The brand new Rivian R1T pickup is the fabulous EV glamping truck you didn’t know you wanted. This distinctive EV truck has every kind of options you want, plus a number of you by no means even considered. Come alongside on our check drive of the Rivian R1T and determine for your self if that is your subsequent each day driver.
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What makes the Rivian R1T particular?
Rivian has been engaged on their EV pickup vehicles and SUVs for a number of years now, nevertheless it’s lastly right here. The primary rollout of Rivian EV vehicles is underway, and we acquired to drive the R1T pickup. The engineers at Rivian informed us this pickup has been totally over-engineered, and so they’re not kidding. From each day driver duties to off-roading, this factor does all of it.
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The R1T is a pickup truck, an EV, an off-roading weekend automobile and even a tenting car. This one-of-a-kind electrical pickup has a wide range of choices for street floor dealing with together with Preserve mode, Snow, Off-Highway, Sport and Customary operation. This enables the car to regulate suspension stiffness, save the battery, aid you follow slippery roads and even elevate or decrease the experience top for varied functions.
What we love concerning the R1T proper off the bat is that it’s versatile. You should use this truck to drive down some fairly tough roads and follow them. Nevertheless, for those who battle to discover a truck you will get out and in of with out hoisting your self as much as the peak of a horse saddle, the R1T has you lined.
Moreover, ingress and egress are simple. The middle console has a floor that may cost your iPhone wirelessly, plus a cordless Bluetooth speaker that pulls out from below the console to take you to the seaside.
What is actually spectacular about this truck is that it has all of the comforts of a each day driver EV, together with a frunk (entrance trunk), electronically operated hood and rear gate and an air compressor constructed into the truck mattress to inflate your tires. It even has the well-known gear tunnel.
Flip your R1T right into a tent camper
This gear tunnel is a gap that goes immediately by the middle of the car between the cab and the truck mattress. It comes with some commonplace and a few non-obligatory options together with human and pet first assist kits and a useful footstool or seat constructed into the door on both sides.
For an additional $6,000 (value topic to vary), you will get the tenting gear package that pulls a range, sink and prep counter out of the gear tunnel. This implies you might use your Rivian for a commuter EV or work truck even for those who stay on tough roads, after which use it for tenting in addition to off-roading as an alternative of shopping for an RV or camper.
That’s the place the value begins to make sense. Rivian R1Ts vary from $60,000 to $95,000. Our version was tricked out to the tune of about $93,000, which is not any chump change. However think about how a lot an RV prices ($100,000 to $300,000) or a tent camper pullout trailer ($60,000 to $100,000), now you see the truck does all of it. You’ll be able to drive the R1T to the native seaside, take it off-roading, then arrange for tent tenting at evening together with your pets. This factor can do absolutely anything an ordinary pickup can do, after which some.
Extras in a Rivian R1T
As we talked about beforehand, the engineers assured us they totally over-engineered the R1T. We had been comfortable to find they did this within the nicest of how. Each element is believed by. There’s a partial self-driving possibility that helps with sustaining the next distance and lane steering.
It’s important to drive a Rivian to understand how lux it’s. The flush door handles and aspect mirrors open when your key fob approaches the automobile. A key card held over the motive force’s door or placing your foot on the brake whereas your key fob is within the automobile begins it robotically. The experience is easy, however for those who want a stiff, sporty efficiency, it’s out there on the contact of a button.
The car stops you from doing something foolish, reminiscent of after we tried off-road driving and sped up an excessive amount of. The automobile merely dropped us again into commonplace driving mode and adjusted all of the settings to make that superb.
The R1T comes with tons of additional options, so that you may need to mess around constructing out your choices earlier than ordering to determine which car is best for you. The tonneau cowl for the truck mattress is greatest understood in particular person because it suits collectively like a jigsaw puzzle however works nice. You do need to pay them a few thousand further {dollars} to color your automobile something apart from silver. It provides up. However for those who construct out your superb automobile first, you realize what you’re entering into.
Nonetheless, take one for a check drive if it’s out there. You’re going to like this factor. We dragged ours all over to run errands, ship recycling, choose up groceries and different purchases. We additionally drove it on dust and pavement and thru rain, on pavement and tough again roads. It dealt with every part seamlessly.
The inside screens are designed after Tesla, however we like how there’s a separate display screen for the motive force show and the infotainment system. A whole lot of the expertise is made by Rivian only for this car line, so for those who like tech, try a check drive to see all of the mapping and self-driving capabilities this automobile has, plus the hen’s eye view digital camera that retains you out of hassle in visitors.
Photographs by way of Rivian
Editor’s Observe: This evaluate just isn’t sponsored by Rivian. All opinions on the automobile and firm are the writer’s personal.