Rivian is very disorganized

[messinator]

I was chatting with some friends skiing and mentioned Rivian, and it turns out one of them works with Rivian (being intentionally vague). He immediately said that Rivian was the most disorganized company he'd interacted with so far. Thinking about it some more, it does show up quite a bit in the collective experience on this forum:

• Those trucker Google Maps reviews about rivian being unable to receive things they order
  • Consistent reviews about being stuck there for 24h+
  • Anecdotes around employees having no idea what bay/where etc
• Inconsistent information from guides who basically have to do their own information gathering
  • R1S is being delayed until June, and no one really knew until the original delivery window had already passed
  • Same thing with the ocean coast fiasco
• Some of it is definitely availability, but the incredibly adhoc ordering of deliveries (quite a few orders from 2022 & late 2021 being fulfilled before many LEs)
• The price increase, wait go back, having to wait for the dev team to update the website as they weren't planning to partially restore original pricing
• I'm sure people have other experiences

I'm not hating, but it does concern me on whether the company will be able to ramp up to become a Real car company and give me my SUV.

Thoughts?

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[Dark-Fx]

Growing pains. My R1T has some issues but it is an amazing truck. They'll figure things out

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I'd be absolutely shocked if they weren't. It's a new company that's been mass producing vehicles for less than a year.

Even If they have a team of experienced people, those people have never worked together on one team. Even all-star teams in sports have issues with chemistry even though every individual is the best at their specific position.

What's important is that they show consistent improvement and develop systems to address these things.

IMO, they are significantly ahead of where Tesla was at the same point in their ramp, and that's the best point of comparison. They should be, given the opportunity to learn from Tesla's mistakes, but still it's a good sign.

 

[SANZC02]

Personally, I’ve never seen a company in any field where you cannot find employees that have similar negative thoughts. Look at glass door, any company in there will have negative comments.

No company will be perfect, they all will have ways to improve and overtime a lot of that will shake out. You have to remember, most people are speaking of what they experience. I have on occasion found that the person with the negative perspective has been the problem.

Look at this forum, for every issue brought up there are many suggestions to solve it. I’m sure many will work, as the old saying goes, there are many ways to skin a cat. Some of the best teams I have worked on had very opinionated people who all voiced their opinions during planning and design phases but, once a decision was made, they put every effort into the execution phase to make things work regardless of what they originally thought.

 

[Scoiatael]

Rivian isn't an exception. Tesla was a mess when it first started and was close to bankruptcy multiple times. Lucid is having a bunch of issues too. Starting a car company is hard. There will be a lot of growing pains.

 

[smiesguy]

Growing pains. My R1T has some issues but it is an amazing truck. They'll figure things out

You have/had a Hummer EV as well correct? Any thoughts on established legacy automotive dipping their toe into EV's vs a new startup?

 

[Dark-Fx]

You have/had a Hummer EV as well correct? Any thoughts on established legacy automotive dipping their toe into EV's vs a new startup?

I've had quite a few GM vehicles. The Hummer was still obviously a GM truck. Personally I think gen 1 of Ultium might end up hurting GMs ability to be truly competitive. But, gen2 should solve a lot of those problems, and the fact that a vehicle could be upgraded to gen2 modules might end up being a huge boon for GM down the line.

 

[Attesan997]

I was chatting with some friends skiing and mentioned Rivian, and it turns out one of them works with Rivian (being intentionally vague). He immediately said that Rivian was the most disorganized company he'd interacted with so far. Thinking about it some more, it does show up quite a bit in the collective experience on this forum:

• Those trucker Google Maps reviews about rivian being unable to receive things they order
  • Consistent reviews about being stuck there for 24h+
  • Anecdotes around employees having no idea what bay/where etc
• Inconsistent information from guides who basically have to do their own information gathering
  • R1S is being delayed until June, and no one really knew until the original delivery window had already passed
  • Same thing with the ocean coast fiasco
• Some of it is definitely availability, but the incredibly adhoc ordering of deliveries (quite a few orders from 2022 & late 2021 being fulfilled before many LEs)
• The price increase, wait go back, having to wait for the dev team to update the website as they weren't planning to partially restore original pricing
• I'm sure people have other experiences

I'm not hating, but it does concern me on whether the company will be able to ramp up to become a Real car company and give me my SUV.

Thoughts?

Manufacturing is hard with 100+ years of experience, ask Ford and GM. Building a car company from the ground up is harder. Not exactly breaking news

 

[crashmtb]

I was chatting with some friends skiing and mentioned Rivian, and it turns out one of them works with Rivian (being intentionally vague). He immediately said that Rivian was the most disorganized company he'd interacted with so far. Thinking about it some more, it does show up quite a bit in the collective experience on this forum:

• Those trucker Google Maps reviews about rivian being unable to receive things they order
  • Consistent reviews about being stuck there for 24h+
  • Anecdotes around employees having no idea what bay/where etc
• Inconsistent information from guides who basically have to do their own information gathering
  • R1S is being delayed until June, and no one really knew until the original delivery window had already passed
  • Same thing with the ocean coast fiasco
• Some of it is definitely availability, but the incredibly adhoc ordering of deliveries (quite a few orders from 2022 & late 2021 being fulfilled before many LEs)
• The price increase, wait go back, having to wait for the dev team to update the website as they weren't planning to partially restore original pricing
• I'm sure people have other experiences

I'm not hating, but it does concern me on whether the company will be able to ramp up to become a Real car company and give me my SUV.

Thoughts?

Sounds like a manufacturing startup!
Land of pain.

As long as I get my truck, it's functional and everything lines up as it should, and the service is good, it is best not to know how the sausage is made

 

[lostpacket]

No dinner for Rivian until they clean their bedroom.

 

[Canthoney]

I've had quite a few GM vehicles. The Hummer was still obviously a GM truck. Personally I think gen 1 of Ultium might end up hurting GMs ability to be truly competitive. But, gen2 should solve a lot of those problems, and the fact that a vehicle could be upgraded to gen2 modules might end up being a huge boon for GM down the line.

Did you end up selling that? I remember you having one, but didn’t know if you got rid of it once you got the Rivian. Regardless, it’s an awesome vehicle and looks great, but no way it would fit in my garage lol

 

[Davethadog]

Yeah this is the real advantage established mfgrs. This is the first rodeo for so many parts of the organization. MRP systems are wild beasts kind of like horses, you just have to sit on them long enough for them for them to start playing along.

 

[ironpig]

If you always worked at legacy automakers and then went to a startup, I can imagine it would feel pretty different.

Rivian definitely "seems" pretty disorganized, but I kind of expect that for a new company.

I have a Ford Lightning Order that might come in before my R1T. But I'll have to go to a dealership and deal with that aspect of purchase to pick it up so there are pros and cons.

 

[KingTodd]

I would venture to say most places are a total cluster F regarding delivering and receiving.

In the event that you are ahead of myself for receiving an R1S, I would advise you that you should be concerned about getting your R1S and losing your deposit. It's best to cancel your order ASAP.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Did you end up selling that? I remember you having one, but didn’t know if you got rid of it once you got the Rivian. Regardless, it’s an awesome vehicle and looks great, but no way it would fit in my garage lol

I did. I put it in the garage twice, once forwards, once backwards. Not enough room to go in front of or behind it without completely cleaning my garage out. I think the Rivian is about the same length though.

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