No More Rivian Plant Factory Tours

[elfordon]

The grandkids will be at our house for spring break, and since we live somewhat near to the mothership, I thought they'd love a factory tour. But when I contacted Rivian, this was the response:

Hi xx,

Thank you for reaching out, I hope you are having a great day so far!

I would be more than happy to assist you with this but unfortunately Rivian does not perform plant tours anymore.

If you have any other questions or inquires, do not hesitate to contact us via website or via phone 888RIVIAN1.

Just FYI...

Sponsored

 

[ndmiller]

That's too bad. We're doing college visit roadtrips and thought visiting the factory on the way would be pretty cool.

 

[Ralph]

Perhaps related to preparing to produce the R2?

People might make observations ahead of planned release and cause all kinds of havoc/turmoil for a public company.

 

[NY_Rob]

That's the most positive rejection letter I've ever seen.

 

[SASSquatch]

Ugh. It was inevitable that one day that would yank the factory tour but it is a sad day nonetheless. Does anyone know if that means you can't take delivery in Normal anymore or only that you don't get a factory tour option if you do.

 

[QuadMonster]

Perhaps related to preparing to produce the R2?

People might make observations ahead of planned release and cause all kinds of havoc/turmoil for a public company.

Probably not, it's another building behind the main factory. Plus when I was there in September it was no where near close.

 

[SANZC02]

The grandkids will be at our house for spring break, and since we live somewhat near to the mothership, I thought they'd love a factory tour. But when I contacted Rivian, this was the response:



Just FYI...

That is a bummer, I enjoyed the factory tour when I picked up my R1S in Normal a couple of years ago.

Hopefully it is just being halted for the construction and line adjustments for the R2 and they will continue them once it is done. I know when I was there the tour seemed very popular.

 

[Robin]

The grandkids will be at our house for spring break, and since we live somewhat near to the mothership, I thought they'd love a factory tour. But when I contacted Rivian, this was the response:



Just FYI...

?

 

[RWerksman]

My understanding is that the factory tours ended when they did a bunch of Guide layoffs a good while back.

 

[richguess]

Dear Mr. X,

Thank you for your interest in our (Medical/Law/Business) school. Your qualifications are excellent and we believe you would have continued success studying here.

Unfortunately, our admission class sizes are limited, and we cannot offer you a place at this time. We wish you continued success with your academic endeavours.

yours truly,

etc

 

[Fes]

Ugh. It was inevitable that one day that would yank the factory tour but it is a sad day nonetheless. Does anyone know if that means you can't take delivery in Normal anymore or only that you don't get a factory tour option if you do.

I doubt they arent allowing delivery there-- they have a nice dedicated space for that out back.

 

[Laserboy1054]

Just curious: do other U.S.-based auto manufacturers (including Tesla) do factory tours?

I've never visited one, but it seems to me that an automobile factory would be a pretty dangerous place in which to have random people wandering around. In order to maintain safety, one would need to maintain very strictly-supervised areas in which industrial operations are curtailed. That is an added expense that I (as a Rivian owner and a RIVN investor) would prefer that Rivian not have to pay, much as I would love to visit the factory myself. (I live not too far from Normal, IL and did my demo drive there.) I completely agree that a factory tour would be awesome! And it would be a great recruiting tool for my friends and colleagues at ISU. But I do have to concede that cancelling the tours is probably a good idea.

 

[COdogman]

Just curious: do other U.S.-based auto manufacturers (including Tesla) do factory tours?

I've never visited one, but it seems to me that an automobile factory would be a pretty dangerous place in which to have random people wandering around. In order to maintain safety, one would need to maintain very strictly-supervised areas in which industrial operations are curtailed. That is an added expense that I (as a Rivian owner and a RIVN investor) would prefer that Rivian not have to pay, much as I would love to visit the factory myself. (I live not too far from Normal, IL and did my demo drive there.) I completely agree that a factory tour would be awesome! And it would be a great recruiting tool for my friends and colleagues at ISU. But I do have to concede that cancelling the tours is probably a good idea.

Rivian has a catwalk above the main factory floor that was used for most tours. They also have some 8 person golf carts that can give tours from the floor - I was lucky enough to get one of those in 2023 during an event and it was pretty amazing.

I imagine with all the construction and changes coming with adding R2 manufacturing, it’s probably impossible to continue that right now… hopefully they bring it back at some point.

 

[Rade]

Perhaps related to preparing to produce the R2?

That sounds logical.

 

[Brenden]

Maybe the Quad Max's are finally being produced and they don't want that leaked. R2's are a completely different operation so I don't think it would be that.

Sponsored