New Delivery Delay Confirmed - My R1T Delivery Pushed From October to end of February, 2022.

[CommodoreAmiga]

I’m curious as to your opinion: do you think your preorder is higher priority than the employees who built the car itself over the past 10 years? And that paying employees should not be given their cars so that someone who reserved after them, like yourself, could?

I think it's fine (smart, even) to delivery the first set of vehicles to employees. It rewards people for their hard work, and also allows them to work through production issues and have some of the earliest production vehicles "near" company facilities so issues can be communicated back and worked on, easily/quickly.

My frustration stems from the missed commitments that Rivian has voluntarily made. They told someone to expect their delivery in October, and the entire month they insisted that is still the case. Now we're in November and the date changes to February? Not just a matter of "we're a little behind, and it's going to be early November... But literally 3+ months later. And they couldn't tell that customer before they completely missed the original deadline?

Rivian doesn't need to change how they're prioritizing deliveries. What they need to change, imo, is how they communicate their intentions with their customer base.

Most companies publish a roadmap. Why can't Rivian?

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[CommodoreAmiga]

That being said, kudos to Rivian on the partner they picked for the DSP. They truly under promised and over delivered. Got the email yesterday from Rivian, said we would hear from the partner in the next 48 hours. 12 hours later had the account created and linked to my bank. Dare I say there are lessons that can be learned here….

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised with how prompt DSP communication has been. And the setup experience with MS was pleasant and error-free.

Rivian has demonstrated they can do a great job when they want/need to. Are they stretched too thin and all their focus is on the IPO so the rest suffers? Or is the IPO team just awesome and some of them need to be reallocated to comms, after the IPO completes?

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

Wasn't the next rebate similar to the old one for non union shops? It's not that likely to pass, but the old one would continue.

The old one continuing may be the best outcome for EV purchases... But it would be an overall loss for the country. There's some good stuff in the new budget. There would have been even more good stuff if it weren't for some circus clowns wanting their time in the media spotlight.

Unfortunately, this leaves me conflicted, because the bill is overall good, but the EV provisions are devastating. The MSRP caps for EVs will significantly limit the ability to get a R1T (essentially no options allowed if you get the Adventure trim) and I believe it eliminates the R1S from the tax-credit, entirely.

 

[Bumble1978]

I think it's fine (smart, even) to delivery the first set of vehicles to employees. It rewards people for their hard work, and also allows them to work through production issues and have some of the earliest production vehicles "near" company facilities so issues can be communicated back and worked on, easily/quickly.

My frustration stems from the missed commitments that Rivian has voluntarily made. They told someone to expect their delivery in October, and the entire month they insisted that is still the case. Now we're in November and the date changes to February? Not just a matter of "we're a little behind, and it's going to be early November... But literally 3+ months later. And they couldn't tell that customer before they completely missed the original deadline?

Rivian doesn't need to change how they're prioritizing deliveries. What they need to change, imo, is how they communicate their intentions with their customer base.

Most companies publish a roadmap. Why can't Rivian?

Rivian is anything but MOST companies.

How many companies can you count one one hand who's sole purpose is to change, let alone help save the world?!? ??

 

[cc84]

I think it's fine (smart, even) to delivery the first set of vehicles to employees. It rewards people for their hard work, and also allows them to work through production issues and have some of the earliest production vehicles "near" company facilities so issues can be communicated back and worked on, easily/quickly.

I really don't mind this either, had it been communicated and explained, (several years ago) the purpose of employees getting their vehicle first. I can see it for testing, but not as a reward. The customer needs to be rewarded with the vehicle, as that is the only reason they have a relationship with Rivian. The employee can be rewarded in other ways. We keep them in jobs and in business, but we haven't been rewarded in any way, unless we consider the opportunity to participate in their IPO.

We shouldn't have received the August update. It didn't pertain to us at all. It was for employee preorder holders. Personally, I am only interested in deliveries to our forum members. Some things I had rather not know, such as employee deliveries. I want to know, up front, when we can truthfully expect our deliveries. We'll see how they meet their next deadline, the end of November, for Guide contacts and our estimated date for delivery.

 

[cc84]

So, by delivering to employees in the beginning and up until the IPO, for a number of reasons, they are also able to control the narrative around the R1T and not have any negative or other publicity from the "general public" taking delivery which may impact the pricing, participation, or other activity related to the IPO. Somewhat smart from their perspective to have the "right" narrative in place as the IPO share price is set and trading begins.

I was hoping for deliveries to the General Public prior to the IPO, so it would ease my concern whether, or not, Rivian will raise prices after the IPO. I think it would have been unwise to announce a price increase prior to the IPO. I guess someday we'll find out.

 

[Gator42]

I mean it's probably more National Treasure than DaVinci Code at best, but if the Financing Partner and IPO are both connnected to some of our country's oldest family money in JP Morgan...and we all know that there is big money in Politics at every level...?!?

It's either purely coincidental or brilliant strategy in creating some kind of scarcity market panic to make the number machine jump a bit. ?????

Haha-now I get it...

I have a tighter tin foil hat than most but I'm close enough to the intersection of politics and investment banking to conclude A) Hanlon's Razor applies* and 2) There is plenty of incest between the two camps but it is far too easy to make money without the need for nefariousness...

* Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity...

 

[Gator42]

Haha-now I get it...

I have a tighter tin foil hat than most but I'm close enough to the intersection of politics and investment banking to conclude A) Hanlon's Razor applies* and 2) There is plenty of incest between the two camps but it is far too easy to make money without the need for nefariousness...

* Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity...

I should qualify a bit- the investment bankers don't need to be nefarious, but the congress critters probably do. Elected officials are usually the dumbest ones in the room. Any room...

(...there's no elected officials here, right?)

 

[LoneStar]

I read through all 8 pages having just seen this thread.... my chin hit the floor reading the OP's post 1. but I nearly fainted (parenthetically) as I absorbed the general tone that hardcore Riviots here will defend Rivian no matter what they do or how many times they screw the pooch on communications.

Try to imagine back about 4 or 6 months ago when nobody knew (yet) when initial 'real customer' delivery commitments would hit. Those lucky few first 'targets' told Oct/Nov. If anyone around that time said something like "Just wait until the due date comes - or actually passes by - and Rivian tells those initial recipients about another quarter-year or more delay." Such comments would have been called heresy... not prophesy.

Funny that the commitment from Rivian to provide an estimated delivery time to EVERY SINGLE Launch Edition holder before Thanksgiving has effectively fallen by the wayside. To my knowledge that's another major target that RIvian has yet to reset. Who in their right mind would put stock into a delivery timeframe given today??

 

[TessP100D]

Rivian is anything but MOST companies.

How many companies can you count one one hand who's sole purpose is to change, let alone help save the world?!? ??

Wow. A little over the top?

 

[Dbeglor]

I read through all 8 pages having just seen this thread.... my chin hit the floor reading the OP's post 1. but I nearly fainted (parenthetically) as I absorbed the general tone that hardcore Riviots here will defend Rivian no matter what they do or how many times they screw the pooch on communications.

Try to imagine back about 4 or 6 months ago when nobody knew (yet) when initial 'real customer' delivery commitments would hit. Those lucky few first 'targets' told Oct/Nov. If anyone around that time said something like "Just wait until the due date comes - or actually passes by - and Rivian tells those initial recipients about another quarter-year or more delay." Such comments would have been called heresy... not prophesy.

Funny that the commitment from Rivian to provide an estimated delivery time to EVERY SINGLE Launch Edition holder before Thanksgiving has effectively fallen by the wayside. To my knowledge that's another major target that RIvian has yet to reset. Who in their right mind would put stock into a delivery timeframe given today??

I honestly don't get why this information is causing such a stir when it really doesn't apply to anyone other than the OP and it has been predictable for probably a month. While I can understand their disappointment, the reality is that this is just a sideshow to what is really going on and this doesn't represent a "delay" at all. I said as much just yesterday and was highly confident that none of the handful of non-employees (who were just a small test group for the Guide program by the way) would receive vehicles by the end of the year. It's been clear, and reaffirmed by the latest S1, that they were starting with employees and would move to non-employees after. Why anyone realistically thought after the latest S1 that someone on the forum would be getting a delivery in the near future is beyond me.

However, despite a handful of random estimates given to a select few people (who were never expected to share it to the world and create chaos), the plan has been to deliver the LE by end of Spring 2022. Literally nothing has changed and every piece of real information supports that is on track. As soon as they started reporting production numbers, nearly nothing else matters. Everything becomes very simple - they are either ramping production or they aren't. Production is on schedule to clear several thousand vehicles by the end of May (without even ramping faster than they are currently producing) absent an unforeseen backtrack or shutdown (which is still entirely possible).

This thread has taken a singular interaction and extrapolated it to apply to the entire production. It's even more astonishing that it happens on the heels of regular official updates on the production ramp that have been released, including just this week, which provided everything you need to know to manage expectations, which should not have changed for us as a whole. Like I said yesterday, the appropriate expectation at this point is that if you are LE, you'll receive it by end of Spring. When your Guide asks you to complete payment and provides you with your VIN, then and only then should you adjust your timeline up. If you are not LE, don't even think about it and check back in next Summer.

By the way, Rivian has NEVER committed to providing everyone an estimated delivery timeline by Thanksgiving. It is spreading false information like this which works people into a frenzy. They projected to have all LE holders receive contact from their Guide by Thanksgiving, nothing more. I, for one, expect that (if it happens) to be nothing more than a how do you do, nice to meet you. And that's fine, because I don't need anything else, I have what I need.

 

[Diddy123]

Why anyone realistically thought after the latest S1 that someone on the forum would be getting a delivery in the near future is beyond me.

Um, because that’s what the company said was going to happen?

 

[Zoidz]

With that being a R1T, do any of us R1S folks have hope hope for Before March/April? lol

Let's start a rumor that R1T is delayed due to tonneau cover supply constraints, and R1S production is taking priority for January delivery, lol. ?

 

[Tim-in-CA]

This post has really devolved into conjecture and conspiracy theories and should be moved to Facebook, Reddit, Twitter or Nextdoor where such ”commentary” is more apropos.

 

[kanundrum]

Let's start a rumor that R1T is delayed due to tonneau cover supply constraints, and R1S production is taking priority for January delivery, lol. ?

Sign me up!

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