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cohall

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Figured I would share this from one of the Rivian enthusiast pages on Facebook. It's far from an official statement, but a member reached out to Rivian via social media regarding when those with pre-orders would be able to configure their vehicles, and received the following response from the company:

"Hey! Thanks for your message and interest. Rivian owners will be able to configure their Electric Adventure Vehicles late summer!"
Link to the post (might need to be a member of the group, not sure): LINK


Apologies if this is old news. Hadn't seen recent updates on this.
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Pherdnut

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Might have had to have been a member when it was posted. I think they said something like that prior to Covid but it would be news if it was said recently. When was it dated?
 
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cohall

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This was a message received from Rivian yesterday (4/20), according to the poster.
 

Pherdnut

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Cool. I was worried they'd bump it again. The configurator is the one thing they've delayed for non-pandemic reasons. It's supposed to be really fancy.
 
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PoorPilot

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I hate to be the pessimistic one here, but I'll believe this when I see it. If you remember, this same configurator was supposed to launch in 2019. Don't get me wrong, I want to see it and play around with it as much as anyone else. I also really want to see how much money we're talking about, but with Rivian's past timelines, or lack of, I'm not holding my breath.

I hope they prove me wrong!
 

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EyeOnRivian

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I hate to be the pessimistic one here, but I'll believe this when I see it. If you remember, this same configurator was supposed to launch in 2019. Don't get me wrong, I want to see it and play around with it as much as anyone else. I also really want to see how much money we're talking about, but with Rivian's past timelines, or lack of, I'm not holding my breath.

I hope they prove me wrong!
I don't think you're being pessimistic at all, more like realistic. It would seem Rivian is holding to their style of not blowing smoke to the public when "whatever" is still in progress. Right or wrong, good or bad, it appears to be their way of doing things. So I can either adjust or move on; for now I'm trying to adjust. ;)
 

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I'm not sure what you're basing the statement "this same configurator was supposed to launch in 2019" on. The late summer availability is the first time I've seen an estimated date (from Rivian) for the configurator. The only statement from the company I've seen up to now is it will be available closer to launch.
 

PoorPilot

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I'm not sure what you're basing the statement "this same configurator was supposed to launch in 2019" on. The late summer availability is the first time I've seen an estimated date (from Rivian) for the configurator. The only statement from the company I've seen up to now is it will be available closer to launch.
I forget where I saw something from the company (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) where they mentioned late fall 2019. I asked several employees at several different roadshow events to expand on this and to confirm. Everyone was in agreement that late 2019 was a target, however the last show I attended one employee told me it was looking more like first quarter of 2020. Now we’re at late summer 2020.

I can’t fault the need to get all the bugs worked out prior to launch, however, as you can see, my experience with Rivian and their dates hasn’t been spot on.
 

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They're not known for overpromising but the configurator is the one thing that's had its date adjusted a few times. From what I've heard (I'm a web developer), they may have been going a little too fancy with it. Like to the point where it would not be fun/fast to add/remove features as business pivots happen.

If I'm not wrong about that, my advice to Rivian would be to just offer a simpler configurator that's maybe better than the hot-mess Kia Soul's or sometimes buggy Volvo's but not so much augmented-reality-ish until that option is actually ready. We just wanna see the colors, the rim options, and fancy lists of selectable features that are smart enough to qualify/disqualify each other in intelligent ways (unlike Kia's for how NOT to do this) as you make choices. You don't really need more than images. Nobody needs to superimpose their R1T design on top of THEIR OWN REAL DRIVEWAY. We just want to see what the for-sure options are that you're confident of at this or at whatever time it becomes practical to commit to the ones you're sure of.

The front end web is like play-dough in the right hands. You can start basic and build on it without losing work.
 
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EyeOnRivian

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I'm not sure what you're basing the statement "this same configurator was supposed to launch in 2019" on. The late summer availability is the first time I've seen an estimated date (from Rivian) for the configurator. The only statement from the company I've seen up to now is it will be available closer to launch.
Yes, but before Rivian came out with that statement they were singing that song slightly different. Remember, this is one of the more active Rivian forums since Rivian revealed back in Nov 2018. There's an awful lot of history here. Here are a couple hits from a forum search on "configurator":

Pre-order question - possible to change from change from R1S to R1T?
...about changing I was told, and this is a quote, "We can’t make the exchange internally currently. However, not to worry, as a preorder customer, you will be able to choose either the R1T or R1S in our vehicle configurator which will be live in late 2019. This will also secure your place in line"
Take away from NY Auto Show (pics)
...next year. Things I learned after speaking with different Rivian employees (many have been answered before, but here you go): - Configurator emails for preorders will go out towards the end of 2019 with production models ready for test drives mid to late 2020. - The vehicles you see are...
 

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EyeOnRivian

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A watered-down / lite / pre-order version of a configurator would certainly be ideal. Whether or not that is plausible at this point in time is uncertain. Rivian could have determined early on to swing for the fences on this configurator and the infrastructure may not be conducive for a bare-bone, high-level configurator. I'm not a web designer but spent nearly 35 years as a software engineer and can appreciate the challenges of, say, the design parameters changing in the middle of project. Whatever the reason, we have to consider the information we're looking for that would go into the configurator - Paint colors, interior colors, rim sizes/styles, tires, roof types, many other features, which will standard vs a selectable option, trim packages, and then the pricing structure for all of this - just isn't ready for prime time yet.

Until now Rivian has designed two unique, high-end EAVs with some innovative features and some kick-a$$ technology. I believe it was Elon (maybe someone else) that said, and I'm paraphrasing, it's easy to design and build a car, it's much harder to mass produce them. (Just ask Fisker!) The items that we would expect to see in the configurator is the product of many, many supply chain partners. I've never worked for an auto manufacturer but I can only imagine a fraction of what it must entail - market research, the logistics, the number crunching and negotiating that must occur -*BEFORE* Rivian can or wants to publicly offer this information via the configurator, even if it's qualified as "pre-launch" and "some features and prices may change." There's a good chance they will but I suspect Rivian would rather want to minimize having to withdraw or change a feature or price listed. (At one point it seemed like Tesla was doing this weekly.) In addition to the headaches this would cause them and their potential costumers, it could easily generate negative press.

Again, I repeatably get the impression Rivian is not the type of company to throw half-baked pasta at the wall and see if it sticks. I suspect they are striving to get as much right as possible out of the gate. For all we know at this point the delay in the online configurator could be less about the configurator and more about them still trying to get all their supply chain ducks in a row. Or perhaps simply give themselves more time to make changes to what they offer based on results from additional vehicle testing. .... So, is the configurator ready yet? :CWL:
 

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Again, I repeatably get the impression Rivian is not the type of company to throw half-baked pasta at the wall and see if it sticks.
I totally agree and appreciate that about them. Still wouldn't mind cheesy little color squares I can click on that make the R1T in the rectangle change color though.
 

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This is a nice discussion.

I too would love to see the configurator and equal to that or more important, is the test drive. With the shelter-in-place I cannot see that happening soon. I am at a point on the test drive that it may not matter, I just want one...is that just me or do others feel the same way?

I met RJ and Charles, as some may know from my past posts.

I am trusting the Rivian team/family to make an awesome American-Made vehicle!
 

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Yes I will take one right now without a test drive. Things could change later.
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