Testimonials from new owners of the Rivian R1S, a full-size SUV with three rows of seats that share a platform with the R1T pick-up, only shorter and with a slightly shorter wheelbase, are beginning to emerge on the Internet. Both one model and the other were unveiled at the 2018 Los Angeles Motor Show, almost four years ago – it was in November.
Early birders starting in late 2018 start receiving their R1S now. The SUV has been manufactured in Normal (Illinois, USA) for some time, but they were units intended for “internal consumption”, for Rivian Automotive employees, including its CEO, RJ Scaringe. Fortunately for the early believers of the Rivian religion, they have not suffered from price increases.
And it is that reservations made before March 2022 maintain the rates originally announced in 2018, with which Rivian is supposed to be losing money. After that date, you get less for the same price, both in engines and autonomy. And it was like that because there was a big protest, the initial intention was to raise prices for everyone except those who had already placed an order with the factory.
The Rivian R1S is in the largest SUV segment in the US market, with three rows of seats, presumably the largest they are going to make. The critics, at the moment, are very favorable. For example, Electrek said that it is “the best SUV ever made” (plain). The first units are of the Launch Edition version, which in the case of the R1T pick-up sold out in a week, before entering 2019, speaking of reservations and not orders.
Deliveries of the Rivian R1S have been delayed time and time again. The original planning contemplated making the first deliveries in the summer of 2021. The mass production of Rivian began in September of that year (and mass is saying). In November 2021 it was announced that the first units would be delivered in the spring of this year, and already in June 2022, they announced that the first ones would be delivered in August. Third time lucky, but just barely.
Those who reserve a Rivian R1S today have to shell out a minimum of $78,000, putting up $ 1,000 at the time of reservation, and deliveries are scheduled for the end of 2023. It will come as no surprise if Rivian R1Ts start appearing on the market. Launch Edition is hardly used at absurd prices, the cost of skipping the waiting list. A few are going to make a lucrative business with the resale.
