The Rivian R1T is a pickup truck, sure. Nevertheless it additionally is just not. The Rivian is extra a product of Silicon Valley than of Detroit, which is why it’s so distinctive. For some, will probably be like listening to a hipster clarify his kombucha recipe. However for others, it’s a refreshing tackle a truck.
At a glanceDesign is each primary and uniqueApps and screens dominateFive motor/battery mixtures, two trim levelsPrice tag is just not for the proles
Like most pickup vehicles, the Rivian R1T has a primary four-door, short-bed design. There are two sport seats up entrance and a bench within the again, for a complete of 5 seating positions. The cargo mattress has a tailgate that permits entry and extension. The chassis is rear-wheel-drive-centric, and the truck rides comparatively excessive off the bottom with robust framing for towing and hauling. All primary pickup stuff.
These issues are anticipated in any truck, and are the options that Detroit makes will spotlight when exhibiting their vehicles at areas reminiscent of development websites and lumber yards. You’ll not see a Rivian in these sorts of locations, nonetheless. As a result of outdoors of these fundamentals, the R1T departs from the usual truck motif in loads of methods. Most of that are both genius concepts or bizarre quirks, relying in your standpoint.
First, there’s the look of it. Rivian performs with rounded edges, easy corners, small, oddly-shaped headlights, and a normal type of futuristic however not alien design. You’re anticipated to know that the R1T is a pickup, however you’re not anticipated to imagine it’s like the opposite vehicles. It appears new sufficient to be refreshing, however not so misplaced that it’s … properly, a Cybertruck, I assume.
A few issues widespread to electrical pickup vehicles are current on the R1T: a giant frunk, all-wheel drive by default, stupidly quick acceleration, and air trip suspension. The latter is a standard factor as a result of EVs on the whole are heavy, and EV vehicles are HEAVY in capital letters. Most are within the over-7,000-lb (3,175-kg) membership, which is about 40% heavier than a gasoline pickup just like the Ford F-150. The frunk is just not ergonomic like others, nonetheless, because the hood is a cap on high fairly than opening with the grille just like the trunk of a automotive. This makes entry to the frunk’s tub lower than ideally suited.
The R1T’s greatest out-of-box thought is the central “gear tunnel” storage. Doorways on both aspect of the truck, forward of the rear wheels and behind the cabin, open to permit entry to a considerable storage tunnel. They open down, nonetheless, in order that they’re proper the place your legs need to be whereas loading issues into the tunnel.
That stated, the doorways change into platforms that may bear about 250 lb (113 kg), and supply a step as much as the entrance portion of the cargo mattress. However they really feel flimsy, and I used to be by no means in a position to belief them with that type of weight bearing. The gear tunnel may also be accessed through the rear seats’ fold-down armrest, much like the ski pass-through in lots of European sedans. However seeing the camp kitchen and different concepts for this gear tunnel makes it a all of the sudden mind-boggling choice for imaginative makes use of.
Extra attention-grabbing departures from customary pickup design are discovered within the R1T’s cargo mattress.
The spare tire for the Rivian, for instance, is positioned underneath the mattress. A portion of the mattress is latched and hinged, permitting it to elevate to entry the spare. There are professionals and cons to this strategy, the professionals being that the spare and instruments should not uncovered to the weather and the ensuing rust and junk that accumulates when the spare is slung beneath the truck. The cons embody the truth that something within the truck mattress needs to be eliminated with the intention to entry that spare. Some may additionally discover that eradicating the spare creates one other hidden, lockable cupboard space on the truck.
One other distinctive thought within the R1T’s cargo mattress is a seamless tailgate. Most truck tailgates create a big crevasse or seam between the tailgate and the mattress flooring when the tailgate is down for loading or unloading. Rivian eliminated that seam with an built-in, sliding cowl piece that mechanically bridges that hole to create a easy loading flooring. It’s a kind of genius touches that you simply don’t know you want till you expertise it, after which it turns into a must have. It is much like the dual-hinged tailgate of the Honda Ridgeline or the dual-opening tailgate on a Ram Truck.
Rivian, like Tesla, additionally went all-in on screens and apps. There aren’t very many buttons or switches contained in the R1T. These features are as a substitute managed with a giant touchscreen. The interface is exclusive and requires a while to be taught. Urgent the truck icon, for instance, pops up a menu for locking and unlocking doorways, unlatching the panels for the gear tunnel, opening the frunk, altering the shading for the glass roof, and so on. Subsequent to that, the driving force’s title (detected through the app or key card) permits adjustment of varied issues like mirrors and the head-up show.
These changes are made with the one buttons on the steering wheel, a proper and left set of left-right buttons and a spinning wheel. Those self same steering wheel controls will do different issues, relying on what the infotainment display has activated. Quantity and channel controls for audio, selecting drive modes, elevating and reducing the air suspension, and extra.
The Rivian app offers the person entry to loads of features each in and out of doors of the automobile. Many of the above-mentioned issues are there plus local weather settings (and pre-settings), cost controls/standing, and such. Your cellphone (with the app) can even act because the automobile’s key. Sadly, the app is finicky. Not less than for some. It didn’t work the complete week I had the R1T in my driveway. It labored tremendous for a good friend’s cellphone. Each are Android models. It additionally labored tremendous for one more journalist who drove the identical truck earlier utilizing an iPhone. And customers on-line often complain in regards to the app crashing or not logging in at inopportune occasions.
There are some downsides to an organization and its product being new. The massive variety of recollects and client complaints for each the R1T and the R1S (Rivian’s SUV) are a part of the rising pains confronted by newcomers to the automotive trade.
The 2025 Rivian R1T comes with three battery choices and 4 drivetrain decisions. As anticipated, the battery pack measurement choice typically coincides with a drivetrain alternative. Naming conventions for these configurations denote motor depend and battery pack measurement. So the bottom mannequin, the Twin Normal, makes use of the smallest pack, whereas the Twin Giant upgrades to a bigger battery. An choice for the Max battery pack is obtainable because the Twin Max.
The Tri Max and Quad Max fashions are three- and four-motor designs utilizing the largest battery. I drove the Tri Max, which has an EPA estimated vary of about 371 miles (597 km). Vary estimates will differ relying on battery measurement, with the bottom vary being the 270-mile (434-km) Twin Normal and the very best being the 420-mile (676-km) Twin Giant.
If that feels complicated, you’ll be relieved to know that Rivian solely has two trim ranges for the R1T past these powertrain decisions. The entire Twin-labeled fashions are within the Journey trim stage. The Ascend trim is for the opposite two powertrain choices (Tri and Quad). Many of the additions to this trim are choices on the Journey trim. Together with a retracting tonneau mattress cowl, an upgraded Dolby Atmos audio system, digital glass roof, and so forth. It’s unclear why Rivian bothered having trim ranges since they’re tied on to motor alternative. It’s most likely a advertising factor to permit for trim tools enlargement later.
Energy and pace are sometimes talked about when speaking about electrical autos. With vehicles, pace is type of pointless, but it surely’s nonetheless a factor. I’m unsure why pickup house owners would care about acceleration speeds, given {that a} truck by design is presumably the worst drag racing choice accessible.
At any fee, the Rivian R1T is silly quick. So should you want your groceries to time journey or your house enchancment retailer lumber to expertise astronaut-level G forces, then you definitely’ll be pleased to know that the R1T can go from zero to sixty in about three seconds. That’s a full second sooner than the F-150 Lightning and dual-motor Cybertruck. I give the comparisons as a result of the actual motive for these dash occasions is to brag. No one who owns any of those vehicles will really obtain these occasions in the actual world.
Talking of the actual world, it’s one factor to take a look at the R1T on paper and fairly one other to really use it. It’s snug more often than not, with a very good trip high quality that I’d examine to any midsize pickup in the marketplace. It’s not as refined as lots of at present’s full-sized vehicles, although. These are merchandise of many years of refinement and motion from being utility autos to soft day by day drivers. The R1T is someplace within the center, method higher than the bumpy and loud utilitarian vehicles of the 80s, however not as easy because the near-luxury pickups of at present. I occurred to love that high quality about it, because it reminds you that you simply’re in a truck and never simply one other household hauler.
The Tri mannequin can be an distinctive off-road go-getter. Extra so than I’d anticipated. Off-road settings are discovered, in fact, within the infotainment display. Settings are comparatively primary, with pre-sets for normal all-terrain, rock crawling, delicate sand or filth, rally pace, and filth drifting (That one is enjoyable). I caught with A/T and sand more often than not, given what’s round me right here in Wyoming.
The R1T additionally has extra cameras than the NSA. Not less than, that’s what it appears like. The same old 360-degree array is there, however they’re augmented with different views popping up at handy occasions, such because the left-hand digital camera activating when the left flip sign is used. The Rivian is already a comparatively small and easy-to-maneuver truck, however the crystal-clear cameras and their high-res screens make the R1T even simpler to off-road and park. My spouse – who’s a nervous driver and undoubtedly not a truck fanatic – cherished the way in which the Rivian felt, thanks in no small half to those digital camera views.
My check mannequin Rivian R1T didn’t embody a tow package, so I wasn’t in a position to check that. However to be frank, not one of the electrical vehicles in the marketplace are actually good at towing. Not as a result of they’ll’t hitch up giant masses and pull them easily, however as a result of when you connect that enormous load, your vary drops to a few third. It doesn’t matter the make or mannequin, vary whereas towing will probably be lower than half the truck’s EPA estimate – and that is on a very good day with optimum situations.
The 2025 Rivian R1T does have one other drawback endemic to EV vehicles: worth. The bottom mannequin begins at about US$70,000. Most consumers will probably be nearer to or over the six-figure vary, although. My Tri Motor check mannequin rang in at over $100,000 in all. In comparison with different choices in EV pickups, nonetheless, the Rivian isn’t too outlandishly priced. And vehicles on the whole are actually among the priciest choices within the automotive market.
My total really feel is that of the EV vehicles I’ve pushed up to now, the Rivian is by far my favourite. It’s quirky, completely different, and a very good rethink of what a pickup could be. It appeals to my outdoorsy and techy sides fairly properly and has a type of upscale Subaru vibe total.
Product web page: 2025 Rivian R1T
