"deliveries this Summer..." why is the Press using this phrase so frequently now?

[LoneStar]

So in the past couple weeks, and for sure in the past few days I've noticed a common recurring phrase in the Blogosphere and YouTubeiverse.

"when Rivian begins deliveries this Summer..."

See or hear it once, its just a turn-of-phrase. Yes, Summer officially begins on Sunday June 20th so deliveries within the June target would begin this Summer.. But, the last day of Summer 2021 is September 22nd which is way past satisfying any reasonable interpretation of what Rivians been repeating for many, many months.

Is it just a quirk that publications like Car & Driver and InsideEVs speak now in the exact same language about Rivian's upcoming initial deliveries beginning this Summer?.... ?

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[electrictaco]

Car and Driver consistently gets even basic facts wrong and InsideEVs reposts stuff from this forum. Wouldn't read too much into the semantics of anything they write.

 

[timesinks]

Mostly because it was said once and repeated. It's also a nice, non-specific time range that will be less likely to be wrong.

As you said, June is summer (especially the part of June we can realistically expect to see deliveries in), and it's going to be a slow ramp. So it probably won't be until mid-, even late-summer before we start seeing a sizable number of true, arms-lengths customers driving their vehicles around.

I do not think they're all "in" on some delay news that Rivian hasn't published.

 

[LoneStar]

We'll have better insight exactly one week from today. If no Guide contacts reported then Rivian missed a hard commitment of their own making. If Guidance does happen for those precious few this week (or weekend) then it will vanquish this cloud of uncertainty.

 

[SANZC02]

For what it is worth, I sent an email to CS today with some questions. A lot of the same soon and as we get closer, etc.. but some firmer information was provided

Guides Contacts starting this week or next week
On Target for deliveries to start
Planning on LE deliveries this year will have a better idea as they start rolling out
Test Drives starting in the summer

This is what I asked;

Good afternoon.

We have not heard any information in a few weeks. A few of questions;

1. Almost at the end of May, should we expect the guides to start reaching out?
2. Is Rivian still on target for R1T deliveries to start in June?
3. Is Rivian still on Target for R1S deliveries to start in August?
4. I thought I had heard all LE editions would delivered in 2021, is that still accurate?
5. Do we know when the test drive and in person view sessions will start?

Just trying to best gauge my expectation for delivery so I can make sure I have the necessary funds available when needed.

Any information you can provide around this and when we can expect final specifications will be welcome.

This is the response I received 50 minutes later;

Thank you for reaching out to the Customer Engagement Center. We are happy to be here to help you along your journey with Rivian. I would be happy to address all of your questions.

1. Guides will start their introductions very soon. They are just finishing up with some training. They should be starting this week or next. They will continue to make their introductions to all of our Launch Edition preorder holders until Thanksgiving!

2&3. We are still on track for our summer production timeline. Deliveries will be based on three factors: when you preordered with us, what your configuration is, and where you want to take delivery.

4. We are hopeful that our Launch Edition preorders will be fulfilled in 2021. We will be able to keep the community posted as we go through the year and start getting vehicles delivered. We will keep everyone posted on our timeline as we move forward.

5. We will start our test drives this summer, and will prioritize our Launch Edition preorder holders first. Once we get through them and can offer them to the rest of the public, we will let everyone know!

As we get closer to deliveries starting, we will be able to offer more insight into that to expect. Your Guide will be very helpful in discussing your timeline as well once they are assigned to you.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are here to help! Stay adventurous out there and be safe!

 

[irish26]

1. Guides will start their introductions very soon. They are just finishing up with some training. They should be starting this week or next. They will continue to make their introductions to all of our Launch Edition preorder holders until Thanksgiving!

2&3. We are still on track for our summer production timeline. Deliveries will be based on three factors: when you preordered with us, what your configuration is, and where you want to take delivery.

4. We are hopeful that our Launch Edition preorders will be fulfilled in 2021. We will be able to keep the community posted as we go through the year and start getting vehicles delivered. We will keep everyone posted on our timeline as we move forward.

None of this inspires much confidence in deliveries beginning in June. Certainly nothing of any meaningful volume.

 

[DucRider]

None of this inspires much confidence in deliveries beginning in June. Certainly nothing of any meaningful volume.

I don't think people really expected "meaningful volume" out of the gate, but instead a slow ramp up.
This reinforces that they are (within a few days) still on their schedule.

 

[irish26]

I don't think people really expected "meaningful volume" out of the gate, but instead a slow ramp up.
This reinforces that they are (within a few days) still on their schedule.

My apologies. Meaningful volume is a relative term. In this instance, the first month of production during a ramp up. I would consider anything more than 100 deliveries in June to be meaningful.

 

[Atlrivian]

I would like to point out CS said "summer" and not June. Also, last week someone was told Guides would reach out this week. It wasn't "this week or next." As far I'm concerned they are trying to wring as much time as possible from an intentionally vague timeline.

Ask yourself one question: does it really take months to train glorified customer service reps? To blame delays on training customer service is unbelievable at even surface examination. They expect me to believe they can't find a single rep who is trained adequately to start reaching out to the first LE reservation holders? And even if the Guides aren't ready WHY NOT GIVE PEOPLE A DATA DUMP? There are a lot of questions people have that could be answered before a Guide ever makes a single call. Answering all our questions via a FAQ section would take minimal effort and go a long way to placating the restless and concerned masses (not to mention it would speed up the Guide calls).

Hell, they can't even send out a single tweet saying "Very Very Soon!" I call bullshit.

Something is wrong.

 

[cwoodcox]

Answering all our questions via a FAQ section would take minimal effort and go a long way to placating the restless and concerned masses

Answering all our questions via a FAQ section would be literally impossible.

 

[Gshenderson]

Answering all our questions via a FAQ section would be literally impossible.

Especially if they won’t even try.

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