Rivian R1T electric pickup deliveries delayed until later this year

Bad news for Rivian R1T Launch Edition buyers: Your electric trucks are delayed. Automotive News uncovered a letter sent to folks expecting their trucks this month, and in it Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe announced that deliveries would be postponed until September this year. Previous to today, Rivian said deliveries for the R1T would start in July.

That’s the second setback for the R1T. Automotive News published Scaringe’s entire letter. 

“We know you can't wait to get behind the wheel of your vehicle,” Scaringe wrote. “Earlier this summer, we announced that deliveries would begin in July; however, the timing for the first deliveries of the R1T has shifted to September, with the R1S shortly thereafter in the fall. I wanted to be sure you heard this from me directly.”

Scaringe cited a number of factors for this delay.

“There are many reasons why our production ramp is taking longer than expected,” Scaringe continued. “The cascading impacts of the pandemic have had a compounding effect greater than anyone anticipated. Everything from facility construction, to equipment installation, to vehicle component supply (especially semiconductors) has been impacted by the pandemic. Beyond these unforeseen challenges, launching three new vehicles while setting up a multi-vehicle manufacturing plant is a complex orchestra of coordinated and interlinked activities where small issues can translate into ramp delays.”

It’s like a broken record at this point, but the chip shortage continues to take its toll in the automotive world. We’ll note that this delay is the second one in the lead-up to the first deliveries of the R1T and R1S. At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rivian pushed its production start back from late 2020 to 2021. It was later announced that the new date would be July 2021. Today, the new, official delivery month is September 2021.

Scaringe recognizes the lack of communication from the company to those who have ordered its vehicles — apparently, Rivian’s been receiving some complaints. He promised more communication leading up to the big month of September, and also said that we should expect to see Rivian charging sites and service centers going up soon.

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