Rivian Found Another Way to Increase Prices on the R1T and R1S

This week Rivian announced that it made a tough decision regarding its electric vehicles. The automaker will discontinue its most affordable Explore package for the Rivian R1T and R1S electric vehicles, increasing the price for pre-order holders.

The Explore Package is Rivian’s entry-level trim for the R1T and R1S vehicles. With it discontinued, reservation holders will need to go back into the online configurator and upgrade to the better-equipped Adventure Package, increasing the price anywhere from $5,500 to nearly $8,500.

Essentially, Rivian found another way to increase the price of its vehicles after the failed attempt back in March. Earlier this year, Rivian announced a price jump that instantly received a ton of backlash. A few days later, the company backtracked on that plan.

Pricing on the Rivian R1T entry-level “Explore” package was $67,500, while the better “Adventure” package starts at $73,000. And while that’s only a $5,500 increase, it’s still more than buyers initially anticipated. If you ordered an Explore package, you now need to reconfigure the reservation with the Adventure trim.

However, depending on your configuration, the price could increase even more. Several users on the Rivian forum have voiced frustrations, with one saying their truck is now $8,000 more than last week.

While this certainly isn’t good news for those involved, it should help the company in the long run. According to Rivian, almost all orders were for the Adventure trim anyways. And to date, the company hasn’t delivered a single Explore trim. This move will allow Rivian to streamline its process, operation, and offerings and help the company produce more trucks in a timely manner.

We do have some good news, though. Along with this announcement, Rivian confirmed that it will now begin shipping the delayed Ocean Coast interior package. By killing the Explore trim, it can scale up production, build more electric trucks and SUVs, and offer a new trim level on outgoing orders.

For those wondering, Rivian is still on track to offer its cheapest dual-motor variant in early 2024.

via The Verge