What happened
Rivian Automotive (RIVN -2.21%) shares bounced around Thursday morning, rising as much as 2.3% before dropping 1.6%. As of 12:22 p.m. ET, Rivian shares were down 0.2%. A review of one of its R1T pickup trucks from a respected source may be what investors are keying in on today.
So what
Online automotive industry resource Edmunds spent five months reviewing a Rivian R1T electric pickup truck over 5,000 miles, and it had some unflattering things to say. To be clear, the staff was impressed by what it first saw with the 2023 model year electric truck. But the review also stated that "we've encountered a number of issues that can't be fixed with new code beamed to our truck over the air."
Image source: Rivian Automotive.
Now what
Earlier this month, Rivian recalled nearly all of the vehicles it had produced, but that was not an important factor in the review. In fact, the company serviced the trial vehicle on-site, and that fix took only about five minutes. However, Rivian then identified a string of subsequent potential issues, though Edmunds only experienced one of them. Those issues included a wiring harness routing mistake, a loose suspension bolt, water collection in rocker panels, and window moldings that could come loose. Overall, Edmunds generally referred to them as minor quality annoyances.
In summary, Edmunds said, "The Rivian R1T hasn't lost its appeal among most of our staff yet." But it was critical of many of the issues that did arise, particularly because this is now a second model year truck that should have many of those bugs worked out.
There are also improvements to the vehicle that will be reviewed in the future. Rivian told Edmunds it has improved the R1T range through over-the-air updates. Edmunds plans to rerun its range test to verify that claim.
Rivian investors have already been disappointed with the company's production guidance, but that has been due to supply chain disruptions that the entire industry has had to navigate. It seems the review released this week isn't helping boost investor confidence in the start-up, however.
