Vancouver First Mile demo booked!

[alisdair1941]

Rivian has absolutely shit the bed when it comes to the Canadian market.

I've had better comms from (failed) Kickstarter projects... ?

Sponsored

 

[alisdair1941]

Oh FFS, now they've rescheduled it AGAIN to completely other day and timeslot that I can't book off of work so soon (let alone my parents who are on my guest list).

If they want better optics, they are sure as shit not doing a good job.

 

[rraj2k81]

I doubt they are trying to purposefully mislead you or get you to cancel. I would say it is the opposite in your case because they need the visual marketing exposure you will provide a new area, which is priceless to them. I would more likely say they have some roadblocks being new they are working

You must be new around here.
Give it a few months and you will stop apologizing for the many promises they are going to break.

 

[tgo10000]

You must be new around here.
Give it a few months and you will stop apologizing for the many promises they are going to break.

nah I totally understand the negativity of the forum is vogue as is the perception that Rivian is an awful company. I wasn’t apolgozing for them as I don’t work for Rivian.

 

[atlastracer]

I've got a Feb/Mar date and a Dec 2018 preorder (R1S). I sure hope January delivery estimate refresh doesn't roll by and see all our dates slip. Though wouldn't be the first time they pushed our dates the month before or month of...

I hope im wrong.... But I also don't have much confidence they will hit my date. And crickets on demo drive too.

 

[crashmtb]

nah I totally understand the negativity of the forum is vogue as is the perception that Rivian is an awful company. I wasn’t apolgozing for them as I don’t work for Rivian.

it is not just some forum groupthink thing.
In canada, for everyone not in Vancouver, rivian’s messaging about things like service went from “don’t worry! Mobile service will come to you no matter where you are!” To “we are only delivering to customers near a service centre” with no stated plans for service outside of what amounts to one metropolitan area.

where I live, in the middle of the country, it is hugely unlikely that Rivian will build a service centre. Ever. Rumour has it. they’re building one in Calgary, some 13 hours drive west. Thot would not work.

 

[tgo10000]

I’ll bite, sure, deposits are refundable. I wouldn’t want a product from a company I thought so little about. Nor would I expect any company to provide service to every location possible unless it makes financial sense to do.

Out of curiousity, which competitor would you consider that is providing what Rivian is lacking?

 

[crashmtb]

I’ll bite, sure, deposits are refundable. I wouldn’t want a product from a company I thought so little about. Nor would I expect any company to provide service to every location possible unless it makes financial sense to do.

Out of curiousity, which competitor would you consider that is providing what Rivian is lacking?

when asked, repeatedly, about how they planned to provide service to customers not local to a service centre, Rivian assured mobile service would fill the gaps. Tesla did it that way.

i don’t think they abandoned the Canadian market, it Just doesn’t seem like they really planned for it. it’s pretty clear they just vacuumed up preorders with no concern for serving them. Gives them a fat order book to point to at IPO.

Rivian would’ve done well to simply announce they only plan on serving select areas. instead of doing that they’ve just kept stringing customers along. The latest incidence of this is the recent email about max pack and so on. They knew that months ago, why wait?

and yeah deposits are refundable-the process is a little too simple. Somewhat surprisingly it’s not a request to cancel, with it being reviewed by a person, it’s automatic instant refund, with a token “Why did you cancel?” Multiple choice quesrion.

I cancelled my preorder based on the information I received end of October, which was that they will not deliver to my region until they have a plan to provde service, with a further update on delivery timing to come in January.
I‘d had a 2023 delivery estimate which would’ve been fine.


I’ve driven an R1T and otherwise clambered all over them at the first mile event In Northern California last year. Brilliant product. Great people working on it.
But not worth an indefinite timeline with the ball getting kicked down the road over and over.

and that’s the crummy thing, there Is no comparable vehicle.

 

[tgo10000]

Yeah there’s no way that’s not frustrating at minimum. You’re probably right they don’t mind the cancellations cause especially in your market it’s a huge loss for them and market conditions have soured. I was more asking about your market as I’m not from Canada and have been there once, so was curious, not piling on further to your bad experience. I hope they improve, enjoyed my time in Canada everyone was wonderful and the market should be a win for Rivian and it’s clearly not right now.

 

[rraj2k81]

I’ll bite, sure, deposits are refundable. I wouldn’t want a product from a company I thought so little about. Nor would I expect any company to provide service to every location possible unless it makes financial sense to do.

Out of curiousity, which competitor would you consider that is providing what Rivian is lacking?

This company has done everything they can do, to erode any trust or excitement I had about Rivian, and they did most of that damage in the last year alone. If it wasn't for the fact that I am sitting on a free preorder for a Premarch 1st price R1S I would have walked away like @crashmtb.

Since I picked up the Model S I am starting to realize what is more important for me in an EV and Rivian is really lacking in all of it.
As for competitor, there are plenty of options in 2023 and further and I am personally excited about a lot of these other options,

Model X - Which you can order and get right now.
BMW iX - If you don't care about three row and can order and get right now.
Mercedes EQS SUV - Again no three row but luxury and off road capable.
Polestar 3 - No three row but will be a very capable and rugged SUV.
Volvo EX9 and Kia EV9 - Will be very capable three row SUVs and will be more advanced than the R1S right off the gate.

The question is what is Rivian's advantage right now to hold onto customer interest ?
With a possible recession and legacy makers planning to pump out cheap evs how many people are going to buy or plan to buy an almost 100k EV from a start up?

Had Rivian focused their attention on building up their RAN DCFC network they would have had a real leg up on all the competitors going into 2023 and 2024, but they didn't do that either.

 

[Haulin Oats]

Just cancel your order. Stop complaining. It’s tiresome to read constant bitching. If you don’t like it, cancel. No one cares

 

[rraj2k81]

Bah humbug to you too

BTW I and a LOT of people did cancel our reservations when Rivian took a giant cork screw to our collective behinds when they decided to increase the pricing for every one by upto 30% which they did an about turn less than 24 hours later.

And since then they have been chipping away by removing/cancelling/limiting all the functionalities that they promised to get people to invest as an early preorder holder or for their ipo,

1. Cancelled the cheaper Explore package
2. Cancelled the max pack
3. Cancelled/Suspended the camp kitchen
4. Canclled/Suspended the power tonneau
5. Cancelled/delayed the OC interior to make people choose the cheaper BM interior

I am almost certain this is not the end and they will
1. Axe/limit/cancel the 4 motor drive system to peddle the 2 motor driver train - already started aggressively marketing and selling it for 2023/2024
2. Pair down/limit the capabilites of the current suspension system.
3. Remove the third row from tha R1S.

So, No I have zero intentions of canceling my reservation and will continue to be critical of them until they honor their promise and commitment they made to me and every one who invested in this company.

But, hey you do you and buy whatever product they will peddle to you when your turn comes around.

 

[tgo10000]

As you can i you tell I think criticism is reasonable and appropriate but I try to avoid consipiracy theories and evil doer accusations.

I’ve also looked at those options with delays to R1S, iX peaks my interest because it is a great EV going to test drive one this week and you can get it now.

polestar3 I like it but closest service is 380 miles so that leaves me leery and it’s not available.

model x too many issues and too expensive, plus my wife said that’s not a suv ?.

Mercedes is ok in person but seems like you’re not getting your moneys worth.

kia/Hyundai I dig them but it’s unfortunate they haven’t released their EVs in every market so it’s a hassle finding them and working with dealers and also not available.

Volvo EX90 to me is the closet competitor and makes the most sense but not available to even spec till late 2023 so maybe 2024….

Rivian should definitely get RAN going and to be fair they are expanding even if not at the pace we would all like to see.

So yeah there are tangential competitors but it’s not like they are doing a bang up job either and real my question was more about the service availability aspect, while not a deal breaker it is important and I’m not familiar with the Canadian car market. But I do hope it works out for you guys.

 

[cbrcanuck]

Received a demo drive invite today, booked for next week. Considered not even bothering with it being downtown (I'll be surprised if I get past 40kph midday), but another touch point prior to making a final decision on everything can't hurt. And from the North Shore, it's not an awful chunk of my day...

 

[BlixemT]

Received a demo drive invite today, booked for next week. Considered not even bothering with it being downtown (I'll be surprised if I get past 40kph midday), but another touch point prior to making a final decision on everything can't hurt. And from the North Shore, it's not an awful chunk of my day...

I did my drive yesterday. the downtown part is obviously slow. But they take you underground past the convention center, and then on that road past Helijet. you can get a bit faster down there.

edit: some thoughts after the drive:
1) I was surprised how powerful the regen was. It was set to high. It will feels like 50% braking force. Will take a bit of getting used to. I think I will set to low at first.
2) suspension was firm. Even on softest setting it was not floating. Then again, I climbed into my BMW 3 series afterwards and was shocked as to how bumpy the roads in that area were. so maybe it is not that firm??
3) I was worried about how the accelerator tip-in would feel. Would it go from 0 to 30% at tap of the pedal? Nope, all very smooth. Very easy to drive.
4) silly thing: I did not like the sound the indicator made. Maybe coming from a BMW I am not used to any indicators!! ;-)
5) It was set to kneel when I was climbing out. I did not find it necessary. I would prefer it at std height for climbing in and out. (I am 6ft fyi)
6) for the 2 seconds that i did hit the accelerator pedal, goddam she does fly!
7) I did not notice any issue with interior fit and finish. Looked and felt great.
8) steering wheel was very sporty. smaller than expected. like something you would expect on a small sports sedan. I like it!

Sponsored