Rivian's fresh quarterly electric vehicle production and delivery numbers reveal another outstanding quarter and significant ramp-up progress—for manufacturing, anyway.
During the third quarter of 2023, the company produced 16,304 battery electric vehicles (BEV) at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, which is 121 percent more than a year ago and a new record.
In terms of vehicle deliveries, Rivian reports 15,564 units (up 136 percent year-over-year). That's a new record too, and a clear sign that things are improving on the carmaking front. But as the Wall Street Journal reported today, like many EV startups (and even the legacy automakers on the electric front) Rivian has a long way to go toward financial stability. The WSJ says Rivian has spent about half of its $18 billion cash pile and lost about $33,000 on each truck it sold in Q2.
Rivian does not disclose the numbers for particular models, so those are the total values for its three BEVs: R1T pickup, R1S SUV, and EDV commercial vans for Amazon.
Rivian Q3'2023 results (YOY change):
- Total production: 16,304 (up 121%)
- Total deliveries: 15,564 (up 136%)
Rivian EV Production - Q3 2023
Rivian EV Deliveries - Q3 2023
So far this year, Rivian produced over 39,000 electric vehicles and delivered more than 36,000, which in both cases means results are almost three times higher than a year ago.
Rivian Q1-Q3'2023 results (YOY change):
- Total production: 39,691 (up 177%)
- Total deliveries: 36,150 (up 194%)
For reference, in 2022, Rivian produced 24,337 electric vehicles and delivered 20,332 to customers.
According to previous reports, more than 18,000 Rivian R1T and R1S were registered in the United States during the first seven months of the year. Through September, it might be a number at least between 20,000 to 25,000, we guess.
In its statement, Rivian briefly expressed its belief that will be able to produce 52,000 electric vehicles this year: "These figures remain in line with the company’s expectations, and it believes it is on track to deliver on the 52,000 annual production guidance previously provided." Let's note that this is the latest production guidance, which was published in the Q2 report (2,000 higher than initially anticipated). Who knows, with another strong quarter, Rivian might be able to noticeably beat this forecast.
Cumulatively (since Q3 2021), Rivian produced more than 65,000 electric vehicles and delivered more than 57,000. Most of the production so far was for the United States market (deliveries in Canada started in November 2022).
We don't know what the current reservation number is for the R1T/R1S vehicles, nor do we know how many vans for Amazon were delivered (out of up to 100,000 contracted). There is a chance that Rivian will release an update on this topic in its upcoming third quarter 2023 financial report, which is scheduled for November 7, 2023.
But even with the usual startup financial headwinds, this is positive progress for Rivian. On top of that, the company is expanding its lineup with additional powertrain and battery versions of the R1T (up to 410 miles of range) and R1S (up to 352 miles of range).
This article has been updated.
