Rivian has taken its biggest step in the transition from a new company to a complete automaker. The first vehicle for the company’s customers, an R1T blue van, came out of the production line just this morning with founder and CEO RJ Scaringe at the wheel. Apparently, Rivian is on track to start deliveries this month after multiple delays in production due to various hurdles, such as the global shortage of parts.
It seems that everyone, except Jeff Bezos himself, attended to enjoy the milestone at the Rivian factory in Normal, Illinois. It’s been almost three years since Rivian unveiled the first R1T and R1S prototypes in 2018, and the project has been building bubbles ever since.
Earlier this morning a post was shared on the Rivian forums, showing a great video of the mobile test. Scaringe later posted official images of the event on his Twitter account.
The factory where the Rivian R1T is built was completed in 1988, originally serving as the home of a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler called Diamond-Star Motors. It was strictly a Mitsubishi facility after 1995 and was operated by the Japanese carmaker until 2016. At that time, Mitsubishi jumped into town and Rivian bought the entire property for a song shortly after in 2017. .
Since then, the young automaker has been gearing up to build its two trucks thanks to a large amount of capital from what appears to be one of the leading corporations under the sun, including Ford and Amazon. We’ve seen a lot of prototypes suffering through the desert and some promotional films, but the official start of production is the company’s most important milestone so far.
According to reports, there are plans for another Rivian plant located in Texas, although right now, Normal is the only production location for the R1T and ultimately the R1S. The company has dedicated sponsors, so if production runs smoothly, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rivian take over another property later. Meanwhile, Rivian’s R1T is the first to go on sale and will compete with Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Chevy’s electric Silverado and a few other electric trucks that could go into production.
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