(Bloomberg) — After months of delay, Rivian has produced the first vehicle it deems good enough to actually sell.
In an Instagram post on Sept. 14, company founder RJ Scaringe announced that the company’s first “customer vehicle,” an R1T electric pickup truck, has driven off the production line in Normal, Ill.
“Can’t wait to get these into the hands of our customers!” Scaringe wrote.
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A post shared by RJ Scaringe (@rjscaringe)
The post comes as more of a morale booster for Rivian employees and fans than a new action for the 12-year-old startup edging toward a potential $80 billion initial public offering this fall. Since the R1T was announced in 2018, tens of thousands of would-be owners have deposited $1,000 to reserve one, sight unseen.
Rivian has spent the past few months producing prototype vehicles and the past two weeks building ones that can actually be sold, according to Bloomberg; the company had already committed delivering 100 customer vehicles in September. The hitch is that it cannot yet legally initiate actual deliveries. On Aug. 30, Bloomberg reported that the company had yet to get the regulatory green light to ship its wares.
A spokesman for Rivian did not respond to requests for comment. First-hand critical accounts of the $67,500 R1T are expected to appear by the end of this month. Press drives are to commence this week in Colorado.—With Edward Ludlow and Kyle Stock
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