Rivian vehicles have received certifications from three agencies, the final hurdle that allows the electric carmaker to sell and deliver its R1T van and R1S SUV to the 50 states of the United States.
Rivian confirmed to TechCrunch in an email that the vehicles are fully certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. Bloomberg also reported that Rivian has received regulatory approval to deliver vehicles to customers.
Rivian has a direct sales model, in which customers can order their vehicles online. Distributor protection laws in many states prohibit companies like Rivian from having their own stores, where customers can take trial tests and learn about financing options. However, there are no restrictions on customers placing online orders from these states.
Today, 22 states allow all vehicle manufacturers to sell vehicles to customers, according to the NRDC. In these states, Rivian can set up shops, display vehicles, offer test rides, and discuss funding. Another 11 states allow Tesla, which also has a direct-selling model, to sell vehicles, often in a limited number of locations across the state.
Rivian is scheduled to begin deliveries of the R1T release edition this month. Deliveries of the R1S SUV are expected to continue this year.
Confirmation of certifications from the state and two federal agencies followed a trio of announcements in recent weeks that included the first production Rivian R1T electric pickup truck in “Blue Rivian,” which left the assembly line on Tuesday in the morning at the company’s factory in Normal, Illinois. The company’s two vehicles also received official EPA distances of 314 miles for the first version of their all-electric R1T pickup truck and 316 miles for the R1T SUV.
All of this follows that Rivian is confidentially submitting paperwork to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make it public. The company, backed by a large number of institutional and strategic investors, including Ford and Amazon, does not have the size or price range of the proposed offer.
Sources familiar with Rivian’s IPO plans said the company has not yet started the “roadshow,” a process in which a underwriting company and a company management make a series of presentations to potential investors before become public.