Factory Tour and Accepting Delivery On-Site... and My "Dream Delivery"

[Eeyore]

I'd be cool with that. A SN engraved on the truck or even on the key fob would be plus. I can't remember another company that would do this in the US, so I'm wondering how many people would actually go.

I would definitely want to go, but it would also depend on time of year. I would much rather drive from Normal to Oregon when it isn't mid-winter snow season.

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[thrill]

I would definitely want to go, but it would also depend on time of year. I would much rather drive from Normal to Oregon when it isn't mid-winter snow season.

Get the AT tires, they said ... it'll be fun, they said.

 

[loucetios]

So I did some digging on plans for making out to Normal for a plant tour when accepting delivery of the vehicle. There is an Amtrak route from Chicago Union Station to Normal IL that runs 5 times a day and only costs $20. It is also about the same amount of time as driving from Chicago to Normal. The Uber cost from either Midway or O'Hare is about $30 to Union Station and the cost from the station in Bloomington/Normal to Rivian is $10. So after the cost of plane tickets it would only be about another $60 to get to Normal.

If cost is your main concern then this seems to be the best option. There will obviously be some issues with timing a flight so that you aren't waiting at the train station for hours but this seems pretty smooth.

The second and probably fastest option is to rent a car when you arrive at the airport and then drive to Normal from there. It looks like this would start around $150 and go up from there. You also still will need to Uber from the rental place to the factory.

Here is my ideal scenario. Rivian offers a "Accept delivery at factory" option that reduces the destination fee and includes a factory tour (maybe call it the "First Adventure" option). When we are close to having our vehicle manufactured we are assigned a factory tour/delivery date (maybe a month in advance so travel can be planned). We are responsible for getting to Normal the day before the delivery to a hotel that Rivian has selected. This let's all of the owners chill and meet up and maybe Rivian could partner with a Hotel to offer a discount or something. On the morning of delivery Rivian picks everyone up (in an R1T or R1S of course) and takes them to the facility to start the day. At the end everyone gets their keys and drives off in their new Rivian.

I know this is probably unlikely but I don't think the cost to Rivian would be to extreme for this and it would be an awesome experience for those of us that have pre-ordered. What do you all think about this? Am I missing anything?

Years ago, I was in the market for a convertible sports car. One of the vehicles I looked at was the BMW Z3. After talking with the sales rep. at a BMW dealer in Charlotte, NC, he mentioned instead of paying a delivery fee. I could use my delivery fee dollars for the Greenville SC Factory BMW Performance Center Delivery program. BMW still offers this program, and here is the link with the details – https://bmwperformancecenter.com/delivery/.

Hopefully, if there is enough interest Rivian might offer a similar program.

 

[E-lectric]

Years ago, I was in the market for a convertible sports car. One of the vehicles I looked at was the BMW Z3. After talking with the sales rep. at a BMW dealer in Charlotte, NC, he mentioned instead of paying a delivery fee. I could use my delivery fee dollars for the Greenville SC Factory BMW Performance Center Delivery program. BMW still offers this program, and here is the link with the details – https://bmwperformancecenter.com/delivery/.

Hopefully, if there is enough interest Rivian might offer a similar program.

I have been and still am into Corvettes, tho I replaced the last one with a Tesla 3P. I have taken a Museum delivery on one across the road from the Corvette plant. Even though the car just goes 1 mile from the plant, everyone, no matter where in the US, pays the same amount of delivery fee, it is not waived. Even better than a NCM Delivery, is watching your car being made and being the first one to turn the key and bring her to life. Have done this a couple of times and have a book of pics from the last one in 2015. Either way, would love to have some kind of program at the Rivian Plant and would definitely plan a trip there to tour it and/or pick up my R1T.

 

[Mark K]

"So I did some digging on plans for making out to Normal for a plant tour when accepting delivery of the vehicle. There is an Amtrak route from Chicago Union Station to Normal IL that runs 5 times a day and only costs $20. It is also about the same amount of time as driving from Chicago to Normal."
I just found this post today. I really like your idea of taking Amtrak. I have a lot of Amtrak miles so it would not cost me any cash to reach the Bloomington/Normal station. I could take my Segway Mini on the train so that I could use it to travel the last four miles to the Rivian plant

 

[twinprice]

I might be up for that trip! That would be awesome!

 

[BigE]

So I did some digging on plans for making out to Normal for a plant tour when accepting delivery of the vehicle. There is an Amtrak route from Chicago Union Station to Normal IL that runs 5 times a day and only costs $20. It is also about the same amount of time as driving from Chicago to Normal. The Uber cost from either Midway or O'Hare is about $30 to Union Station and the cost from the station in Bloomington/Normal to Rivian is $10. So after the cost of plane tickets it would only be about another $60 to get to Normal.

If cost is your main concern then this seems to be the best option. There will obviously be some issues with timing a flight so that you aren't waiting at the train station for hours but this seems pretty smooth.

The second and probably fastest option is to rent a car when you arrive at the airport and then drive to Normal from there. It looks like this would start around $150 and go up from there. You also still will need to Uber from the rental place to the factory.

Here is my ideal scenario. Rivian offers a "Accept delivery at factory" option that reduces the destination fee and includes a factory tour (maybe call it the "First Adventure" option). When we are close to having our vehicle manufactured we are assigned a factory tour/delivery date (maybe a month in advance so travel can be planned). We are responsible for getting to Normal the day before the delivery to a hotel that Rivian has selected. This let's all of the owners chill and meet up and maybe Rivian could partner with a Hotel to offer a discount or something. On the morning of delivery Rivian picks everyone up (in an R1T or R1S of course) and takes them to the facility to start the day. At the end everyone gets their keys and drives off in their new Rivian.

I know this is probably unlikely but I don't think the cost to Rivian would be to extreme for this and it would be an awesome experience for those of us that have pre-ordered. What do you all think about this? Am I missing anything?

You can do this with BMW at their SC plant. Rivian is a start-up with lots of things on their to-do list, this may not be at the top, but I would love a tour and pick-up at the plant.

 

[MichaelW]

Normal, IL is relatively central. Could easily offer some packages for people to pick up their truck/suv and have some adventures on the way home. Trails, off-road parks, national parks, lakes etc.

I would love to have that job creating routes from Normal to various parts of the US/Canada, negotiating deals for lodging and excursions, and getting Rivian charging stations installed at the locations.

Have to imagine a high adoption rate for the reservation holders and the social media buzz could be huge with them posting all of their photos

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