Cody U. 
Rivian has had its fair share of ups and downs in its still young life. One of those most notable “ups” being able to claim themselves as the first manufacturer to produce an all-electric pickup truck in its R1T. Now, it is making deliveries of its fully electric SUV the R1S with its R1S Sport coming soon. It’s an experience one owner detailed in a forum post that illuminates the process and capabilities of the company’s new offering.
Rivian Forums member “Fletch” shared his experience of taking delivery of his brand new Rivian R1S last week. He claimed the entire process took several hours, indicating it wasn’t as simple as dropping off a vehicle and handing the owner a user manual and wishing him the best of luck by the delivery specialist.
There were a few cosmetic issues that needed to be acknowledged upon delivery that could have been handled prior but the company decided not to further delay getting their R1S into the hands of a faithful customer, after all, many of those in line have been told they are to wait until the end of this year to take delivery of their new R1S.
The one man delivery team spent seemingly as much time as needed to help new R1S owner Fletch become familiar with his very first EV. He was taken through all 8 of the offered drive modes, including 4 off-road centric modes, all of which help manipulate ride height, all-wheel drive, and suspension rigidity. He was also educated on all the clever storage perks that come with the R1S such as a power lift tailgate, something you don’t naturally see on an SUV.
Charging capabilities were ultimately found on their own in a Walmart parking lot and according to Fletch’s story, your first recharge may be free for inexplicable reasons. The Rivian R1S has a starting price of $78,000 and Rivian has a live visualizer that you can play with, and the R1S can still be reserved for a fully refundable $1,000 fee.
