Rivian Guide Contacted Finally! (For Real) ?

[BoltEVowner]

Why a bunch of emails? And to Guide contacted LE pre-order holders, or to everyone?

Why not answer ALL of our burning questions with another LE Story on their website? Probably would save a lot of time and angst on the part of Guides that either don't know the answers, or aren't allowed to spill the beans.

Seems to me that the main thing happening here is finding out who is still IN, and who is considering or decided to drop OUT. Finalizing likely orders and exactly what needs to be produced first to deliver on their promises as much as is possible. They need to know what exactly has been SOLD to plan production efficiently. Even though they are a new company, they certainly have vast knowledge from conventional companies and Tesla. They shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel, but need to make a strong start.

My $0.02...

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[eggpaul]

well, seems like these guide calls are just CS 2.0. Another delay tactic. I made the mistake of getting excited again. Not going to let them disappoint me anymore this summer.
The first group that were called have all been told they will get the truck by November. So either there is a huge delay again, or Launch green will be first in July production.
There is no way I will spend 45 min on that call, lol.

 

[kylealden]

The purpose of the Guides is not to make news or release net-new information. That should be obvious.

The purpose of the guides is to:

1. Help you manage and complete your order
2. Be your support contact throughout ownership

That includes connecting you with all available information but, like any support contact for any product, will not include sharing otherwise non-public roadmap data.

The folks in this thread saying things like "Guides don't seem to know much" are probably the most hyper-informed Rivian order holders on the planet, having spend the last weeks/months or more scraping together every bit of Rivian information that is available. The Guides are not going to be dumping sudden new revelations on you at this stage. That's OK. Don't take it out on them.

 

[godfodder0901]

The first group that were called have all been told they will get the truck by November.

I was told September at the latest.

 

[skyote]

Seems to me that the main thing happening here is finding out who is still IN, and who is considering or decided to drop OUT. Finalizing likely orders and exactly what needs to be produced first to deliver on their promises as much as is possible. They need to know what exactly has been SOLD to plan production efficiently. Even though they are a new company, they certainly have vast knowledge from conventional companies and Tesla. They shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel, but need to make a strong start.

That's a good point & interesting question.

Are the guides probing for intent or commitment to follow through with purchase?

 

[AdamL]

I was told September at the latest.

I like your date much better.

That's a good point & interesting question.

Are the guides probing for intent or commitment to follow through with purchase?

I think they are, seems like a reasonable question to us from them.

 

[cohall]

The purpose of the Guides is not to make news or release net-new information. That should be obvious.

The purpose of the guides is to:

1. Help you manage and complete your order
2. Be your support contact throughout ownership

That includes connecting you with all available information but, like any support contact for any product, will not include sharing otherwise non-public roadmap data.

The folks in this thread saying things like "Guides don't seem to know much" are probably the most hyper-informed Rivian order holders on the planet, having spend the last weeks/months or more scraping together every bit of Rivian information that is available. The Guides are not going to be dumping sudden new revelations on you at this stage. That's OK. Don't take it out on them.

I agree in general with what you're saying. No way are Guides going to be the ones to drop all sorts of new information.

But what doesn't make any sense is why Rivian has chosen not to release so much critical information, prior to the guides reaching out. They're just setting the guides up to fail.

RJ himself sent us all a video stating how the guides have gone through intense training. How they are able to answer any question you have. How they know the Rivian product "inside and out", so that they can help you.

Obviously making statements like that will lead people to think that, you know, the Guides would actually answer some of the questions people have. Turns out not to be the case, which has disappointed quite a few folks.

Hopefully they just release a ton of info in the next week or two, as the guides seem to be indicating may happen.

 

[Kialoa]

Just finished my Rivian Guide Introductory Meeting (Summary):
Thought I only had 1-2 questions, but meeting went for an hour. Overall - much better than expected, and got answers to most of my questions. My Guide was very up-front, gave me specifics when she could, and was upfront on questions she did not have an answer for. In short - the process from here on out seems to be broken down into 5 steps:

1) Introductory Meeting: June - clarify ordering/delivery process, address and check on Configuration/Options. Apparently options these have no impact on the Delivery Date.
2) Educational Materials: July - a number of these will start in early July, and provide us ~weekly updates for 3-4 weeks.
3) 'Infrastructure Call': August - clarify and finalize home charging setup/installation. Will need a 60A circuit set up to achieve max charging rates (48A).
4) Transaction to Delivery Meeting: Late Sept/early October - This is the meeting at which Title/Registration information is finalized, any financing is finalized, and if you have a trade-in the details for this are finalized - ie signed. The timing of this meeting is set by the Guide, based on the likely Production Date (which she tracks). About 3-4 weeks before this date the Guide will reach out to set up this meeting, and at that stage have the exact production/delivery dates for your build.
5) Delivery Day (for me set to Week 4, October): Just to recap - 2/16/19 reservation with an El Cap Granite, 20" All Terrain, Black Mtn interior build. Delivery options are touchless, or guided walkthrough/instruction at your house.

We covered a lot of more ground around accessories, test drives, service stations, mobile repair teams, winches - but the above are the main take-aways.

 

[kanundrum]

@SeaGeo, you are quite correct! Perfect day yesterday for a trip into the mountains.

Yes, I did have my guide call yesterday (about 30 min), and this will probably be more of what we have heard so far from the other guide calls, but here is a brief rundown form my call and my perspective:

My guide was super friendly and seemed genuinely happy to finally be making some of these calls. She did ask quite a bit about my hobbies, my family, and how I would be using the truck. She has been working at Rivian for about a year and did migrate over from the CS team. She even mentioned that she is quite familiar with some of the outstanding questions and concerns from the Rivian community.

• We did review the same address/configuration questions that other are reporting. I asked if one particular configuration was more likely to get a build earlier, and she mentioned that they are still working out the production runs, so not quite a direct answer.
• Before I could ask, she acknowledged that most folks had been asking about range numbers and UX details. She mentioned that there will be a series of emails forthcoming with much more information about both of those questions.
• I asked if it would be possible to get the wall mount earlier to get a jump on installing it and it seemed like that would be possible, but not a direct yes. She did ask about how I intended to handle home charging and we discussed it for a bit. I have a dedicated circuit already to charge my 3, so should be a straightforward install.
• I asked her if tank turn is still a ‘thing’ or if it has disappeared into the ether. She said that it was still a feature.
• Like @Shzeph reported, the only timeline I was given with any degree of certainty was November. She mentioned it could be possible beforehand, but not sure of details.

To be clear, I don’t think this means that deliveries are even further behind and Rivian should be criticized for their misinformation, I just think that they are still not quite sure of production schedule and did not want to over promise. It did still let the wind out my sails a bit, though.

• There will be digital store at some point. She even asked me what I would like to see in the store and she mentioned some of the items others had asked for.
• I did ask a lot of questions about the timing of the actual production/financing/build cycle. From the time your number is pulled, is it a 3-week process? 4-weeks? She is going to get some more detail about that.
• I asked about the app. The magical elusive app that can be used to track production, handle financing/insurance, etc. as well as manage the truck. *shock* More info soon. I then asked about whether the app would be released one day on the iOS/android stores or if it would be sent to each person before the production cycle begins. She was going to find out about that.

Overall, I am still excited as ever, but didn’t quite get the excitement boost I might have been hoping for. That’s more an issue of what I expected in my own head, not necessarily Rivian letting me down. I mean, why would the guides tell me something about a detail or feature that they wouldn’t make available to everyone? If Bezos was my last name, maybe.

We will see what happens from here, and I am more than happy to keep posting about my experience and I hope other do as well. Our collective experience and excitement are what makes these forums so much fun.

Thank you for the descriptive information! All in all same as others so consistent albeit not much more information we know now rather than 2 weeks ago.

 

[kanundrum]

Just finished my Rivian Guide Introductory Meeting (Summary):
Thought I only had 1-2 questions, but meeting went for an hour. Overall - much better than expected, and got answers to most of my questions. My Guide was very up-front, gave me specifics when she could, and was upfront on questions she did not have an answer for. In short - the process from here on out seems to be broken down into 5 steps:

1) Introductory Meeting: June - clarify ordering/delivery process, address and check on Configuration/Options. Apparently options these have no impact on the Delivery Date.
2) Educational Materials: July - a number of these will start in early July, and provide us ~weekly updates for 3-4 weeks.
3) 'Infrastructure Call': August - clarify and finalize home charging setup/installation. Will need a 60A circuit set up to achieve max charging rates (48A).
4) Transaction to Delivery Meeting: Late Sept/early October - This is the meeting at which Title/Registration information is finalized, any financing is finalized, and if you have a trade-in the details for this are finalized - ie signed. The timing of this meeting is set by the Guide, based on the likely Production Date (which she tracks). About 3-4 weeks before this date the Guide will reach out to set up this meeting, and at that stage have the exact production/delivery dates for your build.
5) Delivery Day (for me set to Week 4, October): Just to recap - 2/16/19 reservation with an El Cap Granite, 20" All Terrain, Black Mtn interior build. Delivery options are touchless, or guided walkthrough/instruction at your house.

We covered a lot of more ground around accessories, test drives, service stations, mobile repair teams, winches - but the above are the main take-aways.

Very interesting information, again thank you for the descriptive write up.

 

[cohall]

5) Delivery Day (for me set to Week 4, October): Just to recap - 2/16/19 reservation with an El Cap Granite, 20" All Terrain, Black Mtn interior build. Delivery options are touchless, or guided walkthrough/instruction at your house.

Interesting that you were given such a specific timeframe for delivery, when others were not. Congrats!

 

[Shzeph]

I like your date much better.

So I texted my guide after my call asking for a little more info on this “November-gate” issue. Got the following response (edited out non-relevant bits)

“You were pulled to be contacted by a Guide because of your configuration choices. Your anticipated delivery will be by November, but … it could totally be earlier. Once the vehicle is built, it has to go through testing to make sure everything is perfect before we deliver it to you. Once we get further into the process, I will have a firmer date to provide!”

So make of that what you will

 

[LoneStar]

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[Atlrivian]

2) Educational Materials: July - a number of these will start in early July, and provide us ~weekly updates for 3-4 weeks.

Kialoa's interaction actually clarifies a lot in my mind. For example, why send out educational materials in July if people are really receiving their truck then? Are they STILL finalizing the interior?? Otherwise people are ordering sight unseen. I'm on board with the idea that the absolute earliest less than 5 orders will be received in July.

If the first reservation holders are truly still going to be waiting on Launch editions as late as November, most of us really are going to need to reset expectations. That is what I think these first Guide contacts are about. It wasn't to give any new information, but a stealth way of saying, "We haven't forgotten about you, but you're going to be waiting a few more months than we indicated."

I have a R1S and R1T Max preordered only from 9/20, so realistic expectations for me are sometime in 2023 (I hope). Pure speculation: maybe they won't send out all the educational stuff to everyone because by the time I get a vehicle the UI will be on the second iteration and will look totally different?

Lastly, not to belabor the point, but SOON seems to have a different meaning to Rivian than anyone else on Earth. Maybe this is their way of building excitement, but it just gets their fans more upset every time their is a real or perceived delay. I would love someone (anyone) from Rivian to just come out and give a timeline, even if it is subject to extreme change. I don't love feeling like I'm being lead along.

 

[eggpaul]

So I texted my guide after my call asking for a little more info on this “November-gate” issue. Got the following response (edited out non-relevant bits)

“You were pulled to be contacted by a Guide because of your configuration choices. Your anticipated delivery will be by November, but … it could totally be earlier. Once the vehicle is built, it has to go through testing to make sure everything is perfect before we deliver it to you. Once we get further into the process, I will have a firmer date to provide!”

So make of that what you will

Ok, so I wonder if there is still a batch of vehicles that will be delivered in July/August. Why would they make calls to the first group of people and give them these late Fall dates only to call another group next week and tell them they will get their trucks first in July?

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