Today, Rivian announced several significant price increases for its R1T electric pickup and R1S electric SUV, which have raised the configuration price of many booking holders by more than $ 12,000. The increase in prices comes as Rivian seeks to increase production and make its electric vehicle profitable, while adding lower levels of components that will arrive as early as 2024.
When Rivian first introduced the R1T and R1S in 2018, it announced that vehicles would start at $ 69,000 before incentives, but after Tesla announced Cybertruck with similar specifications for much cheaper, the company said it would reduce the price you are.
In 2020, Rivian confirmed that the R1T would now start at $ 67,500 for the base version of Explore, which (at the time) the company said was coming in 2022. Launch had to start at $ 75,000.
The carmaker began production and deliveries last year, but had problems increasing production.
The announced prices are expected to be achieved through volume production, but the failures are now affecting the entire price list. Rivian announced price increases today and made them sound like they were about adding options rather than raising costs by emailing customers:
Base prices of vehicles and the price of certain options, upgrades and accessories have increased. With the R1T Adventure and Explore packages, the tonneau cover can now be selected. We are in the process of updating your Rivian account page to reflect these corrections and will send you an email notification when the update is complete. Until then, all product updates and prices can be seen in our configurator.
In fact, these changes in option prices have affected many different configurations of both R1T and R1S. Rivian has introduced a new two-engine option, but the four-engine option is still the only one currently in production and has become $ 6,000 more expensive.
In addition, the carmaker made the standard battery pack unavailable with the quad motor, so that’s another $ 6,000 for people who were fine with the 260-mile range and wanted the quad motor for either performance or faster delivery time. . Now they have to upgrade to the big package.
With these changes and a few smaller options and accessories that also see price increases, many Rivian booking owners report that the price of their configurations is increasing by more than $ 12,000.
Only people who are advanced in the delivery process have fixed prices. Everyone else will have to swallow the price increase or cancel. Rivian says the price increase is the result of “inflationary pressures on the price of components and raw materials from suppliers around the world.”
Jiten Bell, Rivian’s chief growth officer, said in a comment Electrek:
Like most manufacturers, Rivian is facing inflationary pressures, rising component costs and unprecedented shortages and delays in the parts supply chain (including semiconductor chips). This increase in costs and complexity due to these challenging circumstances necessitates an increase in the prices of the R1T and R1S models we offer today – prices that were originally set in 2018. This solution will allow us to continue to offer competitive products that maintain high standards. for the quality, productivity and capabilities that our customers expect and deserve from Rivian. Along with adjusted prices for our current offerings, we are also announcing options for twin-engine AWDs and standard batteries for the R1T and R1S, which will provide customers with a wider choice as part of our expanding portfolio of options, upgrades and accessories.
With today’s announcement, Rivian is technically sticking to its originally announced base price of $ 67,500 for the R1T, but is not expected to arrive until 2024.
Taking Electrek
I doubt that these price increases are only due to inflation and the price of materials. Rivian is likely to realize that its gross margin targets will be difficult to achieve without higher prices.
It is a pity for the people who have been supporting the company for a long time. I was the holder of a first day reservation and my configuration was indicated with an “estimated price” of $ 76,500:
Rivian hasn’t updated my order page yet, but it looks like my configuration will now cost $ 89,500:
This is starting to get really expensive. And with the added price changes on the lack of a clear delivery schedule in Canada, I’m thinking of canceling my order.
I guess many other Rivian reservation holders think the same.
On the other hand, we have seen car dealers raise prices with a similar amount above the price of the sticker and even more.
I’m not sure I agree with the approach to tearing off the band-aid. Rivian had to make moves like Tesla, raise the price by a few thousand dollars every few months – and lock up owners who have already thrown in $ 1,000.
What do you think about today’s price changes? How do they affect your order, if you had one? Let us know in the comments section below.
FTC: We use automated affiliates to earn revenue. More ▼.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.