?️ [Updated Delivery Estimate Windows Announced!-- 4/28/23] Happy updated delivery estimate window week!

[ATL_R1S]

It appears the majority of the pending orders are for R1S. No firm proof, but the general belief is that there have always been more R1S pre-orders than R1T. The SUV market segment in general is certainly much larger than the pickup segment.

Also, realize that everyone has "processing estimate". THat does not mean you are necessarily closer. Three months ago, some people moved back from 2023 to 2024 delivery after processing was complete.

This is what I still don't understand. I get that Rivian wanted to deliver the first electric truck and beat Ford to it, but why are they continuing to prioritize R1T and build/deliver more trucks when the pre-order backlog for R1S and SUV market is larger with more demand. It just seems backwards to me, but I'm biased, and admittedly bitter that newer R1T orders are being filled so quickly in comparison to R1S.

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[Runner4life]

So are you a "pre March '21" reservation holder, or a May '21 reservation holder? Either way, I suspect the majority will see a bomb up in their dates.

May ‘21 pre-order date. Coming up on two years… huzzah!

 

[Zoidz]

This is what I still don't understand. I get that Rivian wanted to deliver the first electric truck and beat Ford to it, but why are they continuing to prioritize R1T and build/deliver more trucks when the pre-order backlog for R1S and SUV market is larger with more demand. It just seems backwards to me, but I'm biased, and admittedly bitter that newer R1T orders are being filled so quickly in comparison to R1S.

Starting up a new manufacturing line like this is incredibly difficult. My opinion is that they chose to run the R1T first because it might be slightly easier and less time to build (interior components) and there were less orders so it worked better in a production ramping plan. We know for certain that they are batching builds by color, interior, etc. It complicates things tremendously to build two different vehicles on the same line at the same time. Yes, it is done, I have seen it. But that's by manufacturers with decades of experience, and they grew into it. Rivian is still early in growth.

My opinion is that Rivian wants to get the bulk of R1 orders behind them, and then do something like build R1Ts one week a month, and R1S three weeks a month, still in the batch mode. That's most efficient for them.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Starting up a new manufacturing line like this is incredibly difficult. My opinion is that they chose to run the R1T first because it might be slightly easier and less time to build (interior components) and there were less orders so it worked better in a production ramping plan. We know for certain that they are batching builds by color, interior, etc. It complicates things tremendously to build two different vehicles on the same line at the same time. Yes, it is done, I have seen it. But that's by manufacturers with decades of experience, and they grew into it. Rivian is still early in growth.

My opinion is that Rivian wants to get the bulk of R1 orders behind them, and then do something like build R1Ts one week a month, and R1S three weeks a month, still in the batch mode. That's most efficient for them.

I don't have any experience with how Rivian is doing things. I do know from when I did controls work at a Honda plant, that they could do four different models on one line. There was changeover time involved to switch between models, so you'd want to avoid doing it while you still had parts for a particular model. You'd lose 1-3 production slots every changeover (it didn't always go smoothly).

One "fun" thing about working there is if your cell stopped sending vehicles through the line, the people at the stations up the line were required to follow the line backwards to the bottleneck. At one point we had probably around 100 people at our cell because production was being held up from a sensor issue on our new equipment and someone was tracking down a replacement sensor.

 

[moosehead]

Rivian update typically means we’ll get a revised update date not an actual update.

 

[zipzag]

I think they built the R1T first because of "Adventure!" and uniqueness in the market. R1T first was better for branding. No camp kitchen in the R1S. No camp kitchen in the R1T was unexpected.

I doubt very much that the R1T is fundamentally easier to build than the R1S. R1T may currently be easier to build due to experience.

Rivian presumably will have a big R1S run before switching to R1T max pack later in the summer.

If the R1T max pack is significantly below 180mWh they many have a lot of cancellations.

 

[mkg3]

...If the R1T max pack is significantly below 180mWh they many have a lot of cancellations.

Thinking about the statement with a different perspective/point-of-view.

180kWh battery sizing was originally for the quad setup. Now, it's only available for the dual setup. Two motors consume less than four motors.

The decision criterion should be about the EPA range, not the battery pack size. As long as the rated range is the same or similar to the original max pack range, then it should not matter.

Clearly the EPA vs actual range is quite different. Still, it is a reference point for comparison.

 

[oskeei]

This is what I still don't understand. I get that Rivian wanted to deliver the first electric truck and beat Ford to it, but why are they continuing to prioritize R1T and build/deliver more trucks when the pre-order backlog for R1S and SUV market is larger with more demand. It just seems backwards to me, but I'm biased, and admittedly bitter that newer R1T orders are being filled so quickly in comparison to R1S.

Could it be that the R1T has more profit than R1S?

 

[Ldouek1247]

Wow, you guys seem lucky to have a date. I talked with CS a few weeks ago and they said how it's looking for us to expect around 2025. Oct '21 preorder so not that recent. Learned not to expect too much

 

[zipzag]

My WAG is that white/white will be a lot more common than black/black. Especially on older orders where Ocean Coast isn't a premium.

 

[oskeei]

Wow, you guys seem lucky to have a date. I talked with CS a few weeks ago and they said how it's looking for us to expect around 2025. Oct '21 preorder so not that recent. Learned not to expect too much

2025 is crazy. Have you thought to change you delivery address to a local service center? Guessing it's delayed due to you distance from local service center.

 

[Ldouek1247]

2025 is crazy. Have you thought to change you delivery address to a local service center? Guessing it's delayed due to you distance from local service center.

We’ve thought about it but there is nowhere closer we can go that would be worth it. Best part is we are only 80 miles from a service center

 

[zipzag]

Thinking about the statement with a different perspective/point-of-view.

180kWh battery sizing was originally for the quad setup. Now, it's only available for the dual setup. Two motors consume less than four motors.

The decision criterion should be about the EPA range, not the battery pack size. As long as the rated range is the same or similar to the original max pack range, then it should not matter.

Clearly the EPA vs actual range is quite different. Still, it is a reference point for comparison.

The price for max pack hasn't changed. Originally it was $10K for about 40 kWh.

If they don't offer the longer pack for the R1T now they will offer it later. Both the vehicle and the battery line is set up to handle the longer pack. Both the current architecture and their new module/internal design is to add cells to a longer pack.

But I'm not going to get to excited about the price/performance at this point in time. If I was running Rivian I wouldn't release range figures that might freeze R1T sales. It's not a question of sufficient demand overall but the production schedule.

The concern about range is probably greater now than when Rivian launched the R1T. Premium buyers in particular are more likely to pay for more.

 

[mkg3]

The price for max pack hasn't changed. Originally it was $10K for about 40 kWh.

If they don't offer the longer pack for the R1T now they will offer it later. Both the vehicle and the battery line is set up to handle the longer pack. Both the current architecture and their new module/internal design is to add cells to a longer pack.

But I'm not going to get to excited about the price/performance at this point in time. If I was running Rivian I wouldn't release range figures that might freeze R1T sales. It's not a question of sufficient demand overall but the production schedule.

The concern about range is probably greater now than when Rivian launched the R1T. Premium buyers in particular are more likely to pay for more.

You're assuming that the battery is the same composition. If Rivian uses LFP for max pack, it will require the fully allocated storage locations to accommodate the additional cells. Further, LFP will keep the cost down compared to Li-ion to help their margins.

All I'm saying is that as technology change, options too will change. We shouldn't hold onto last generation thinking, just because they said it originally.

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