Rivian forum member gets a slew of updates from guide: Here’s what we know

A member of Rivian forums recently got the chance to have an informative call with his “Rivian Guide” this week, where he asked a ton of questions, all of which were answered to some degree. This included everything from R1T and R1S delivery updates, a possible Rivian store, and more details about Apple Carplay compatibility. Here’s everything we know so far.

Rivian is an American EV automaker with hype growing around it by the day as it moves ever closer to delivering its flagship EV, the R1T pickup next month. Even after a recent delay, Rivian still plans to deliver the Launch Edition trims of both its R1T and R1S SUV this year.

While Rivian and its comms department have shared several updates to the production progress of its upcoming EVs, many details still remain uncertain, especially for those lucky consumers who were able to reserve the Launch Edition trims who will see first deliveries in 2021.

Luckily, the automaker has implemented customer support team called “Rivian Guides” to aid in answering questions to all their assigned reservation holders.

Like the company itself, the roster of Rivian guides appears to be expanding; and as the company moves closer to delivering the first R1T pickups, Guides are sharing more and more details about customers can expect.

A Rivian guide shared a bunch of updates with a forum member

According to a post on rivianforums.com, member KWeimer711 shared new details about several aspects of Rivian production, through a recent call with his guide. Here are all the updates that were discussed with the Rivian guide:

Reservation and delivery updates

• More and more Rivian guides are being hired and trained to ensure initial outreach to reservation holders as quickly as possible. The automaker expects to have assigned a guide to each pre-order customer of the R1T Launch Edition by Thanksgiving. No timeline on R1S guides yet.
• Reservation holders can expect to continue to see educational videos between now and receiving their delivery.
• LE pre-order holders will also gain access to a mixed media online owner’s guide, showcasing how to use some of the features that are unique to Rivian. This guide will eventually be made available to the public.
• Speaking of which… Deliveries for the Launch Edition R1T (LE R1T) are still on track for September. What sort of number of units will be delivered remains uncertain.
• LE R1S deliveries are still on track for “this fall.” FYI – the official fall dates for the Northern Hemisphere are September 22 to December 21.
• The non-Launch Edition trims of both EVs (Adventure/Explore package) are currently still on track to begin deliveries in January of 2022.
• Demo drives will begin in September with more details to follow. This will include both at home drives and tour events.
• Tour events will begin in the markets that already have service/customer experience centers. This is also where deliveries will begin. It is unclear at this point what the course set up will be for each tour event.

Spec and performance updates

• As previously speculated, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will not be part of the infotainment at launch. However, the guide said these apps could be available later as an OTA update if there is enough of a demand for it.
• Rivian already believes its infotainment system will be the best in its class, especially the GPS.
• Additional details explaining how the head unit will work are coming, including how drivers can customize it for their own personal experience.
• Rivian’s official EPA numbers are awaiting final sign off before being published, but the 21″ wheels are designed to maximize range.
• Rivian’s target is for all three wheel options (20″-22″) to be able to offer the advertised 300+ mile range, but it has not officially been confirmed yet.
• I will not possible to upgrade to a Max Pack post-delivery. It will need to be part of the initial purchase to gain the 400+ mile range.
• The Max Pack should also have no impact on the ability to carry a spare tire.
• Rivian guide would not comment about what sort of games or streaming services (if any) would come available on the infotainment system.
• There will be the potential to see improvements to range via OTA updates.
• While towing at max capacity (11,000 lbs), range will be impacted by about 50%.
• Rivian has no official comment on charging with a Tesla home charger and J1772 adapter since they don’t make either. However, it should work the same way as any EV using J1772.

Rivian company updates

• All of the photos on the Rivian’s website will be updated with final production photos (all prior to the September deliveries).
• A Rivian store is coming. However, all resources are focused on the launch of the EVs right now, so it will come at a later date TBD.
• There are currently no plans to create or endorse a specific online community right now, but it continues to evaluate all the options. In our opinion, current third-party community leaders are rivianforums.com, rivianownersforum.com and r/Rivian.

Electrek‘s take

This is welcomed news as we move seriously close to seeing a Rivian R1T delivery. September 1? Probably not? September 21? Maybe! September 31? Well that isn’t even a date, so no.

A huge tip of the hat to forum member KWeimer711 and the Rivian forums in general. Thanks for asking the questions many folks are wondering and for taking the time to get the answers from the Rivian guides to share with the rest of us. I see you and appreciate you. Enjoy your LE Rivians and email me your first thoughts