The Wait For A New Rivian R1T Just Got A Whole Lot Shorter
Besides its distinctive looks, the Rivian R1T has several exciting features that make the electric truck extremely desirable. However, many have encountered a major hindrance to owning one — Rivian's slow production has led to long wait times between customers placing reservations and receiving deliveries. Thankfully, the company has been working on ironing out the wrinkles and recently promised to deliver thousands of trucks over the following months.
Rivian is now making another exciting announcement and cutting the R1T's delivery timelines to just "14 days or less" in some cases. In a press release, the company said that anyone who lives within a serviceable distance from a Rivian Service Center can explore "ready-to-go" configurations, reserve the desired variant through the online platform, and potentially receive the delivery in less than two weeks. "This is all part of our focus on ramping production and improving delivery timing," Rivian explained in the press release.
In addition, the EV company is now opening up demo drives for people other than those who have already reserved the R1T electric truck – another positive sign that the company is increasing production and anticipating a profitable future.
Rivian is hopeful for a successful year with faster production
Increased production is a primary agenda for the Amazon and Ford backed company. Rivian looks to produce 50,000 electric vehicles this year, as noted in its recently-revealed shareholder letter for the first quarter of 2023. These estimates include the R1T electric truck, the R1S SUV, and its electric delivery van. In the first quarter, Rivian was able to produce 9,395 and deliver 7,946 units of the three models combined.
Notably, Rivian is still far from profitable and reported a net loss of $1.35 billion in the first quarter of the year. However, this is appreciably less than the $1.7 billion loss it posted in the previous quarter. At the same time, Rivian's overall operating expenses reduced to $898 million from $1,077 million for the same quarter last year.
The company further expects to reduce its expenses and improve production by switching the R1 lineup to the Enduro motor, which has already made its way into the delivery van assembly line. In addition to improving production, Rivian also appears hopeful about generating positive profit in 2024 and launching its next R2 platform over the next few years.