Rivian reports that as of December 15, it produced and delivered respectively 652 and 386 Rivian R1T/Rivian R1S electric vehicles.
Production and deliveries
The numbers include exactly two R1S, which means that the cumulative production and deliveries of the R1T stand at respectively 650 and 384.
Comparing the numbers with the previous report (as of the end of October) - it turns out that within one and a half months, the company produced and delivered respectively 470 and 228 R1T. The average production rate of the R1T over the past 45 days improved to 10.4/day (from 3.8/ day in the initial 48 days).
"Our first consumer vehicles, the R1T and R1S, are our handshake with the world and the first step in building a relationship with our customers. In September, we delivered our first R1T. This was an emotional moment for our team who have poured its energy and soul into bringing this vehicle to life. As of December 15, 2021, we have produced 652 R1 vehicles and delivered 386 of those, including the production and sale of our first two R1S vehicles earlier this week."
R1T/R1S production plan
The ramp-up progresses, however, the company notes that it will not be able to fulfill its target of about 1,200 R1T/R1S, which will be missed by a few hundred units.
"Our team is incredibly focused on ramping our production output to get vehicles to our excited customers. We expect to be a few hundred vehicles short of our 2021 production target of 1,200, however, we are encouraged by the progress and learnings our team continues to incorporate into our operations. We are continuously improving as we refine our manufacturing operations and remain focused on ensuring the highest possible level of product safety and quality as well as the health and safety of our employees."
The company reassures us that the major goal for 2021 is certifying the R1T, R1S, and EDV 700 for sale and starting deliveries through our direct-to-customer operations. The volume production and sales will follow in 2022.
The 3.3 million square foot manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois is equipped for the annual production of up to 150,000 vehicles on the R1 and RCV platforms, which after an upcoming investment, related to the R1 line, is expected to produce up to 200,000 vehicles annually.
There are two separate body shop and general assembly lines for each vehicle platform (R1 and RCV), but the battery, drive unit, and stamping portions of the plant are shared across platforms.
Rivian EDV coming soon
As promised, before the end of this year, Rivian intends to deliver the first units of Rivian EDV electric vans for Amazon, which placed an order for 100,000 units by 2025, including 10,000 in 2022.
"We plan to deliver our first saleable EDVs to Amazon this month. Every commercial vehicle sold to Amazon is complemented by FleetOS, our proprietary, end-to-end, centralized fleet management platform with a recurring monthly subscription fee."
The Rivian EDV 700 (the first version) has been certified and is ready to sell. According to Rivian internal testing using official EPA test procedures, the EDV 700 will have a range of 201 miles (323 km).
In early 2022, also the narrower and shorter EDV 500 version is expected to complete certification.
Gallery: Rivian-Amazon Delivery Van
71,000 Rivian R1T/R1S pre-orders
The number of pre-orders (in the U.S. and Canada) improved significantly during the recent period and now stands at about 71,000.
Let's take a look at how it increased:
- September 30: 48,390 R1T/R1S pre-orders
- October 31: about 55,400 - 7,010 or 14.5% more
- December 15: about 71,000 - 15,600 or 28% more
As we can see, within only 45 days or so, 15,600 new pre-orders have been placed, which is almost 350 per day on average (35x the production rate by the way).
"As of the end of our third quarter (September 30, 2021), we had approximately 48K R1 preorders from customers across the United States and Canada. Since then, we have seen accelerated growth in the daily number of preorders due to media attention and the positive experience consumers and the media have had with our R1 vehicles. As of December 15, 2021, we had approximately 71K R1 preorders."
With such feedback, Rivian appears to be in a really great position with one main task - focus on execution and ramp-up.
See also
