Only last week it had been revealed that Rivian's production was going at a snail's pace with it just managing to manufacture two cars per day on an average. But now it is slowly ramping up. As of the end of October, it has produced 180 R1T electric pickup trucks and delivered 156 of them. This is new data that has emerged from a document related to its IPO which many believe will value it at around $60 billion. This means it has pretty much doubled its production already to around 3,8 vehicles per day - but the problem is nearly all these vehicles have been delivered to Rivian employees only. But interestingly, Rivian says that production ramp-up will happen in December. By the end of this year, it wants to make a total of 1,135 vehicles.
Also Read: Rivian Is Making Just 2 Cars Per Day
It wants to make 1,200 R1T models, while it will slowly start production of the R1S SUV and make 25 units of it as well. On top of this, it will even manufacture 10 units of an electric delivery van it has to make for Amazon. Overall, the plan is to deliver 1,000 R1T models, 15 R1S models,s and all 10 EDV's it makes for Amazon in December itself.
RJ Scaringe shared the photo of the first car from the production line
"We plan to launch and commence customer deliveries for the R1S, a three-row seven-passenger sports utility vehicle ("SUV") in December 2021 following the completion of ongoing vehicle validation and all required testing. By the end of 2021, we intend to produce approximately 1,200 R1Ts and 25 R1Ss and deliver approximately 1,000 R1Ts and 15 R1Ss. By the end of 2021, we intend to produce and deliver approximately 10 EDVs," Rivian said.
Its pre-orders have also been surging over the month of October. Its pre-orders have gone from 48,390 for the R1T/R1S combined in the US and Canada on September 30th to 55,400 in just a month, and that's an impressive spike.
Rivian believes it will have a backlog of orders all the way into 2023 and so far, it seems like production of the current orders alone will take two years to complete. Rivian however also notes that it has the capacity to make 150,000 vehicles annually but this level will be reached only in 2024. After updates, its plant will also be able to handle up to 200,000 vehicles.
Rivian has been lauded for its off-roading capabilities
"The factory building covers approximately 3.3 million square feet and is currently equipped to produce up to 150,000 vehicles annually. In early 2024, we expect to reach a vehicle build rate, which, when annualized, would result in us using the facility's current installed capacity. We believe that we will be able to increase the annual production capacity of the Normal Factory up to 200,000 vehicles by 2023 as we introduce additional R1 platform variants and expand the facility. Over the next couple of years, we expect to establish additional domestic production capacity in order to support our product development roadmap and fulfill future anticipated demand," it said.
It is important to note that Rivian needs so much capacity as it also needs to make 100,000 EDVs alone for Amazon which is a major investor.
