Rivian has revealed the delivery dates for its R1T pickup truck and R1S Sport Utility Vehicle.
Both of its all-electric vehicles will debut in Summer 2021, but the R1T truck will make its way to customers before the R1S SUV will.
Rivian announced that the R1T would begin deliveries in June 2021, meaning the company’s first all-electric vehicle is less than a year away from making its way to reservation holders.
Additionally, the R1S SUV will begin deliveries in August 2021, just two months after the truck starts arriving to customers.
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- Rivian R1T truck at the NY Auto Show 2019. | Image: Dacia J. Ferris/Teslarati
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- Rivian R1S SUV at New York Auto Show 2019. | Image: Dacia J. Ferris/Teslarati
The delivery dates were both announced in a press release from Rivian on July 24, where the company stated that its pilot production line is coming together at the company’s production plant in Normal, Illinois.
“This week at our plant in Normal, IL, the work of thousands of Rivian team members comes together as our pilot production line begins running,” the company’s press release said.
“This important milestone brings us another step closer to our full production launch. It also allows us to more precisely estimate delivery timing.”
In April, Rivian announced that its production lines would not begin manufacturing either of its planned vehicles until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidently, that timeline is still accurate, judging by the company’s announcement of when deliveries would begin.
Moving forward, Rivian’s main priorities are to keep its team safe while it continues to develop its manufacturing facility. In the coming months, the company also plans to let reservation holders configure their R1T or R1S, and give updates on the charging infrastructure it plans to implement for its vehicles.
The R1T will compete with upcoming electric pickups like the Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 EV, and the GMC Hummer EV. Rivian’s vehicles are geared toward adventurous, outdoor utility while maintaining impressive performance specifications.
Even though the R1T and R1S both have three feet of wading depth, their top of the line 185 kWh models have 400+ miles of range and a 0-60 MPH time of 3 seconds.
The 105 and 135 kWh variants of the R1T and R1S will boast 230+ and 300+ miles of range, respectively.
The R1T will start at $69,000, and the R1S begins at $72,500.
Rivian’s R1T has been on display for prospective owners at multiple “Open House” events across the United States. The electric automaker had plans to visit several new locations, but the dates were postponed due to the pandemic.
Currently, Rivian has several large-scale investors like Ford, Amazon, and Cox Automotive, who are pumping sizeable sums of money into the company’s projects. Rivian recently closed its first investment round of 2020, where it accumulated $2.5 billion in investments.
Most notably, the company’s partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon will have Rivian produce 100,000 electric delivery vans for the company’s push toward more sustainable package transport.
Rivian will have the distinct advantage of being the first EV manufacturer to deliver a fully electric pickup truck, beating Tesla to the market.
Jeff Bezos reveals Rivian’s plans to produce electric vans for Amazon
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Tesla lands approval for Robotaxi operation in third U.S. state
On Tuesday, Tesla officially received regulatory approval from the State of Arizona, making it the third state for the company to receive approval in.
Tesla has officially landed approval to operate its Robotaxi ride-hailing service in its third U.S. state, as it has landed a regulatory green light from the State of Arizona’s Department of Transportation.
Tesla has been working to expand to new U.S. states after launching in Texas and California earlier this year. Recently, it said it was hoping to land in Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, expanding to five new cities in those three states.
On Tuesday, Tesla officially received regulatory approval from the State of Arizona, making it the third state for the company to receive approval in:
BREAKING: Tesla has officially received approval from the Arizona Department of Transportation to launch its Robotaxi service on public roads in the state!
I just confirmed directly with the Arizona DOT that @Tesla applied for a Transportation Network Company permit on Nov 13th.… pic.twitter.com/iKbwfGfiju
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 18, 2025
Tesla has also been working on approvals in Nevada and Florida, and it has also had Robotaxi test mules spotted in Pennsylvania.
The interesting thing about the Arizona approval is the fact that Tesla has not received an approval for any specific city; it appears that it can operate statewide. However, early on, Tesla will likely confine its operation to just one or two cities to keep things safe and controlled.
Over the past few months, Robotaxi mules have been spotted in portions of Phoenix and surrounding cities, such as Scottsdale, as the company has been attempting to cross off all the regulatory Ts that it is confronted with as it attempts to expand the ride-hailing service.
It appears the company will be operating it similarly to how it does in Texas, which differs from its California program. In Austin, there is no Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat, unless the route requires freeway travel. In California, there is always a Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat. However, this is unconfirmed.
Earlier today, Tesla enabled its Robotaxi app to be utilized for ride-hailing for anyone using the iOS platform.
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Tesla ride-hailing Safety Monitor dozes off during Bay Area ride
We won’t try to blame the camera person for the incident, because it clearly is not their fault. But it seems somewhat interesting that they did not try to wake the driver up and potentially contact Tesla immediately to alert them of the situation.
A Tesla Robotaxi Safety Monitor appeared to doze off during a ride in the California Bay Area, almost ironically proving the need for autonomous vehicles.
The instance was captured on camera and posted to Reddit in the r/sanfrancisco subreddit by u/ohmichael. They wrote that they have used Tesla’s ride-hailing service in the Bay Area in the past and had pleasant experiences.
However, this one was slightly different. They wrote:
“I took a Tesla Robotaxi in SF just over a week ago. I have used the service a few times before and it has always been great. I actually felt safer than in a regular rideshare.
This time was different. The safety driver literally fell asleep at least three times during the ride. Each time the car’s pay attention safety alert went off and the beeping is what woke him back up.
I reported it through the app to the Robotaxi support team and told them I had videos, but I never got a response.
I held off on posting anything because I wanted to give Tesla a chance to respond privately. It has been more than a week now and this feels like a serious issue for other riders too.
Has anyone else seen this happen?”
My Tesla Robotaxi “safety” driver fell asleep
byu/ohmichael insanfrancisco
The driver eventually woke up after prompts from the vehicle, but it is pretty alarming to see someone like this while they’re ultimately responsible for what happens with the ride.
We won’t try to blame the camera person for the incident, because it clearly is not their fault. But it seems somewhat interesting that they did not try to wake the driver up and potentially contact Tesla immediately to alert them of the situation.
They should have probably left the vehicle immediately.
Tesla’s ride-hailing service in the Bay Area differs from the one that is currently active in Austin, Texas, due to local regulations. In Austin, there is no Safety Monitor in the driver’s seat unless the route requires the highway.
Tesla plans to remove the Safety Monitors in Austin by the end of the year.
Tesla has officially opened Robotaxi access to everyone and everyone, but there is one catch: you have to have an iPhone.
Tesla’s Robotaxi service in Austin and its ride-hailing service in the Bay Area were both officially launched to the public today, giving anyone using the iOS platform the ability to simply download the app and utilize it for a ride in either of those locations.
It has been in operation for several months: it launched in Austin in late June and in the Bay Area about a month later. In Austin, there is nobody in the driver’s seat unless the route takes you on the freeway.
In the Bay Area, there is someone in the driver’s seat at all times.
The platform was initially launched to those who were specifically invited to Austin to try it out.
Tesla confirms Robotaxi is heading to five new cities in the U.S.
Slowly, Tesla launched the platform to more people, hoping to expand the number of rides and get more valuable data on its performance in both regions to help local regulatory agencies relax some of the constraints that were placed on it.
Additionally, Tesla had its own in-house restrictions, like the presence of Safety Monitors in the vehicles. However, CEO Elon Musk has maintained that these monitors were present for safety reasons specifically, but revealed the plan was to remove them by the end of the year.
Now, Tesla is opening up Robotaxi to anyone who wants to try it, as many people reported today that they were able to access the app and immediately fetch a ride if they were in the area.
We also confirmed it ourselves, as it was shown that we could grab a ride in the Bay Area if we wanted to:
🚨 Tesla Robotaxi ride-hailing Service in Austin and the Bay Area has opened up for anyone on iOS
Go download the app and, if you’re in the area, hail a ride from Robotaxi pic.twitter.com/1CgzG0xk1J
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 18, 2025
The launch of a more public Robotaxi network that allows anyone to access it seems to be a serious move of confidence by Tesla, as it is no longer confining the service to influencers who are handpicked by the company.
In the coming weeks, we expect Tesla to then rid these vehicles of the Safety Monitors as Musk predicted. If it can come through on that by the end of the year, the six-month period where Tesla went from launching Robotaxi to enabling driverless rides is incredibly impressive.
Tesla lands approval for Robotaxi operation in third U.S. state
Tesla ride-hailing Safety Monitor dozes off during Bay Area ride
