Inside each Rivian service center is a team hard at work to make sure Rivian R1T and R1S vehicles stay on the road for that next adventure. From mobile service to onsite diagnostics and repairs, follow along as we explore a day in the life of one of those teams in Denver.
Opening Up
6:51 a.m.
It’s a brisk morning in Denver – the first real snow of the season, and a couple of inches of snow blanket the R1T and R1S vehicles charging at the Rivian Service Center on Steele Street.
As the bay door to the service entrance opens, the official kick off to the workday, service technicians arrive and head toward the bays they’ll be working at for the day.
“Is it too early to play holiday tunes?” someone calls.
After a short discussion, the group decides it is, indeed, too early for holiday music, and The Isley Brothers begin to play.
The Denver service center was Rivian’s sixth in the United States. Now, there are Rivian Service Centers across the U.S. with additional locations opening in Canada - and more locations in the works.
While many repairs can be done using remote diagnostics to identify and resolve issues, or with a visit from a mobile service technician, occasionally customers will need to make an appointment and visit a Rivian Service Center like the one in Denver.
Formally a medical depot building built by the U.S. Army, this service center is part of a massive warehouse campus that stretches seven city blocks. Inside the service center, 38 employees — including automotive technicians, delivery specialists and vehicle operations experts — work to ensure customers and their vehicles receive the utmost care.
Team Huddle
7:30 a.m.
The service team gathers together to map out the day’s scheduled appointments — a morning routine to ensure work stays on track. The team walks through onsite appointments, mobile service appointments and delivery vehicle inspections. It’s also their chance to share lessons learned and flag hurdles or concerns.
Kevin Hatley, Field Service Operations Manager, says the team is always trying to anticipate customers’ needs. He encourages everyone to bring their full selves to work and never accept the status quo.
“We’ve spent a lot of time building culture and empowering teams,” Kevin says. “I want someone to walk in here and not know who the manager is because we have all learned to embody and show leadership.”
Shortly after the morning meeting, the headlights of a Glacier White R1T shine bright at the service center entrance— the first appointment of the day has arrived for a Driver + and alignment repair.
“We’ve spent a lot of time building culture and empowering teams. I want someone to walk in here and not know who the manager is because we have all learned to embody and show leadership.”
— Kevin Hatley, Field Service Operations Manager
Mobile Service Appointment
9:30 a.m.
Ian Voss, a Field Service Technician, hops into a forest green mobile service truck to drive about 30 miles to an appointment in Boulder. There, he meets an R1T owner who scheduled the mobile service appointment to have his vehicle’s steering knuckle fastener tightened — part of the company’s recent recall repair. The customer, Evan Thomas, has a morning packed with work calls, but Ian isn’t worried. Big or small, he can easily complete repairs without an owner present.
“There’s not a whole lot we can’t do in mobile [service],” he says. “All our servicing trucks are equipped to do pretty much anything you can think of.”
True to his word, Ian finishes the repair less than two minutes after greeting Evan and walking him through what the repair will involve.
“These guys are great,” Evan says. “The service center is about 40 minutes away, but they’re able to bring down the mobile vehicle to do the service. I had one other issue right when I took delivery. These guys came right out and fixed it up. It’s been really smooth.”
Ian, who worked in the automotive industry for eight years before landing at Rivian, says customers and working alongside other high-caliber technicians is the best part of his day-to-day.
“I think what sets Rivian apart is the people and how much Rivian did their research and really dug around to find the best people they could,” he says. “You just learn so much every single day working here. I’ve loved that more than anything.”
Jeff Mekus, Field Service Supervisor, says that the majority of the service center’s appointments can be resolved through mobile service.
“Our goal is to keep you outside of the service center,” he says. “Obviously, there will be situations where the car needs to come in, which is never fun. But if you find yourself in the middle of the mountains with a broken strut, which has happened, we are more than willing to go play hero."
Detail Time
10:17 a.m.
Back at the service center, it’s bath time for an LA Silver R1T that will soon depart to meet its new owner. The wash is part of a series of thorough inspections and detailing each vehicle receives before going out for delivery. This process starts and ends with Rivian vehicle operations teams, from the moment a vehicle leaves the factory and arrives at a service center to the moment its new owner drives it away.
“We’re really the first and last line of defense for quality,” says Will Snauwaert, Senior Vehicle Operations Specialist. “Over the course of our process, we do probably three to five different quality checks. We always have our eyes and hands on the vehicles and try and take care of them as best we can to make sure we’re putting out the best product.”
After its soapy scrub, the R1T in the wash bay gets a good rinse. Nearby, four other R1T vehicles in Midnight Black, Canyon Red and LA Silver are being buffed and polished. It’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work with little direct customer interaction, but the reward for the team is knowing they are delivering the vehicles as clean as possible, even if customers do decide to immediately get them dirty .
“We want you to go have adventures and get them dirty, but our goal is to make it as perfect as it's ever going to be before you start wearing and tearing them,” says Tony Schultz, Field Vehicle Operations Specialist.
“Our goal is to make these vehicles as clean as they're ever going to be. We want you to go mess them up.”
— Tony Schultz, Field Vehicle Operations Specialist
R1T Delivery
1:00 p.m.
Field Specialists Sloane Wachob, Chris Eldert and Dustyn Rasmussen are heading into the busy part of their day. Two new owners have just walked into the lobby of the service center to take delivery of their Forest Green R1T, and another couple is on their way for a scheduled appointment to take an R1S for a drive.
“I’m so excited,” says new R1T owner Christopher Perkins. “I can’t wait to take it home. I’m ready for the adventures.”
As part of the delivery and mobile operations team at the service center, Sloane and Chris interact with customers regularly, setting up mobile drive appointments for anyone with a preorder or reservation and helping new owners complete paperwork and vehicle walk-throughs before final delivery.
Sloane heads outside with another new owner, Everett Jackson, to walk around his R1T and talk through all the features. “We have nephews who will love this gear tunnel,” says Everett’s partner Kara.
“I’m excited about having an electric truck,” says Everett. “It looks just as good as I was hoping. I’m going skiing this weekend so it will get its first run headed up to Copper Mountain.”
R1S Demo Drive
1:30 p.m.
Dustyn walks with Jon and Jessica Bishop toward a Limestone R1S parked outside. The Bishops pre-ordered an R1S and made an appointment to experience one up close and take it for a demo drive, a sort of “first date” with the vehicle before receiving their delivery.
Dustyn walks around the vehicle with the Bishops. He folds down the back seats to show storage options. The seats go back up and Jon and Jessica sit in the back, checking out all the features. Dustyn stands by, ready to answer their questions.
Jon throws a hopeful glance toward Jessica. “You OK if I get in the driver’s seat first?” he asks. She smiles and agrees.
A few minutes later, they head out of the parking lot with Dustyn for the demo drive.
Annie Rapp, Senior Field Specialist, says it’s the personal connections that set Rivian Service Centers apart.
“I love being able to interact with our customers, not just over the phone or by email, but here in person,” she says. “It’s important for me that we preserve that. Even when we’re delivering 50 cars a week, I still want to preserve that human connection we have.”
“I love being able to interact with our customers, not just over the phone or by email, but here in person.”
— Annie Rapp, Senior Field Specialist
Vehicle Service
3:15 p.m.
Work has not slowed in the service area since the doors opened. In one bay, Ivan and Cooper work to replace a back windshield. In another, Eric is fixing a seal on a driver’s side window. Brady runs diagnostics on an R1T. Farther along the line, Harold repairs a front tire. Jay, a technician visiting from the Vancouver service center, inspects wiring in the front trunk of an R1T.
Tools continue to buzz in the background. A lift goes up with a Rivian Blue R1T. A horn honks, and the service entrance area clears so a technician can pull a newly arrived vehicle into an empty bay. Kevin is working in the parts room, occasionally stepping out to walk the floor.
Everyone is heads down, pushing to finish jobs before the end of the day.
Closing Time
5:30 p.m.
“All right, everyone. Let’s huddle!”
It’s closing time, and the team gathers again for one last meeting. Jeff gets ready to run through the day’s work and tomorrow’s appointments. But first, there are shout-outs. The team goes around the circle, each person taking a turn.
“Shout out to Brady for his two-year anniversary at Rivian!”
“Shout out to Justin for finding extra square feet in the parts room today.”
“Shout out to Cooper for expanding his horizons here in the service center.”
“Shout out to Jason, who just got a new puppy!”
The meeting ends, and the technicians head out the service center front entrance, closing the bay door behind them. Before leaving, Tony says it’s not just one thing at Rivian that makes him excited to come back every day, it’s everything.
“It’s Rivian’s commitment to make things better,” he says. “We have a super-cool product, and I think that’s what drew all of us in. But the company and the people here are so much more dynamic. I’m really amazed by Rivian’s message and their plan for the future. The automotive area I was in before this was going backward. So it’s refreshing to be on the other end where we’re trying to come up with solutions and the next generation of ideas. That’s what keeps me coming back.”
