What will we learn on Thursday? A Predictions Thread...

[timf]

Seems like that post was mostly regurgitated info we already had, and photos/screenshots they had already posted. Now the interior post they do I am very interested in, hope they use new photos so we can see finally what the production steering wheel will look like, controls, switchgear, etc.

The photos only seem re-used because they were contained in the B-roll video that wasn't supposed to be publicly released.

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[skyote]

The photos only seem re-used because they were contained in the B-roll video that wasn't supposed to be publicly released.

Haha. I agree with @Ssaygmo though, we already knew the vast majority of the info, despite some early access to the photo/video.

 

[Gshenderson]

I know there is a lot of disappointment that Rivian isn't sharing more but let's be careful not to get carried away with the speculation here (or elsewhere online). We all signed on knowing there is an element of risk with a startup company. Covid and supply chain issues are pretty much impacting everyone. And just because Rivian says to expect something in a given month, doesn't mean that it will happen on the 1st or even in the first week. When they say R1T deliveries will begin in June, there should be expectation of nothing more than a few trucks rolling out the last week of June. A lot of the disappointment I see around here is because we build things up in our heads to be more than has actually been promised. Didn't get a call from your Guide on May 1? OMG... tragedy. Reality is, they haven't quite finished up training. There is still plenty of time left in May for the Guides to reach out to those lucky few who will take delivery in June. It's fine to express frustration but let's try to avoid doomsday speculation - not everyone reading these forums and watching podcasts can clearly differentiate fact from paranoia.

I’m more interested in July deliveries than June. If they deliver just a handful of trucks in late June, I’m OK with that so long as it significantly ramps up in July. If they deliver in June just to check the box and they aren’t really ready for mass production, then that’s BS.

Same goes for when in May they start contacting us. Not a big deal to me. What is a big deal, and what I think gives many of us a very uneasy feeling about their readiness, is the lack of communication or meaningful information (including CS inability to answer fairly basic questions) this close to deliveries. I’m having a hard time reconciling that with the dates they seem to be holding firm on. I’d rather know now (or 3 months ago) if they aren’t going to meet their previously stated delivery expectations.

I hope they prove my concerns to be unfounded.

 

[Gshenderson]

People are overlooking the massive job it is to expand and hire as quickly as they are. They have 1500+ job openings posted right now.

I don't know why people expect more than a few dozen (or maybe a hundred or so) deliveries in June. I would be surprised if it was much more than that. No reason to build a bunch of them and then not deliver them to their anxiously awaiting new owners.


I don't think Rivian knows what the conversion rate and desired configurations will be. Plus they are still trying to hire both delivery and service people to cover most markets. They appear to want more than warm bodies to fill positions and are looking for a cultural fit and values than align with the company goals. Not only do they have to find the workers, but also build the HR infrastructure and develop effective communication channels. In many ways that is more critical to the success of the company (long term) than much of what people are obsessing over (the size of the key fob comes to mind).

But does all of the above not scream “we’re not ready!” If so, fine. They should just tell us that.

 

[Gshenderson]

If we get what i suspect, we will be getting a roughly 2-4 minute montage of "we are out testing this vehicle on dirt roads, away from the city, oh and we are mountain biking along the way, and Hiking!" insert some random easter egg we will spend the next 3 hours scanning over every frame to unlock and then the caption "More information coming Soon!"

Just temper your expectations, we would all likely climb Everest if we knew there was a thumb drive at the top with a vehicle deep dive video on it. If, BIG IF, there were a delay we would have known about it by now given the communication leading up to the initial push back. While I do feel Covid had a role in that, I think it was a small part of it and they needed the breathing room for further refinement and validation.

I think we are fatigued having waited this long to continue to get dribbles of information but I think we are obsessing about some little things that in the end are almost meaningless.

Do we know what the vehicles look like? yes
Do we know their range? Yes, since day 1 230, 300+, 400+
Does it have screens? Yes, three
Does it have a big Frunk? Yes, there are dozens of videos out there of it (granted, not the final exact hook placements inside)
Does it have leg room? Yes, its designed for the 85thish percentile adult to sit at a comfortable position with room, with a person in front or behind
Does it come with a tent if I want it? You bet, pricing will come. If you don't like it don't buy from them.
How will towing affect my range? Website says, "towing 11,000 lbs and depending on several factors (aero hills etc) expect to get about 50% range." Not one company out there will tell us how range is affected if there is a tent on the roof, or if we are towing a trailer that weighs 2k vs 5k vs 11k so why ask or expect it?
Do I want to know the epa? sure, but what will that information give me that I don't already have?
My Xterra gets great mileage when I drive the speed limit and don't give it the beans, but when I do, wait where'd the gas go? The rivian will be the same. Drive fast, you can't expect the same full range.

My big one infotainment. Deal break breaker? Honestly how can they make it worse than 99% of the other companies out there? The bits we've seen from their initial in house videos almost 2 years ago showed it to be a tile based system swiping left or right and then either keeping multiple on screen at once or making one full screen. This has likely changed over the years to now, but whatever they come out with will be fine if not fantastic and may take some getting used to as tesla did at first but we'll get there.

For comparison to our situation, Who put down money on the new tesla roadster/cybertruck? what do you know about it more than rivian? when was delivery of each supposed to start originally?

Ps... that rant probably sounded bitchy, but I drive an Xterra so makes sense

Okay, did Rivian post something yet? haha

I think you are missing a significant part of the point here. It’s not so much that having this information is critical for us to know. it’s that if Rivian can’t answer some of these basic questions, If gives many of us the sense that they are not anywhere close to being ready to scale up production and deliveries. I’m sure they monitor these forums and are well aware of the concerns. And yet they do NOTHING to assuage them. The question is why. And I can only come up with one reasonable answer. They aren’t as ready as they want us to continue to believe they are. Add to that things like recently pulling $5 million in construction permits to replace the roof over critical parts of the existing plant, all of the unfilled positions, etc., and it’s reasonable for anyone to have doubts and concerns. Sorry, but “believe what I tell you not what you are seeing” just doesn’t sit well with me.

 

[Gshenderson]

This is me trying to "lighten the room"

What if, they update the website, and at the top you have R1T R1S Experience and... Soon.

You click on it and it takes you to a page that says in the middle "Coming Soon!"

Or just a spinning hourglass for the next 2 months. ?

 

[Babbuino]

Here is more swag that we may be able to buy once they open the store

 

[Ssaygmo]

I could see them being worried about releasing info about a delay even if they are expecting it, on the off chance they aren't delayed. Why? Personally, while I've been tempted by the bronco and jeep PHEV, I really want a full electric truck, so I also have a preorder for the cybertruck and almost placed a preorder for the hummer. Almost.

If Tesla calls me in September and says hey, were ready to finalize your order for delivery in November or December, and Rivian hasn't contact me yet... Guess who gets my money?! That 500 mile range and 1000+hp is mighty tempting, even if it looks like a Bladerunner prop.

 

[DuckTruck]

Yes, I think after spending close to 70k many will choose to spend a few more thousand for the extra features that you might regret not getting.

For a couple of extra thousand, all FOMO is removed....
Well, except maybe for the Camp Kitchen. That is a pretty cool option, though. ?

 

[SANZC02]

I think you are missing a significant part of the point here. It’s not so much that having this information is critical for us to know. it’s that if Rivian can’t answer some of these basic questions, If gives many of us the sense that they are not anywhere close to being ready to scale up production and deliveries. I’m sure they monitor these forums and are well aware of the concerns. And yet they do NOTHING to assuage them. The question is why. And I can only come up with one reasonable answer. They aren’t as ready as they want us to continue to believe they are. Add to that things like recently pulling $5 million in construction permits to replace the roof over critical parts of the existing plant, all of the unfilled positions, etc., and it’s reasonable for anyone to have doubts and concerns. Sorry, but “believe what I tell you not what you are seeing” just doesn’t sit well with me.

Just curious why the concern for resurfacing the roof? I work for a medical manufacturing company and we have resurfaced our roofs with zero impact to our production and warehouse processes. I’m sure our clean rooms have much higher standards than an auto manufacturer.

I’m not sure what size the buildings are they are targeting but they have 3.4 million square feet and resurfacing that could go between 1.50 and 3.00 a sq ft so the money seems like a simple resurface. Should have no impact on manufacturing as far as I know.

 

[DuckTruck]

Still lacking information. How am I supposed to know if the tonneau cover is engineered for 4 feet of light Utah powder (1:14 water:snow ratio) or my Mid-Atlantic heart attack special (1:7 ratio)? #dealbreaker

whyasky, I'm guessing you've never skied in "Cascade Concrete"? At best, it's a 1: 1.5 inch water/snow ratio. At worst, our Spring snow is so dense, it sinks in water. Many people Spring Ski here with a snorkel to prevent drowning in our moguls ?‍?

 

[SANZC02]

Everyone is saying there was nothing new we learned with today’s release but is that true?

People have been micro-analyzing so much in these forums a lot of this stuff we were aware of, but seems to me there is a lot of stuff in here that has never been officially confirmed by Rivian.

I’m good if this is the kind of stuff they are going to release on a regular cadence through May.

 

[Gshenderson]

Everyone is saying there was nothing new we learned with today’s release but is that true?

People have been micro-analyzing so much in these forums a lot of this stuff we were aware of, but seems to me there is a lot of stuff in here that has never been officially confirmed by Rivian.

I’m good if this is the kind of stuff they are going to release on a regular cadence through May.

I felt like the pictures showed more details and specifics than previous history. Seemed meant to educate vs. image marketing. But maybe that’s just me.

 

[cwoodcox]

Just curious why the concern for resurfacing the roof? I work for a medical manufacturing company and we have resurfaced our roofs with zero impact to our production and warehouse processes. I’m sure our clean rooms have much higher standards than an auto manufacturer.

I’m not sure what size the buildings are they are targeting but they have 3.4 million square feet and resurfacing that could go between 1.50 and 3.00 a sq ft so the money seems like a simple resurface. Should have no impact on manufacturing as far as I know.

because they’re a startup and if they are spending $5m on it NOW it must be because it’s about to COLLAPSE!!!1!11!1!!1one /s

yeah I don’t know why anyone would care about standard maintenance On factory buildings. I see it as an excellent sign

 

[Rivian-WI]

because they’re a startup and if they are spending $5m on it NOW it must be because it’s about to COLLAPSE!!!1!11!1!!1one /s

yeah I don’t know why anyone would care about standard maintenance On factory buildings. I see it as an excellent sign

Do you want to chance getting your R1* with a water stain/damage inside and the excuse is because well we decided to hold off on repairing the roof.
Those large mostly flat roofs need to be maintained otherwise a lot can go wrong. And trying to figure out where leaking water is coming from is no fun task. Not to mention the safety hazard pails scattered all over the mfg floor to catch the leaks. OSHA might frown.

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