“R2 manufacturing validation builds are rolling off the line in Normal!”

I've been debating if I should get R1S or the new Bronco and repairability will be a factor for my purchase. I'm pretty sure many of you have seen the $47,000 fender repair bill story but I as far as I can tell that is an extreme case. Not to mention anecdotal. However, Rivian is still a relatively new startup and (from what I can see) doesn't have the network nor the infrastructure to provide for repairs be it certified service shops or DIY repair. EVs in general are not as 'open source' as traditional ICE cars (yet).If I'm wrong about this, please do correct me. The Bronco, on the other hand, is based on the current Ford Ranger and (again, from I what can see) seems to be repairable and already has a steady aftermarket. What are your thoughts and experiences?

R2 is our versatile new midsize SUV with room for five people and all their gear.

Designed for big adventures as well as everyday use with its exceptional utility, performance and capability, R2 is expected to start around $45,000* and is available to reserve today in the U.S. for $100 ($150 in Canada). R2 deliveries are slated to begin in the first half of 2026.

R3 is a midsize crossover designed with even tighter dimensions and at a lower price point than R2.

R3X is the performance variant of R3. It further demonstrates the scalability of our midsize platform and delivers even more dynamic capabilities both on- and off-road.

R2 and R3 will feature two battery sizes. The larger pack will achieve over 300 miles of range on a single charge and offer 0-60 mph acceleration in under 3 seconds for the quickest powertrain configuration.

R2 and R3 are built on an all-new midsize vehicle platform, developed to deliver amazing performance, range and cost efficiency.

This platform consolidates and eliminates parts thanks to intelligent design, including the use of high pressure die castings, a structural battery unit where the top of the pack also serves as the floor, and closure systems that dramatically reduce complexity. R2 and R3 also utilize Rivian’s drivetrain platform and internally developed network architecture, computer topology and software stack.

Three Motor Variants: Leveraging Rivian’s in-house drive unit platform and technology, there will be Single-Motor (RWD), Dual-Motor (AWD), and Tri-Motor (two motors in rear and one in front) configurations, with the quickest configuration delivering 0-60 mph in under 3 seconds.

Structural Battery: Utilizes an all-new 4695 cell that offers significant improvements in energy density and output, estimated to deliver over 300 miles of range on a single charge for both R2 and R3.

Fast Charging:* DC fast charging is compatible with both NACS (native) and CCS (with adapter), charging from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes.

Self Driving: Utilizing our new perception stack featuring 11 cameras, five radars and a more powerful compute platform, R2 and R3 will provide dramatically enhanced autonomous capabilities.

Ever improving and expanding features: As with all Rivian vehicles, Rivian has developed its network architecture, topology of computers and associated full software platform to facilitate frequent software updates – the headroom for feature growth over time is extremely exciting.

**R2 and R3 demonstrate how Rivian’s unmistakable design language adapts to different vehicle sizes and form factors. **

R2's four passenger windows and rear powered glass drop fully, and the powered rear quarter windows vent to invite the outside in, creating a unique open-air driving experience.

With R3, its hatch-style design maximizes space while keeping a sporty, athletic silhouette.

Interior Space

With an extreme focus on rear passenger legroom, even long trips in R2 and R3 are comfortable. With the seats folding completely flat, ample sized front and rear trunks, and additional interior storage, there is space for everyone and all their gear.

Refined Touches

Rivian’s new steering wheel with integrated haptic control dials makes it easier to stay focused on the road ahead.

Materials balance durability and sustainability with easy to clean textiles and finishes.

A new line of Rivian Adventure Gear is also on the horizon.

We'll start later this year with our new Travel Kitchen and Hangout Lights. We are also looking forward to expanding the Adventure Gear assortment in the future with the Rivian Treehouse, our take on the rooftop tent bringing the nostalgia of an epic childhood fort with a lighting system, interior fan and incredible views.

Our custom Bike Mount holds up to two bikes and simply snaps into place easily using our Rear Accessory Ports, no tools needed. Our Cargo Box provides additional storage and can also be paired with our Travel Kitchen to expand your culinary suite with a Water Tank, Cooler and Cookware Set.

Reservations for R2 start today with a refundable deposit of $100 for U.S. residents and $150 for Canadian residents.

Reservations for R3, R3X and for international residents interested in R2 will follow at a later date.

Curious what everyone is using for hauling their dogs around in the back of the R1S. As recommended on another thread on the rivian forum, I am using this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01439XBKE?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1. Size large fits nicely except it doesn't cover the 3rd row arm rests. As always, the products from Canvascovers are very nice, but the open seams just look like a haven for dirt and dog hair.

The Rebelle Rally, the longest off-road map-and-compass rally in the United States, wrapped up Friday evening with a new EV milestone under its belt. This was the first time that a team driving an all-electric vehicle (that would be the Rivian R1T) came in first place. The Rebelle Rally, in which all-women teams competed along a 2,120-kilometer course using only paper maps, compasses, and plotters, is in its eighth year.

The 2023 Rivian R1T, with Lilly Macaruso behind the wheel and Alex Anderson behind the compass and map, took first place in the 4×4 class. (An EV has yet to make the podium in the X Cross class.) Macaruso and Anderson, who are both Rivian employees, came in fourth place in the 2022 Rebelle Rally. This year, in another first, Rivian customer, Many Brezina, took her personally owned R1T in the competition. Brezina, and navigator Alex Gilman, finished 11th.

Update (2023-10-20 @ 3:22 PST) - Wassym has announced they are now adding the feature to Dual Motor vehicles: https://old.reddit.com/r/Rivian/comments/17bpwpg/according_to_at_least_one_user_standard_dual/k5pdgee/

Amazon has a plan to deploy 100,000 electric vans to its delivery fleet by 2030. At the rate it's going, that might happen a little sooner. On Thursday, it announced that it now has 10,000 Rivian electric delivery vans in service—up from 5,000 earlier this July.

Electric vehicle sales continue breaking records as automakers ramp production. Compared to other EV startups like Lucid (LCID) and VinFast (VFS), Rivian (RIVN) is outpacing the pack as registrations continue rising.

Rivian’s EV registrations rise through July

Rivian placed eighth in terms of US registrations from January through July, with 2.8% of the overall EV market, according to recent Experian data (via Automotive News).

The EV maker recorded 2,750 registrations in July for its R1T and R1S electric SUV, a slight improvement over its monthly average of 2,596 through the first half of the year.

From January to July, Rivian’s new registrations reached 18,359 (not including EDVs). Rivian’s R1T electric truck had 7,611 of those registrations, while the R1S had 10,748. The company is transitioning to produce more R1S models to meet the higher backlog. R1S models represented 70% of units of R1 series models built in Q2.

After crushing second-quarter estimates with production rising 50% from Q1 (13,992 units), Rivian raised its guidance for the year to 52,000. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, ramping up its in-house Eduro drive units is a “key enabler” to near-term production performance.

Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s 11th annual Laguna Conference Thursday, Scaringe says the company has “rounded the corner.”

As the EV maker utilizes its Normal, Ill production facility more efficiently, Rivian’s margins are improving. Gross profit per vehicle delivered improved by $35,000 in the most recent quarter.

Despite the progress, the R1T was beat out by Ford’s F-150 Lightning with 11,883 registrations through July. Ford slashed prices in July by up to $10,000, which the automaker says is helping to drive up demand.

Ford’s lowest-priced F-150 Lightning Pro model now starts at $51,990 (with shipping) with 240 miles EPA range. Meanwhile, the Rivian R1T starts at $74,800 (including shipping) with an estimated 270 miles of range.

Outpacing other startups

Despite the strong growth in EV sales in the US, many startups like Lucid, VinFast, and Fisker are struggling to find their market.

Lucid had 348 registrations for its luxury Air EV in July, bringing its yearly total to 3,789 through July. The luxury EV maker dropped prices by up to $12,400 last month, with the 2023 Air electric sedan starting at $82,400.

Production has slipped after peaking in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 4,487 EVs built through the first half of the year. Lucid fell behind Porsche, Cadillac, and Subaru in July’s EV rankings, placing 18th.

Porsche’s sole electric vehicle, the Taycan, recorded 3,935 registrations from January through July, surpassing the Lucid Air.

Analysts point to Lucid’s competition with Tesla, which has slashed prices all year, as the reason for the struggles. Tesla’s Model S now starts at $74,990 with a 405-mile estimated range.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese newcomer VinFast had 19 new VF 8 electric SUV registrations in July, bringing the seven-month total to 170.

VinFast debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange last month, with its value quickly surpassing that of Ford and GM. However, the EV maker’s value has fallen significantly over the past month, with share prices down over 80% from their peak.

After delivering its first EV in the US in June, Fisker’s Ocean had 30 new registrations in July, bringing the total to 37 for the year. Due to its recent launch, Fisker ranked last among the 26 brands in July.

With Rivian outpacing the group, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said he sees the company as “one of the core EV players over the next decade” last month. He added, “Demand looks strong” and “visibility is improving into 2024.”

Weekly Rivian Responds

Special Edition! Configuration Updates

This week, there was a good amount of confusion surrounding discontinued configuration options and delivery timelines. Candidly, the messages were pretty confusing as we tried to piece together emails from different folks. We went to go talk to Rivian directly to figure out exactly what was going on. Here are the facts:

• Compass Yellow is discontinued. RIP.
• 20" All Terrain Bright Wheels are discontinued.
• The ability to take delivery of Red Canyon combined with Forest Edge Interior has been discontinued (not the individual colors)
• The ability to take delivery of Rivian Blue combined with Forest Edge Interior has been discontinued (not the individual colors)
• There will be an update to vegan leather dashboard options in mid-September that will affect delivery timelines and require preorder holders to make updates to their configuration. We don't know what these changes are yet, the impact they'll have, or which preorder holders are impacted.
  • We (and the community) previously believed that the vegan leather dash options were being discontinued. That's not the case apparently.

Rivian Responds

Phew! Now let's get into the questions from last time. Please note that there will be a delay for the next Rivian Responds, but we can ask up to ten questions this time. Make them good ones!

To get your questions answered, comment below within 48hrs of this post going up.

Please remember that Rivian is a publicly traded company, so you may not get the detail you want about upcoming product, feature, or software timelines. Of course always ask what's most important, but for more detailed answers, try to ask questions about vehicle capability, choices already made (eg, design), or about the company in general.

• What's the status of hands free highway assist and lane change assist that have long been shown on the website as driver+ features?
  • These features are still in development – no details to share on timing quite yet.
• What’s the latest on thermal throttle during DC fast charging? Do we think existing models are ever going to get a software update to allow them to handle 220+ kw for a sustained period of time? Or is this as good as it gets until new physical battery cooling improvements are implemented?
  • Our 2023.30 OTA noted some recent improvements we’ve made to our thermal management systems. We’ll continue to optimize the fast-charging performance of our vehicles over time.
• Any chance of getting the option to switch the rear camera view to the bed camera on the R1T? It would be great to have that option when using a hitch bike rack, when driving with the tailgate down, or when you want to check on cargo in the bed.
  • Owner access to the R1T bed camera will be enabled in the upcoming months!
• When are we going to see improvements to the apps like Alexa, Spotify, Tidal, Netflix, Apple Music etc? And when will we see more apps?
  • We’ll improve existing apps over time – we’re also in the process of adding video streaming capabilities to our vehicles. We’ll launch video streaming as soon as it meets our standards for performance, stability and user experience.
• Is it possible to get a compass and clock displayed on the driver screen in future updates?
  • We’re currently exploring similar functionality for the driver and center display, as well as other customization for our owners. More to come here.

Lastly, I wanted to quickly acknowledge the questions we keep receiving about the tonneau cover fix. We... know. Rivian knows too. The latest update is "Summer 2023" which continues through the end of September.

Rivian Roundup

• Service delays and continued time in the shop hit a chord in the community this week. One user asked for help about Lemon Laws and what to do.
  • Note: This week I passed along a lot of the community's feedback to the service folks given that my truck was in the shop for 3.5 weeks. I was unhappy and I wasn't the only one who experienced this. No news to share other than I communicated that the community is feeling pretty aggravated when it comes to service and that a miss on tonneau fixes would result in some lost support.
• Two cents on the R1S drove (get it? please clap) a bunch of discussion. Super fair feedback!
• So long, Compass Yellow. We love you. We will miss you. BUT! Congratulations to everyone with another special color! Launch Green owners welcome you with open arms.
• Okay, Amish kids checking out the R1T wasn't on my list of things I needed to see, but turns out I did. They're fascinated by it.
• Navigation complaints (and support) is a trending topic seemingly every week! People seem to agree that it's getting better, but still isn't all the way there when it comes to route planning.
• The price comparison of the R1S to the Model X makes the R1S seem very, very worth it.

Haul reflects on a year of ownership

Very positive review but they forgot to mention it handles better than a lot of luxury cars as well.

So I decided to replace my lead acid 12v batteries with lithium a few weeks ago and besides a bunch of error codes that had to be cleared I've had no problems so far. I've decided to keep the old batteries in the frunk just in case scenario....If anyone has how to questions only im glad to try to help. I'll try to update my experience after a few more months including cold weather experience after the winter season.

Vehicles Produced: 13,992 Vehicles Delivered: 12,640

Seems like an impressive quarter.