InsideEVs Article : Rivian Focuses On Amazon Delivery Van Over R1T Electric Truck

[Sgt Beavis]

Normally I would agree. But Bloomberg seems to have a serious bias against Rivian, for some reason. Starting with that miserable reporter they sent for the test drive, and now this series of stories they're running, they seem to really not want Rivian to succeed.

Maybe it's just me, but that's how I see it.

With the exception of a few small points, I thought it was a fair review. As I said on the thread for that article, if that's the worse the reviews can get for the R1T, then that truck is pretty damn good.

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[rraj2k81]

I guess in the end time will tell. Not going to get frustrated or anything. If things push well into next year and viable alternatives become available (for instance the EV Silverado) I'd consider other options but so far the Hummer, F150 Lightening or the Tesla CT don't do it for me.

Yeah I am with you on this too. Not in any real hurry. My time line is Fall 2022 too. Thought I am not looking for a truck, an SUV/CUV is in my wheel house.

The Mach-E GTs are starting to roll out and they look really good.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

I guess in the end time will tell. Not going to get frustrated or anything. If things push well into next year and viable alternatives become available (for instance the EV Silverado) I'd consider other options but so far the Hummer, F150 Lightening or the Tesla CT don't do it for me.

I can't comment on the relationship between Amazon and Rivian but being Amazon has an equity stake they have vested interest in the IPO going well. The more capability they can demonstrate before IPO the better.

Also I still believe that producing 300 vans isn't going to be much of a challenge and shouldn't impact R1 production that much. If it is really because of shared components and manpower that they can't produce 300 vans and volume of R1Ts then they weren't ever going to produce that many R1Ts anyway.

There is also conflict with this reporting and a lot of previous reporting after the press event in regards to timing of the R1 deliveries.

Yea, I REALLY want to get a Rivian but I can't wait more than a year. I haven't made a final decision, but the delivery timing is pushing me towards the F150 Lightning.

Also, you are spot on with that last statement, which I bolded. Rivian's communication on the matter could definitely be better.

 

[kvenom]

The Verge has quoted the Bloomberg article as a source. Bezos himself has even quoted the article on twitter. I think it’s more than credible aside from a few wording errors

 

[rraj2k81]

 

[TDWRT1]

Normally I would agree. But Bloomberg seems to have a serious bias against Rivian, for some reason. Starting with that miserable reporter they sent for the test drive, and now this series of stories they're running, they seem to really not want Rivian to succeed.

Maybe it's just me, but that's how I see it.

Not just you.

 

[ruawahoo2]

The thing that makes me a little suspect about the accuracy of this article is that Bloomberg reports it will take two years before fulfilling all the back orders, citing a quote from Scaringe that is a year old. A lot of stuff has happened since then, including another $2.5B infusion.

Bloomberg’s articles on Rivian seem to lean negative generally. It also feels that they have to stretch for some (not all) of the not-so-rosy content. To me, it doesn’t come across as unbiased.

 

[eggpaul]

Maybe this is why Rivian has said all LE orders will be delivered by Spring 2022.

 

[DB-EV]

Could be true but bad reporting and dumb logic. Rivian is prioritizing vans because they have so many van orders (10K due in 2022) and so few truck/suv orders (50K that they’ve committed to ship in 2022). I could easily see supply chain issues forcing the company to focus on vans (probably don’t need solid ash interior van trim, for example) but this article is silly.

My two cents: from a business perspective, very smart to focus on Amazon. Why?

-Amazon owns a piece of the company; they were willing to invest a lot, when Rivian needed capital;
-Amazon alone has provided about 2x the R1S and R1T holders - one 'person', double the orders;
-Amazon is tough: if they don't get what they want, the contract pretty much let's them walk away; Rivian can probably predict somewhat accurately how many of us will walk.

 

[SANZC02]

My two cents: from a business perspective, very smart to focus on Amazon. Why?

-Amazon owns a piece of the company; they were willing to invest a lot, when Rivian needed capital;
-Amazon alone has provided about 2x the R1S and R1T holders - one 'person', double the orders;
-Amazon is tough: if they don't get what they want, the contract pretty much let's them walk away; Rivian can probably predict somewhat accurately how many of us will walk.

The other advantage is once they start delivering the Amazon vans the 4 year Amazon exclusive timer starts. After that they will be able to start offering these vans to other business and possibly even a public version that people can buy. If I read it right I think Amazon does still have a first right for 2 more years but doubt they would purchase all of them.

I can see that being low hanging fruit for Rivian as they are rolling out other offerings.

 

[Harvest]

I agree with those saying this is an example of really poor reporting. I read the IPO information and I didn't come to that conclusion that vans were prioritized over the passenger vehicles at all! And it's crazy how other outlets just picked up on the Bloomberg story and ran with it, but that's pretty typical of journalism today.

 

[EVTrucking]

Rivian has a lot on it’s plate. IMO they are slightly less transparent than other car manufacturers.

For mid to late reservers like myself Ford, Chevy, Tesla ect… getting an EV truck will probably not happen any sooner than getting a Rivian. Waiting is painful but not much of a choice.

 

[RayzorBEV]

If this is true, it does not surprise me that this has been the direction of Rivian. Considering it's October and not a single deposit paying non-employee customer have received a truck, and Rivian has been silent about orders.

Rivian Focuses On Amazon Delivery Van Over R1T Electric Truck (insideevs.com)

Yep, I am really bum out about this latest news, I pre-ordered a R1-T and R1-S, now I am in doubt about my choices...

 

[Gator42]

s00n, Jeff. s00n…

 

[Kmann1994]

I read the full original Bloomberg article and in my opinion it was a good read. On one hand it’s a little scary to see the amount of leverage Amazon has on Rivian, but at the same time I completely understand why RJ took this deal at their early startup stage and his long-term strategy in mind when he did it. I’ve worked at a high growth startup for over 6 years and am close to our founder and he would have and did do similar things when we were much smaller.

Essentially, it boils down to there being a short-term reduction in R1T and R1S ramp progress to focus on finishing the van so that in the long term, Rivian can be financially healthy and well set up to drastically scale production on both their consumer and commercial sides of the business. I think it’s smart, and as a March 2021 preorder holder I wasn’t planning on getting my vehicle until late 2022 anyways so the wait doesn’t bother me.

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