Rivian R1S delivery timing confirmed

Buyers of the Rivian R1S now have an official ETA from the US electric vehicle manufacturer, which has advised them that first deliveries of the full-size electric SUV will take place from next May.

Shared online by an American customer who was among the first to order their R1S, an email from Rivian reads: “Your Launch Edition R1S delivery window is now May-June 2022”.

That’s slightly later than customers in the US originally anticipated and were told. Production of the electric SUV’s dual-cab pick-up sibling, the R1T, is already underway and Rivian recently said the R1S would follow in January.

As we’ve previously reported, a Rivian launch in Australia is still at least two years away, and both the R1T pick-up and R1S SUV are expected to be sold here.

Both models have been tested in Australia by neither has been officially confirmed for local release.

Several future owners have now come together on a Rivian owners forum in the US, to share screenshots of their ETAs and reservations, some of which were placed back in 2019. As a result of the delay, some would-be owners are now cancelling their pre-orders.

Rivian pricing starts from $US67,500 ($A92,250) in North America, where three battery pack options are offered for each model, the biggest of which is claimed to result in 0-100km/h acceleration in around three seconds.

And while the biggest 180kWh battery will offer a driving range of up to 650km, both Rivian models will carry 800kg of payload, tow up to 5000kg and wade through a metre of water.