What is your guess for the Day the 1st Rivian is delivered to a Customer?

[SeaGeo]

The intent of the legislation that was passed in 2014 was specifically crafted to exclude any direct sales by auto manufacturers. The wording is such that for sales, a manufacturer cannot compete with any dealer selling vehicles, regardless on whether it is the same brand.

Any manufacturer that already held a dealers license (Tesla was the only one AFAIK) was exempted from the prohibition.

The service facility prohibition may contain a gray area that allows manufacturers to own/operate them as long as no dealers are able to service the vehicles in question.
I'm relatively certain the Auto Dealers Association will, at some point, assert that Rivian, Lucid, Polestar, etc are indeed competing with them for services such as tires, alignment, brakes, etc.

The original intent of these laws was indeed to prevent manufacturers that sold franchises to come into a market and compete against their franchisees, both for sales and service. Some States, such as Washington, have "clarified" them to prohibit manufacturers from selling direct at all (and in Washington's case, servicing vehicles).

I just spoke with my State house rep, who was involved with that legislation. He does not believe the statement precludes a manufacturer from servicing a vehicle if there isn't a dealer that has an existing agreement with them.

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[intimidator]

I just spoke with my State house rep, who was involved with that legislation. He does not believe the statement precludes a manufacturer from servicing a vehicle if there isn't a dealer that has an existing agreement with them.

What about the idea of having Rivian Service Centers on Indian land or reservations? Those are exempt from state laws such as this one. I think for the moment Rivian has it's hands full building out what they have already identified, but maybe next year they could explore joint ventures with a few select Indian Reservations.

 

[SeaGeo]

What about the idea of having Rivian Service Centers on Indian land or reservations? Those are exempt from state laws such as this one. I think for the moment Rivian has it's hands full building out what they have already identified, but maybe next year they could explore joint ventures with a few select Indian Reservations.

Creative!

 

[P.S.Mangelsdorf]

Here's my take:

We know Rivian has two goals in mind when selecting a date for first customer deliveries (assuming all regulatory stuff has been addressed)
- Delivering in the month of September
- Making a large, positive, splash in both automotive and main stream media.

We also know that MT will release the second part of their cross country drive on Monday. Most likely, the release schedule was agreed upon. That likely rules out early this coming week, but might make late in the week an option.

We know that any PR person worth their salt is going to look at what other major events with known dates will occur during the month. The two most prominent are Labor Day (no one watching news) and today, 9/11. Being a major anniversary, we know that media coverage will be heavy leading up to today and for a few days after. That essentially ruled out last week and the start of this coming week.

We can also assume that the PR team doesn't want to bad look of "deliveries in September" meaning the last couple days of the month. That also is risky because any unforeseen event pushes into October.

This leads to my best guess: the week of 20 September 2021. Its far enough away from major scheduled events so that media will be available, yet leaves enough time for contingencies like the delivery truck getting in a wreck.

 

[crashmtb]

What about the idea of having Rivian Service Centers on Indian land or reservations? Those are exempt from state laws such as this one. I think for the moment Rivian has it's hands full building out what they have already identified, but maybe next year they could explore joint ventures with a few select Indian Reservations.

That’s a good idea. Rivian could potentially do what the government has not, and bring clean running water to many indigenous communities which lack it.

 

[WheeledLife]

Here's my take:

We know Rivian has two goals in mind when selecting a date for first customer deliveries (assuming all regulatory stuff has been addressed)
- Delivering in the month of September
- Making a large, positive, splash in both automotive and main stream media.

We also know that MT will release the second part of their cross country drive on Monday. Most likely, the release schedule was agreed upon. That likely rules out early this coming week, but might make late in the week an option.

We know that any PR person worth their salt is going to look at what other major events with known dates will occur during the month. The two most prominent are Labor Day (no one watching news) and today, 9/11. Being a major anniversary, we know that media coverage will be heavy leading up to today and for a few days after. That essentially ruled out last week and the start of this coming week.

We can also assume that the PR team doesn't want to bad look of "deliveries in September" meaning the last couple days of the month. That also is risky because any unforeseen event pushes into October.

This leads to my best guess: the week of 20 September 2021. Its far enough away from major scheduled events so that media will be available, yet leaves enough time for contingencies like the delivery truck getting in a wreck.

All hands on deck...Mandatory overtime...Frantically trying to hand-assemble 100 this month...Who will the lucky/unlucky customers be?

 

[crashmtb]

All hands on deck...Mandatory overtime...Frantically trying to hand-assemble 100 this month...Who will the lucky/unlucky customers be?

Seems to me that steady and methodical is the way they’ve been doing things. you only get one chance at quality.

paraphrasing a chef I know, “no one remembers how long it took to get to the table if the meal is good enough”

 

[Matty J]

What about the idea of having Rivian Service Centers on Indian land or reservations? Those are exempt from state laws such as this one. I think for the moment Rivian has it's hands full building out what they have already identified, but maybe next year they could explore joint ventures with a few select Indian Reservations.

Tesla opens nation’s first EV showroom and service center on Tribal land, at the Nambe Falls travel center north of Santa Fe, NM

https://electrek.co/2021/09/10/tesla-finds-loophole-new-mexico-dumb-ban-launching-tribal-land/

 

[GaryL]

Seems to me that steady and methodical is the way they’ve been doing things. you only get one chance at quality.

paraphrasing a chef I know, “no one remembers how long it took to get to the table if the meal is good enough”

Looks like that recipe has cost us a $7500 tax break.

 

[crashmtb]

Looks like that recipe has cost us a $7500 tax break.

Here in Canadia, the cap on the $5000 federal EV credit is an MSRP of $55k.
And on the more local level where I live, there are zero rebates or credits or incentives.

Missing out on a $7500 rebate on a vehicle that is at a more attainable price point than a $70k and up lifestyle luxury vehicle would sting more I’m sure.

 

[nukem384]

What about the idea of having Rivian Service Centers on Indian land or reservations? Those are exempt from state laws such as this one. I think for the moment Rivian has it's hands full building out what they have already identified, but maybe next year they could explore joint ventures with a few select Indian Reservations.

I'm on to you! I know where you got that from haha. Tesla did a good job of finding that loophole in New Mexico. No reason Rivian couldn't do the same in states that aren't for the direct to customer model.

 

[EVTrucking]

9/15/21

 

[Ray R]

9/26/2021

 

[Blueassassin]

9/26 is also my vote

 

[crashmtb]

9/26 is also my vote

That‘s a Sunday though. why not on a weekday?

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