Rivian Just Crippled Its Referral Program and It Feels Like a Slap in the Face

Rivian’s updated referral program quietly launched today, and for a lot of owners, it might seem like business as usual. But for those of us who’ve spent years sharing our experience, helping others make the leap, and sending dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people into Rivians, this new structure feels like a punch to the gut.

Here’s how the new setup works:

  • When a new buyer uses your referral code and takes delivery of a qualifying Rivian, they get 500 Rivian Rewards points.
  • You get points too, but the more referrals you’ve already made, the fewer points you get going forward:
    • 500 points for your first 10
    • 250 points for 11–25
    • 100 points for 26–50
    • 50 points for 51–100
    • Just 25 points per referral beyond 101

Now let’s be clear: this change will only affect a small group of owners. The vast majority will never hit those higher tiers, and some might look at this frustration and think it sounds entitled. That’s fair. But this isn’t really about the points. It’s about recognition, or the lack of it, for the people who have spent serious time and effort being ambassadors for the brand.

This new structure feels like a missed opportunity to build on the momentum the community helped create.

12 Comments

  1. Time to find yourself another hobby!! Rivian wants and needs to save money. The good thing with all your effort and hardwork you earned your spouse her R1S R1S Dual/ Large. Just by beeing a blogger, just think about it. 🙂

    Ben

  2. The referral program didn’t even exist a year or so ago. Put on your big boy pants and enjoy blogging revenue from other sources.

  4. Folks that put in the time/work into good info such as RivianTracker does SHOULD get credit for sales referrals. A lot of work goes into sites like this. He’s literally helping build the brand.

    Obviously you’re a fan of this site, or else you wouldn’t be here commenting. Then post a hateful comment like that? Shame. Maybe you need a new hobby?

  5. This is disappointing to hear – a large part of my decision to pre order an R2 has come from the Rivian community and Jose/Riviantrackr in particular have been a critical part of that journey. Test drives and showrooms are nice, but the ultimate test of quality is the customer experience.. so hearing customers say they’ve enjoyed the experience and would recommend the product holds great weight and should be rewarded. #cantwaitforR2

  6. This is literally the opposite of the way it should be… Ever since fundraisers in elementary school, the bigger the sales, the bigger the reward

    • Yea those were scams lol. sell 5 magazine subscriptions and get a lava lamp. Sell 15 subs and go to universal! its bigger the reward but there were levels. If they’re going this way, Rivian should’ve gotten rid of referrals counts after 50 or something and added milestone rewards. like 50. get 4 sets of tires and wheels to your liking. 60 gets you this and that. 500 gets you a R2! lol

  7. I mean, as much as I am happy you’re providing content, this is how it should be. It’s much easy for the “influencers” to take advantage of this program with the way referral codes are spammed. The whole referral thing and the retreat are unfair to the common consumer, so..

  8. Pretty sure Rivian vehicles sell themselves just fine. Whining about losing something that no one asked you to do is just ridiculous. It’s not like you were on the payroll and got fired.

    Anyone with half a brain that does their research knows that Rivian makes a superior product. They don’t need selfish profiteers to help sell their vehicles.

    • Appreciate your perspective. I’ve never claimed Rivian needed people like me to sell vehicles, but the reality is, many of us have poured time, money, and energy into educating others, answering questions, and helping hesitant buyers take the leap into EV ownership, often without any expectation of reward.

      The referral program was a small token of appreciation for that effort. It’s not about entitlement, it’s about acknowledging the value of community-driven advocacy that has clearly played a role in Rivian’s growth. Sharing feedback about changes to that program isn’t “whining,” it’s being honest about how it affects those who’ve helped build trust in the brand.

  9. Rivian definitely needs to step up their marketing. They built a plant that can produce 150,000 R1S + R1T + EDV and are only expected to sell 40,000 to 45,000 this year. Capacity for Normal after adding in R2 is 215,000 per year. Georgia phase 1 adds 200,000 per year and phase 2 also adds 200,000 for total capacity of 615,000 per year. The benefit to cost ratio for the referral program seems fantastic since each unit of additional volume provides a reduction in their massive losses. Seems like a very shortsighted decision to me.

  10. Yea when I found out about this. I was shocked. really $25 per referral… At least have some milestone awards if they’re going to do this. But it does make sense why they did this. I was pretty positive they were going to change the rewards in the summer. Expected it to get cut to $250 instead of some tiered structure.

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