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Rivian Hits Reverse on Price Hikes for Existing Reservation Holders

This new decision should placate a number of owners disturbed by a price hike they didn't see coming.

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The reversal comes just two days after the initial announcement about the price increases.

Rivian

Life comes at you pretty fast. Or, in Rivian's case, that's what it felt like for a bunch of vehicle owners staring down five-figure price hikes without warning.

Two days after Rivian announced that it was adding new variants to the lineup and raising the price of existing models, on Wednesday the company announced a change in its price-hike policy. According to an email sent to Rivian reservation holders, CEO RJ Scaringe apologized for the abruptness of the initial policy change and promised that people with preorders as of March 1 will be able to buy their vehicles at their earlier price points. Furthermore, anyone who canceled a preorder on or after March 1 will be able to have it reinstated with its original configuration, pricing and delivery estimate.

"As we worked to update pricing to reflect these cost increases, we wrongly decided to make these changes apply to all future deliveries, including pre-existing configured preorders," Scaringe wrote in the email to reservation holders. "We failed to appreciate how you viewed your configuration as price locked, and we wrongly assumed the announced Dual-Motor and Standard battery pack would provide configurations that would deliver price points similar to your original configuration. While this was the logic, it was wrong and we broke your trust in Rivian."

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Rivian had made the cost increase announcement on Monday, which seemed to come out of left field. The quad-motor R1T pickup and R1S SUV were given $12,000 price hikes, taking their window stickers to $80,575 and $85,575, respectively. 

To provide a similar price point to before the hike, Rivian announced a new dual-motor setup developed in-house, along with a smaller Standard battery pack that should provide about 260 miles of range for dual-motor variants. The Large pack is a $6,000 upgrade, boosting dual-motor range to 320 miles, while the R1T-only Max upgrade asks $16,000 and aims for a range north of 400 miles. Styling and features for these new variants appears the same.

In Wednesday's email, Scaringe said: "Regarding our updated pricing for future preorders, the introduction of our Dual-Motor configuration and Standard battery pack has been designed to enable us to maintain lower starting prices while adjusting the pricing of the Quad-Motor and larger battery packs to reflect rising costs." 

Rivian has some big plans for its burgeoning business. While ramp-up is still ongoing, the automaker wants to continue to vertically integrate, eventually designing and building its own battery cells. Its Illinois manufacturing facility has the capability to build up to 200,000 vehicles a year, while a forthcoming plant in Georgia will add another 400,000 EVs per year into the mix.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.

Article updated on March 3, 2022 at 7:41 AM PST

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Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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