Rivian Invites 'Thousands' To Configure EVs for Delivery, Though Many Still Waiting Years

pcmag.com:

Transparency around Rivian's waitlist management has been a sticking point with early adopters who pre-ordered their vehicles as early as 2018 and still have not received them.

On a recent Reddit thread(Opens in a new window), customers posted how many months they've been waiting: 18 months, 20, 47, 48, 51, 53. "Try waiting 43 months," one user wrote. "Still counting. Some neighbors have R1Ts. Just don’t understand this system."

But recently Rivian announced some relief: a new batch of customers can now configure their R1T electric pickup trucks. That means it's their turn to select the final finishes and features before receiving their vehicle in the next one to four months.

"Today, we’re excited to begin inviting a new, large group of R1T reservation holders to configure their vehicles," says Tanya Miller, communications manager at Rivian. "Thousands of R1T reservation holders can expect an invitation from us in the coming days. This is all part of our focus on ramping production and improving delivery timing for our customers."

Rivian would not confirm the exact number of R1T customers invited to configure, though "thousands (more than a couple thousand) are being invited," Andy Bowman, communications manager at Rivian, said in an email to PCMag. It does not appear any reservation holders for the R1S, the 7-seat SUV, were included.

The total number of people waiting for their R1T or R1S remains a mystery. Rivian gave its last and final public update in Nov. 2022, when it had "over 114,000 pre-orders," CNBC reports(Opens in a new window). Since then, the company produced just over 10,000 vehicles in Q4, and announced a goal to produce 50,000 in all of 2023. That means, by PCMag's estimates, it will not produce