Official email from Rivian offering Binding Purchase Agreement

[Harvest]

I just signed the purchase agreement, and am expecting my R1T delivery in October-November.

For what it's worth, I was one of the people (probably many did this) who emailed the "public" email address for RJ Scaringe yesterday morning to encourage the company to offer a signed purchase agreement. I just got a response email from that RJ account, signed "RJ," about a half hour ago. I'm sure it was sent by a Rivian staff member and not RJ, but it was nice to see that someone is monitoring that email and responding. The response was mostly what appeared to be boilerplate about the purchase agreement, but the first sentence of the email was personalized to respond to some comments I had made about doing my "First Mile" drive last week, so at least it wasn't a totally canned response.

Ironically, I had also emailed my guide at the same time, and have had no response from that person, but I did get a response 20 minutes ago from customer service which was along the lines of "we will be sending out information about the signed purchase agreement." I had NOT emailed customer service, so I assume my email to the guide's email account somehow was forwarded into customer service. Overall, it's good to see they are responding on this important topic.

Sponsored

 

[Gavinmcc]

I just signed the purchase agreement, and am expecting my R1T delivery in October-November.

For what it's worth, I was one of the people (probably many did this) who emailed the "public" email address for RJ Scaringe yesterday morning to encourage the company to offer a signed purchase agreement. I just got a response email from that RJ account, signed "RJ," about a half hour ago. I'm sure it was sent by a Rivian staff member and not RJ, but it was nice to see that someone is monitoring that email and responding. The response was mostly what appeared to be boilerplate about the purchase agreement, but the first sentence of the email was personalized to respond to some comments I had made about doing my "First Mile" drive last week, so at least it wasn't a totally canned response.

Ironically, I had also emailed my guide at the same time, and have had no response from that person, but I did get a response 20 minutes ago from customer service which was along the lines of "we will be sending out information about the signed purchase agreement." I had NOT emailed customer service, so I assume my email to the guide's email account somehow was forwarded into customer service. Overall, it's good to see they are responding on this important topic.

When did you get a guide? I'm a Oct to Dec delivery window, but have not received a guide.

 

[Guy]

Can I just check. If I stick with the existing tax credit and take delivery in 2023 then I would file for the EV credit in 2024 when I file my 2023 taxes?

 

[iansriv]

Man, a $100.

According to some people around here, that might be a big pill to swallow for my low SoCal income. I better sell off some things.

Ya, I was joking about that too. But, what if after all the debating here and rushing to sign this wonderful document we discover that 1% of the battery raw mater comes from Timbuktu and thus disqualifies everyone getting the Ocean Coast interior!

 

[Harvest]

When did you get a guide? I'm a Oct to Dec delivery window, but have not received a guide.

I got a guide assigned about two weeks ago in my online Rivian account, but have not had any communication from the person yet.

 

[abstractny_mujic]

Chatted with the support to clarify things, my understanding from reading the "RIVIAN BINDING CONTRACT TO PURCHASE" is that, well, it is binding but only for you.

The email makes it sound like just the $100 of $1000 deposit becomes non-refundable if you decide to cancel, but the actual contract states that you're obligated to buy the vehicle:

1. … You hereby create a binding contract with Rivian obligating you to purchase the Vehicle …​

While not knowing the final price nor even the year in which you may get the truck. This does not look like a great contract to sign tbh, I might not need a Rivian in +-2024 for say $120k or whatever the price increase will be with this inflation.

Has anyone clarified whether it's really just the $100 you lose if you decide not to buy after signing the Binding Contract? It seems that Rivian will be able to sue you and force you to buy the truck even if you don't like the final price/delivery_year/etc?

11. "AGREEMENT REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES"​

And other paragraphs of the agreement leave the only option to cancel the binding — ask Rivian to cancel it, if they decide they don't want to cancel — my understanding is that they'll force you to uphold to the binding agreement and pay for the truck you may already not be interested in.

It might be that the court will interpret paragraph 1: "one hundred dollars of the deposit amount you submitted with your preorder/reservation becomes non-refundable" as the condition to cancel the agreement on your end.
But that's debatable because paragraph 9 specifically states: "No Resellers & Cancellation."

Support representative said it's above their department, so I asked to escalate with Rivian lawyers and they told me they'll get back to me.

---

TL;TR: "what's the point of $100 being non-refundable if the contract is binding and I can't back out of it without Rivian's consent?" is what I asked in the chat.

WDYT?

 

[Husker Charlie]

Can I just check. If I stick with the existing tax credit and take delivery in 2023 then I would file for the EV credit in 2024 when I file my 2023 taxes?

I think that's undetermined at this point, and will depend on how the IRS decides to handle it. I think there's basically 2 options - you either claim it on 2023 taxes or file an amended return for 2022. Probably easier, less paperwork, and less headache for the IRS to just let you claim it in 2023.

 

[Husker Charlie]

Chatted with the support to clarify things, my understanding from reading the "RIVIAN BINDING CONTRACT TO PURCHASE" is that, well, it is binding but only for you.

The email makes it sound like just the $100 of $1000 deposit becomes non-refundable if you decide to cancel, but the actual contract states that you're obligated to buy the vehicle:

1. … You hereby create a binding contract with Rivian obligating you to purchase the Vehicle …​

While not knowing the final price nor even the year in which you may get the truck. This does not look like a great contract to sign tbh, I might not need a Rivian in +-2024 for say $120k or whatever the price increase will be with this inflation.

Has anyone clarified whether it's really just the $100 you lose if you decide not to buy after signing the Binding Contract? It seems that Rivian will be able to sue you and force you to buy the truck even if you don't like the final price/delivery_year/etc?

11. "AGREEMENT REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES"​

And other paragraphs of the agreement leave the only option to cancel the binding — ask Rivian to cancel it, if they decide they don't want to cancel — my understanding is that they'll force you to uphold to the binding agreement and pay for the truck you may already not be interested in.

It might be that the court will interpret paragraph 1: "one hundred dollars of the deposit amount you submitted with your preorder/reservation becomes non-refundable" as the condition to cancel the agreement on your end.
But that's debatable because paragraph 9 specifically states: "No Resellers & Cancellation."

Support representative said it's above their department, so I asked to escalate with Rivian lawyers and they told me they'll get back to me.

---

TL;TR: "what's the point of $100 being non-refundable if the contract is binding and I can't back out of it without Rivian's consent?" is what I asked in the chat.

WDYT?

Every contract requires "consideration" for it to be valid. If you sign a contract but you don't give up anything, then it's illusory. Making $100 non-refundable is the "consideration" - i.e., you're giving up $100 to enter into the agreement, and this (arguably) makes it a valid and binding contract (as is necessary to get the tax credit). But even when there is a valid and binding contract, the parties can always mutually agree to rescind the contract.

Because the Act requires a binding agreement in order to claim the tax credit at a later date, Rivian has to bind you to purchasing the vehicle. As a practical matter, however, if you want to cancel and Rivian has enough demand for its vehicles (which is likely) it probably won't force you to buy the truck.

 

[jollyroger]

“3. Order Changes. If you make changes to the Vehicle after the Order Date, you may lose eligibility for special edition models, your place in line for priority delivery, and/or be subject to potential price increases based on any pricing adjustments made since the Order Date.”

This clause concerns me. Does this clause apply to those with pre-March ‘22 preorders? I have a pre-March preorder for an R1S that allows me to change configurations, add and/or subtract features, all at pre-March ‘22 prices. The above clause sure seems to indicate that, after signing the BPA, any changes to my configuration will be subject to post-3/1/22 pricing. Can anybody offer some clarification regarding this issue. I am certainly prepared to sign the BPA, but need to know if I have to get serious about nailing down, permanently, every feature. Actually, at this point, the main unknown for me is color, as I have not been able to see them in person.

Is anyone else also considering making their config less than 80k just in case this binding contract turns out to be a dud in the final rulings? Or if they get their truck in 2024+.

[EDIT]
I just saw on the https://rivian.com/support/article/...t-impact-my-eligibility-for-the-electric-vehi page that signing this does not lock your configuration. Interesting amount of flexibility with binding pre-order

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Three different browsers, pop-up blocker disabled, still not opening the confirmation page for me. Guess I'll have to try it on an older PC with Internet Explorer or something...

That said, what exactly were the rules prior to the proposed changes? My config comes up at $93k and I'm well under the salary cap (new rule). Would I even qualify under the old rules? My google-fu is failing me...

Edit: Worked fine on my phone. Go figure. #shrug

 

[kanundrum]

From CS:

For customers with multiple deposits, we'll share a binding order agreement that, when signed, applies to all vehicles orders for which you've placed a deposit.

 

[SASSquatch]

Terms and conditions:

“Order Changes. If you make changes to the Vehicle after the Order Date, you may lose eligibility for special edition models, your place in line for priority delivery, and/or be subject to potential price increases based on any pricing adjustments made since the Order Date.”

Is it just me, or does it sound like we need to lock our configuration?

You caught the same thing I caught. That definitely seems like if we don't lock our configuration, we may lose our pre-March 1 pricing.

 

[RayzorBEV]

Signed the contract for a R1S, just under 80k

 

[Husker Charlie]

Three different browsers, pop-up blocker disabled, still not opening the confirmation page for me. Guess I'll have to try it on an older PC with Internet Explorer or something...

That said, what exactly were the rules prior to the proposed changes? My config comes up at $93k and I'm well under the salary cap (new rule). Would I even qualify under the old rules? My google-fu is failing me...

There are no income or vehicle value limitations under the old credit. But under the new Act, you wouldn't qualify for the credit because of the vehicle's value, nor would many Rivian customers - that's why there's been such a mad scramble to get the agreements signed now so that we can qualify for the old credit (without the Rivian-killing limitations).

 

[Allthetoys]

Signed - Done!

Also Signed this afternoon. Had no problems using Chrome..

Sponsored