It seems that the global pandemic has pushed the release of new Rivian electric vehicles even further back. Rivian confirmed that the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV models would start deliveries next year. The company released a statement today to reservation holders:
“Keeping our team safe while making progress has been our top priority over these past few months. We look forward to sharing more updates soon, including details on key vehicle features, the date you’ll be able to configure your R1T or R1S, as well as our plans for our charging network.”
We can now expect the R1T electric pickup truck to start deliveries around June 2021, with R1S in August as reported by Electrek. Even though this is a huge setback, Rivian will probably still be the first company to release electric pickup trucks.
Last year, Rivian had acquired Mitsubishi’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois for electric vehicle production. Thousands of employees are to help oversee the pilot production line this week.
The company’s partnership with Amazon is still going strong, as they expect to produce over 100,000 delivery trucks next year. It seems that the main trouble they will face right now is the Tesla lawsuit, accusing Rivian of job poaching and stealing trade secrets.
