making everything a-la-carte and charging for everything, what they are really doing is admitting that there really isn't (and never was) a membership. If you want something, you are going to have to pay for it. And they are never going to define any of it.

Let's please come back to this post Jan 16th. I'm willing to bet that they will not have an exhaustive list of every charged option. And I'll bet my Rivian that anything they come out with will have language that says that it can change at anytime without notice. And that alone is why I'm so upset about this...because it defeats the entire purpose of coming out with anything at all.

There never was a membership to begin with! I'm honestly genuinely curious if there is a single customer that has used any membership benefit other than RAN and LTE. And now they are just charging for everything. That is total BS. They are completely getting rid of the membership that we were promised. And still not going to define what they will and won't charge us for in the future.

The Membership to this point has only included LTE and as of recently, free charging. Extraction never materialized and may never. That is why they addressed only those two things in this update, because they are all that exists as part of Membership at this time. When other services are created, they will provide the details of those at that time, including pricing and what trial period, if any, it will be offered for free.

There is nothing material about the 1/16 date. The only dates to concern yourself with are 12/31/23 and 4/30/23, when LTE and charging will no longer be free, respectively. 1/16 is an administrative date when the T&C language will change from what it is currently, to reflect the new program, for newly delivered vehicles going forward. Instead of vague "trial period" language, it will likely have specific periods that will be offered for each service.

 

[GHuff]

Boo hoo. You were never promised anything. Sure the membership was advertised but companies, particularly startups, have to evolve and make changes at a rapid pace in order to succeed. I'd rather they make these small changes and continue to adapt than try to stick to every little thing they thought up in the beginning to keep entitled pre-order holders and owners happy.

My concern is this: " "As our membership grows, we’ll continue adding benefits, including drive modes, enhanced vehicle capabilities, in-cabin content and gatherings at Rivian spaces and events. Once you get your vehicle, membership will be complimentary for a trial period. After that, you can opt into paid membership. View terms and conditions."

When they advertised this: https://stories.rivian.com/vehicle-technology-innovation

 

[R1Sky Business]

I was planning on just buying a new Rivian every 12 months so I'd never have to pay for the membership. Rivian really shooting themselves in the feet here.

12 month lease program.....genius

 

[R1Sky Business]

I sure hope they pick a nicer spot for their Brooklyn "meeting center" than they did for their Brooklyn SC.. cause the only "meetings" taking place on that particular corner don't include legitimate business transactions... ?

Just adventurous modern art

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