Rivian cuts price of electric ute, but delays deliveries by one month

Michigan-based electric vehicle maker Rivian has pushed out the delivery of its all-electric ute by one month to July 2021 but has also shaved $US2,000 of the EV’s price by making an off-road upgrade optional.

Rivian opened orders for its R1T electric ute (known as a pickup in the US) as well as its R1S electric SUV in November of last year, and had planned to start delivering “Launch Edition” versions of each in June and August, respectively.

But in an update on the company’s blog, Rivian said Launch Edition deliveries were now planned to start in July and be completed in the first half of 2022.

“All R1T and R1S Launch Edition preorder holders will hear from their Guide by the end of November with their expected delivery timing,” the post said.

Rivian also announced that it was kicking off its test-drive tour program in August in a number of states around America, giving pre-order customers the opportunity to “get behind the wheel to experience the performance and handling of driving a Rivian.”

The blog also noted that an Off-Road Upgrade was now optional for Launch Edition and Adventure Package preorder holders, rather than being included in the base price, after Rivian had deduced that the standard capability of the vehicles was “more than enough” for needs of most customers.

That meant that those pre-order customers who were not planning to engage in “extreme off-roading” could unselect the upgrade and shave $US2,000 of the price they were originally quoted – a welcome discount, no doubt, on the roughly $US75,000 ($A102,840) Launch Edition price of the R1T.

As The Driven has reported, Rivian first arrived on the electric vehicle scene in 2018 when it wowed crowds with its R1T ute and R1S SUV at the LA Auto Show.

Since then the company has also caught the attention (and cash) of numerous big name investors, including Amazon, Ford, and Cox Automotive to the tune of more than $A2.2 billion.

Both the electric ute and SUV are of particular interest to Australia, which has been pegged as a “key market” by the company.

In particular the R1T ute will likely appeal to weekend warriors who want to be able to take their EVs off road (and any doubts of its capability to do this were put to rest in the recent Apple series “Long Way Up”).