Rivian Electric Truck Has Way Less Preorders Than Tesla Cybertruck

Aug. 06, 2020 8:01 AM ET by Aaron Brzozowski Electric Vehicles / 3 Comments

But there's a very good reason why that's the case.

How many preorders electric vehicle startup Rivian has amassed for its promising entrant in the exploding pure-electric pickup truck market is, officially, unknown. But according to one observer, the number is likely right around the 30,000 mark, although that figure rests on some pretty big assumptions.

The figure comes from Rivian Forums user skyote, who's been keeping track of other Rivian fans' preorder numbers, from number 1,472 - the first self-reported preorder number - all the way up to 54,686. But here's the thing: skyote noted a couple of bizarre jumps in the series that don't appear to be indicative of mathematical corrections or big fleet orders, meaning that 54,686 is, according to him, likely closer to 30,000.

Either way, those numbers are both far short of Tesla's roughly 600,000-and-counting reservations for the Tesla Cybertruck, although that could be explained by the substantial difference in the price of a reservation. The Cybertruck costs just $100 to reserve, versus $1,000 for the Rivian R1T pickup, and even though Rivian's deposit is fully refundable where Tesla's isn't, $100 is far easier to say goodbye to than $1,000.

And then, customers might have more faith in Tesla's ability to eventually produce the Cybertruck than in Rivian's capacity to build the R1T. Even with all its sizable investments, from big-name players like Ford and Amazon, Rivian is still unproven as an automaker, and the company isn't expected to start delivering passenger vehicles until June of next year.

2021 Tesla Cybertruck Front View Driving

It's worth noting that Rivian's approximately 30,000 preorders include those for both the R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV, and the company has yet to make public the percentage mix of each model in the total. The R1S, which utilizes the same "skateboard" chassis architecture and mechanicals, is expected to start shipping a couple of months after the R1T, in August.

Beside the Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck, the pure-electric pickup space is set to gain the Lordstown Endurance, Bollinger B2, GMC Hummer, an electric variant of the Ford F-150, and eventually, an electric pickup from GM's Chevrolet brand. The competition is heating up.