Rivian reported Friday that due to a continued manufacturing ramp the wait time for brand new orders on its R1T is now all the way down to 14 days or much less in some circumstances. 

The electrical truck maker is catching up on a manufacturing backlog that after appeared prefer it would possibly take years to work by means of, and it’s made vital headway—to the diploma that some would possibly surprise if pricing could quickly must be adjusted downward. 

Rivian worth reduce coming?

Primarily based on remarks made this previous week to Reuters, by Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe, that’s unlikely to be the case, and Rivian has no plans to observe EV worth cuts from Tesla and Ford. 

“We’ll provide a decrease priced variant, however not essentially decrease costs on the issues we’re providing at the moment,” stated Scaringe to Reuters. “These (R1S and R1T) are the merchandise which can be constructing our model. They are not meant to promote a whole lot of 1000’s of models.”

Rivian does plan to introduce a more affordable, mass-market R2 lineup, attributable to be made at a new plant in Georgia, and undoubtedly within the a whole lot of 1000’s yearly, however that gained’t arrive till 2026. 

“Our long-term success as a enterprise shall be decided by our capacity to provide excessive volumes of autos profitably,” it stated final week, as a part of its quarterly replace for shareholders.

2023 Rivian R1T

Rivian manufacturing exceeds deliveries

For the primary quarter of the yr, Rivian introduced that it produced 9,395 autos and delivered 7,946. “We anticipate to proceed to see a variance between manufacturing and supply volumes as we ramp our manufacturing facility,” it stated. 

The R1T at the moment begins at $74,800, together with the necessary $1,800 vacation spot price, whereas the R1S begins at $79,800. That’s for the Twin-Motor and LFP battery pack. Quad-Motor variations with the Massive pack (328 miles for the R1T, 321 miles for the R1S) price $19,000 extra—though Twin-Motor fashions with the Massive Pack, but to be delivered, are pegged at round 350 and 340 miles, respectively. 

Neither the Rivian R1S nor R1T are eligible for the total $7,500 Clean Vehicle Credit, in line with the IRS, however they do each qualify for a $3,750 credit score if their MSRP (not together with vacation spot) quantities to $80,000 or much less. Those that declare it should additionally want to suit inside a most $150,000 adjusted gross earnings for single filers ($300,000 for joint filers). 

Rivian additionally final yr dropped the most affordable Explore versions of its R1T and R1S, which additional hiked up base costs. 

Past that, the corporate has an answer to lift quantity with out decreasing the value on these flagship variations: It’s steered price-conscious consumers towards Twin-Motor variations of its vehicles with the Customary pack and its lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry. 

Rivian dual-motor parts

Rivian dual-motor parts

Longer-range Rivian Twin-Motor deliveries begin quickly

Maybe additionally in lieu of dropping costs, Rivian has drastically accelerated the timeline for delivering lower-priced Twin-Motor variations, which as not too long ago as final yr hadn’t been anticipated till late in 2023. Within the first quarter of the yr, Rivian launched manufacturing of its personal in-house Enduro motor line. Whereas these are already going into Rivian’s vans, it confirmed in final week’s replace that these motors are going into dual-motor R1 fashions beginning later this month. 

Rivian Enduro drive unit

Rivian final week reported that as of March 31 it had made about 35,000 autos because the begin of manufacturing for the R1T. It additionally reaffirmed a 50,000 manufacturing goal for calendar yr 2023. That’s what the goal had initially been for 2022, however final March it halved that concentrate on to 25,000, pointing to persistent provide points. 

As a part of its replace it stated it’s finishing the success of its “pre-March 2022 preoder base.” That’s the timing of a poorly communicated price hike on its vehicles that resulted within the firm preserving to earlier, considerably decrease, costs for individuals who had made a deposit by then. 

2023 Rivian R1S

The corporate, at its final quarterly replace, stated that its order backlog stretches into 2024, however within the context of quick supply timelines at the moment that seems to incorporate construct mixtures that merely gained’t but be made this yr. 

Simply getting a drive in a Rivian was a problem for potential consumers early on, however now the corporate additionally clarified that demo drives are actually open to everybody, not simply reservation-holders. Rivian Service Facilities will even have ready-to-go configurations which may be accessible for supply, in line with the corporate.