2020 sucked. I don’t need to get into that, y’all know. For all the suck of last year, there was at least a lot of exciting car news and fun things to look forward to, like the new Ford Bronco, all the latest Jeep models, the Tesla Cybertruck, and just Rivian as a whole. Rivian has so many people excited about the idea of an all-electric truck that even though they are still little more than a concept for most of us, it feels like people already love the brawny, outdoors-minded EV company. While all that is true, I don’t know where to go to find the Rivian dealerships. 

Where do you go to buy a Rivian? 

The EV startup Rivian plans to sell directly to the consumer. People who put in orders will deliver the trucks directly to them instead of the dealership.

Most everyone hates to deal with the dealership. Buying sucks, getting repairs done sucks, and trade-ins suck. The only plus is that the showroom allows you to spend time with the thing, unlike some photos on the internet and some reviews from automotive blowhard, like me. This is a valuable step in the process. 

Rivian Vice President of Public Policy James Chen, in a phone interview with The Drive, “We believe that our customers are best served and have the most seamless experience by running that [sales and service] process…” He said, “We are not going to a franchised dealer system—period.” Bold, but I can respect it. 

Will Rivian have dealerships?

Rivian has committed to opening 10 dealerships and 41 service locations around the country. These locations will serve as the showrooms and warranty service locations for both the R1S and the R1T and the Rivian Amazon delivery vans. These locations will perform over-the-air updates and physical repairs for any Rivian vehicle. 

As far as the dealerships go, Rivian has only announced two locations out of the 10. According to Autoblog, the first retail location/showroom that Rivian announced was Laguna Beach, California, slated to open sometime this year. The second and newly announced showroom location will be in Chicago, Illinois. Although there will be eight more retail locations around the country, Rivian insists it will not have franchise dealerships. 

How do you buy one?

The internet is the place. Obviously, once the retail locations open up, customers can learn more about the electric truck maker. Still, the central buying platform will simply be the configurator on the Rivian site. This seems strange, but hell, we grocery shop online, date online, and buy houses online, so why wouldn’t we buy cars online too? 

This dealership situation is only one in a very long list of things many consumers are very stoked about for the Rivian trucks. Rivian has regularly come out with cool features, news, and ideas that lead many would-be customers to the realization that this company seems to genuinely care about not only its product but also its customers. 

These trucks are going to be sweet

Look, I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid or anything; it’s just that after hearing about Rivian’s support or Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s Long Way Up by building EV charging stations along the route. What about the fact that Rivian plans to build a similar network throughout the U.S. that is meant to encourage Rivian drivers to take their electric pickups or SUVs out into the wilderness without range anxiety? 

Rivian has legs; that’s all there is to it. Unlike Tesla, which promises these grandiose ideas, of which few actually happen, Rivian seems like they are taking it slow and keeping the promises minimal and the deliveries maximal.