Rivian won and everyone else including Tesla, Ford, and General Motors lost. The first electric pickup truck to market has arrived and it’s from a startup automaker that many people had never heard of until about three years ago.
The Rivian R1T has moved EVs into the pickup truck segment with over 300 miles of range, 800 hp, and innovative packaging and utility. There’s no real question how or why the R1T made the short list of nominees in the fight to be named Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2022.
2022 Rivian R1T
In just under three years the Rivian R1T went from being unveiled to rolling off the assembly line. An impressive feat, given Rivian is a startup automaker, the R1T is its first vehicle, and it all happened during a pandemic that constrained supply chains in most sectors, especially automotive. No excuses here: Every single team member who has been behind the wheel of the R1T walked away in disbelief at the cohesive, and impressive, package Rivian’s created.
Every R1T is powered by four electric motors (two per axle) to make 415 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque to the front axle, and 420 hp and 495 lb-ft to the rear axle; together, the output exceeds 800 hp and 900 lb-ft. That makes the R1T the most powerful production pickup truck on sale outside of heavy duty turbodiesel pickups, which now have over 1,000 lb-ft of torque. The electric motors are fed by a 135-kw battery pack that Rivian dubs “the large pack.” A smaller 105-kw pack and larger 180-kw “Max Pack” will come in time.
2022 Rivian R1T
Rivian claims a 0-60 mph time of 3.0 seconds, and our butt dynos feel that’s pretty accurate, Unlike in a Tesla or Porsche Taycan, the sprint isn’t a violent affair. The truck lunges forward despite the fact it weighs about 7,000 lb. That amount of mass essentially puts it in the class of heavy duty trucks. For reference, the heaviest production light-duty pickup is the Ram 1500 TRX, which is absurdly heavy, and only 6,350 lb. But the R1T doesn’t ride or drive like a heavy duty pickup.
The magic comes from the air suspension system combined with adaptive dampers and a hydraulic control system (rather than anti-roll bars) similar to what’s found in a McLaren supercar. The result is a remarkably little body roll. We now live in a world that has a pickup that features a comfortable, composed ride whether being push on all-terrain tires around tight, twisty corners on wet pavement or while going 60 mph through pouring rain down a dirt and gravel road. With multiple drive modes, damper settings, stability control settings, and air suspension settings there are nearly 50 ways to configure the R1T’s drive modes, though the All-Purpose mode is a good catch-all setup for those who don’t want to tinker.
It can do truck stuff too. The R1T’s rated to tow up to 11,000 lb, haul up to 1,760 lb of payload (not at the same time), and has a built-in air compressor with a max output of 150 psi.
2022 Rivian R1T
2022 Rivian R1T
2022 Rivian R1T
In an era where everything this side of the Cybertruck is starting to look similar the Rivian is cut from its own cloth without looking like it was designed by a child or from a movie. Light bars span the width of the front and rear ends. In terms of its 4-door cab profile, it’s smaller than an F-150 and more akin to the Honda Ridgeline with a 54.0-inch bed. A retractable, power tonneau cover is standard along with under bed storage and an 11.0 cubic-foot frunk. That’s all before mentioning the R1T’s killer app: a gear tunnel mounted behind the cab with 11.6 cubic feet of water-tight storage capable of holding up to 300 lb of gear. A slide-out camp kitchen can be added for those looking to adventure into the wilderness.
2022 Rivian R1T
It’s hard to find true faults with the R1T, and trust me, we’ve tried. Early units we tested exhibited some touchscreen lag, but that’s seemingly been fixed based on our most recent testing. The fact it weighs about 7,000 lb is kind of absurd, and despite having 300 miles of range, it’s not even close to being the most efficient EV on the market. Starting from $67,500 the R1T certainly isn’t cheap, though one could argue its value proposition easily. It also lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and neither are currently in the plans for the future. These are small faults and we’re struggling to come up with larger concerns despite our best efforts.
Can a standout design, innovative packaging, unreal performance, and useful utility clinch the win for the Rivian R1T? Will it be named Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2022? Check back on Jan. 3 when we reveal the winner, along with the champs from our sister sites, The Car Connection, and Green Car Reports.
Keyword: Rivian R1T: Motor Authority Best Car To Buy 2022 nominee