Rivian Hampers Deliveries of R1T Trucks, SUVs to 2023

Rivian Automotive announced delayed deliveries of its R1T pickup and sports utility vehicles (SUV) with max battery to 2023. 

In the United States and Canada, the electric vehicle maker has 71,000 preorders for its R1T pickup truck and R1S SUV.

A massive portion of the placements are versions of the vehicles with a small battery pack option. These models provide 314 miles of range on one charge.

Rivian said it would prioritize the most significant number of preorder holders in line with the persisting worldwide supply chain constraints. 

As a result, the company expects to initiate the production of the Adventure package with a large pack battery by next year. 

The big battery variants account for 20.00% of the 71,000 R1T and R1S pre orders as of December 15, 2021. 

Correspondingly, this latest decision suggested a delay of 14,200 vehicle deliveries. 

At present, the company allows customers to change their orders if they want to get their R1T earlier.

In addition, it also assured market participants of sharing more information on delivery timings early next year.

Eventually, shares of Rivian declined to 0.21% or 0.22 points to $102.65 per share on Tuesday’s post-trading session. 

It followed its sharp decline of 3.94% or 4.22 points to $102.87 per share. Compared to its last month’s performance, the firm slumped 14.11% or 16.90 points to $102.87 per share. 

Rivian Faces Production Challenges

After its latest earnings report, Rivian cited that it currently faces serious production challenges this month. 

The firm outlined the present global chain snarls, surging coronavirus infections, and a tight labor market. 

At the same time, it mentioned the short-term issues around building electric battery modules.

Nevertheless, Rivian already delivered 386 of the 652 vehicles it produced, including its electric pickup and SUV. 

Still, it also has 100,000 vehicles pending orders for minority owner Amazon.

Meanwhile, the automotive business still stands firmly with a market capitalization of $92.62 billion.