Rivian Drops Multiple R1T And R1S Options To Streamline Production

Aug. 27, 2023 10:13 AM ET byKarl Furlong Industry News /4 Comments

Certain pre-order holders have a tough decision to make.

Rivian has discontinued several options for itsR1Tand R1S electric vehicles to streamline production while getting deliveries out to customers more quickly.RivianTrackr, an account on Twitter/X, published a series of tweets disclosing the changes.

Compass Yellow- a $2,500 option on the configurator - has been dropped as an exterior color option for both of the brand's EVs. 20-inch all-terrain Bright wheels are gone, as is the vegan leather interior option. That means customers can only order their Rivians with the wood-lined dashboard. Elsewhere, the Red Canyon or Rivian Blue paints with the Forest Edge interior have been discontinued. However, the individual colors remain available, just not together. We can only assume that these particular configurations were unpopular.

Certain pre-order holders also received communication about how they could receive their R1T or R1S sooner.

2022-2023 Rivian R1T Truck Front View Driving

https://twitter.com/RivianSoftware/status/1694828332586611193

According toRivianTrackr, customers who switched to the Performance Dual-Motor all-wheel-drive model from the quad-motor version can take delivery sooner. This 665-horsepower R1T is still extremely rapid, with a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds. The Quad-Motor variant customers will have to wait longer for the 835 hp setup, which cuts the 0-60 time to a supercar-like three seconds.

在Rivian自己的Twitter页面上,一个客户他说was invited to switch to the Performance Dual-Motor model, which had an original price of about $75,000, and wanted to know if this price would be honored with the switch. Rivian replied to the customer, saying that "when combined with the large pack battery, pre-3/1 deposit holders can expect a $500 price reduction compared to [the] Quad-Motor." While that may be a discount, it doesn't account for the $3,000 price gap between a new Performance Dual-Motor and Quad-Motor R1T.

Another customer was promised delivery in 2023 by switching to the Dual-Motor but elected to wait until early 2024 for the Quad-Motor derivative.

2022-2023 Rivian R1T Truck Interior Wooden Trim

After falling short of its production target last year, Rivian has regularly taken measures to get EVs to customers as quickly as possible in 2023.

In January, the manufacturercanceled the beta membership packageafter removing the powered tonneau cover and Max Pack battery with the quad motor a few months earlier. Then, in April, we learned that Rivian was eschewing the services of external suppliers by building its own electric motors. Called Enduro, this in-house-developed motor allowed Rivian to boost production rates, much in the wayTesla also builds its own motors.

This recent spate of changes will be great news for customers who aren't fussy about the top two R1T/R1S models. For those holding out for the Quad-Motor model or committed to a specific specification that's no longer available, it's a more frustrating turn of events.