Rivian has confirmed that the worth hikes introduced Tuesday will apply to current builds in addition to new ones, forcing prospects who had already positioned orders to decide on between shelling out as a lot as 20% extra for his or her vans or opting right into a lower-spec configuration, eliciting vocal discontent amongst early adopters.
“Like most producers, Rivian is being confronted with inflationary strain, rising part prices, and unprecedented provide chain shortages and delays for components (together with semiconductor chips),” Jiten Behl, Rivian’s chief progress officer, mentioned in an announcement. “This rise in price and complexity attributable to these difficult circumstances necessitate a rise to the costs of the R1T and R1S fashions we provide at present — costs which had been initially set in 2018.”
Based on Inexperienced Automobile Reviews, the changes will apply to all prospects besides those that are within the closing steps of the transaction — or “marked for success.”
Rivian, through which Amazon.com holds a 20% stake, mentioned the beginning worth of its R1T electrical pickup vans has gone up by about 17% and its R1S sport utility automobiles by about 20%. It mentioned the worth will increase would have an effect on many of the prospects who’ve already positioned pre-orders for the automobiles.
Whereas the announcement included particulars of recent tools choices being added to the configurator, together with a brand new dual-motor choice, Rivian additionally hiked the worth for the present quad-motor setup by $12,000. Present reservation holders can decide into this dual-motor Discover bundle, with Commonplace battery pack, which begins at $67,500. The Commonplace pack presents simply 260 miles per cost; Rivian didn’t disclose its exact capability.
The twin-motor setup presents greater than 600 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque, with a 0-to-60 time of about 4 seconds — so it is nonetheless a really fast truck. And it is nonetheless all-wheel drive, with a motor positioned on every axle back and front, however clearly it will not have among the at-the-wheels quad motors’ capabilities and occasion tips, just like the flashy tank flip.
Tesla and legacy automobile makers have additionally raised U.S. automobile costs to offset excessive prices associated to logistics and provide chain disruption, and sellers usually mark-up costs due to automobile shortages.
This text comprises reporting by Reuters.
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