Since it is now summer in the US and Rivian still needs to obtain their US EPA certification before deliveries can begin next month, the automaker has shipped the R1S and R1T to New Zealand to complete winter testing.
Also tagging along for the ride was their Amazon delivery van.
The trio of vehicles were spotted at a local airport by Tony Scott, who shared images of the R1T and R1S being taken out of the plane and loaded onto trucks for transport.
While it wasn’t easy to see at first, members of the local EV owners group spotted the Amazon delivery van hiding in the background in one of the images.
After the photos had been shared on social media, a Rivian employee confirmed the vehicles had been shipped to the southern hemisphere so they can complete winter testing.
If they didn’t do this, they would not be able to receive their US EPA certification and deliveries would have been delayed even further.
“We are wrapping up cold weather testing for our US EPA certification, and since it’s summer up here, we had to go to the Southern Hemisphere. This had to be completed ASAP, otherwise we cannot begin production and sales, which are slated to start next month,” Jordan Hartley said on Facebook.
The Rivian R1T electric pickup truck was expected to start deliveries in the US in June. The company announced in May those deliveries had been pushed back one month into July.
Hopefully they are able to complete their testing to receive their EPA certification and begin deliveries on time.
