Rivian R1T Electric Truck Off Road Capability with Electric Power width
The Rivian R1T Proves That the Perfect Off-Roader Is Electric
Subconsciously, I thought we were out of gas.
It was late afternoon in a day of off-roading that started just after dawn. We were crawling down a steep, rocky trail, two ruts winding through mighty trees. Aside from the crunch of stone under our tires, we were moving through the Colorado wilderness in utter, placid silence.
And that might be the weirdest, most wonderful part of off-roading the Rivian R1T. Because up until now, if your 4x4 was crawling down a grade in stark silence, it meant one of two things: out of fuel, or busted.
The R1T is the first production vehicle from Rivian, the electric-car startup that erupted onto the scene in late 2018 after years of semi-secrecy. Among the many all-electric pickup trucks we've seen in concept form over the past few years, the R1T is the first to hit the streets. With its bluff, mostly unadorned silhouette and lighting like a sci-fi set piece from 2050, the R1T looks revolutionary. After a day of off-roading and plenty of highway miles in the Rockies, I can tell you it lives up to the look.
Rivian R1T - Photos
Rivian invited a group of automotive journalists to Breckenridge, Colorado, for a chance to drive the R1T four-door pickup. (The R1S, a three-row SUV thats identical to the pickup from the B-pillar forward, will arrive later.) The media event coincided with the delivery of the very first customer R1Ts, meaning that by the time you read this, a small handful of lucky reservation-holders will be driving around in production Rivian trucks.
The R1T debuts with the fully-loaded Launch Edition, the model we drove. This top-spec truck includes an upgraded, luxurious interior and a handful of lifestyle options. For now, every Rivian pickup will have an identical drivetrain: one motor for each wheel, powered by a 135-kWh battery. Those motors provide 415 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque to the front axle, plus 420 hp and 495 lb-ft at the rear. Rivian claims a very believable 0-60 time of three seconds flat.
But the majority of our day was spent crawling up, and then down, a treacherous mountain trail that took us above 12,000 feet, rarely exceeding 10 mph. Its here that the Rivian makes a case for itselfand for the electrified future of off-roading.
The shortcomings of internal combustion are never more apparent than when youre rock-crawling. No matter how much beefy torque its got, a conventional engine still needs a brace of gear ratios to stay in its ideal RPM range on the trailnot to mention complex locking differentials (or complex, finicky, often woefully laggy electronics to simulate a locker) to maintain traction. Any off-road excursion is a constantly changing math problem, picking the right gear, the right transfer-case range, the right mix of locked and open differentials, tiptoeing up to the perfect engine speed without blasting past it and spinning the tires. Its calculus at a crawlan enjoyable challenge, to be sure, but a side-quest necessitated by internal combustions weaknesses.
The Rivian asks you to do precisely none of that. Raised up to its highest ride height, it offers just a smidge less than 15 inches of ground clearance. The skateboard layout, with the batteries tucked into the floor between the axles and the body bolted on top, allows for a completely flat underside lined by bash-proof protective paneling. Its got independent suspension all around, with upper and lower control arms, air springs, and adaptive dampers. The motors are barricaded behind those plates, tucked up against the vehicles centerline to maximize the length of the half-shafts (and minimize joint angles at the extremes of suspension travel). The bottoms of the lower control arms barely hang below the flat belly, minimizing the risk of snags.
The Rivian has no anti-roll bars. On each axle, the left and right dampers are connected by a hydraulic line. When the suspension on one side compresses in a corner, the cross-link works to compress the other side's dampers. The result: Nearly flat cornering on the road. It's a brilliant suspension design that's basically identical to what you'd see in a McLaren 720S. And that's no coincidenceRivian counts some former McLaren engineers among its employees. Computer-controlled valves and accumulators adjust the handling characteristics based on which drive mode you select, and in its off-road setting, the R1T has all the suspension flexibility you could ask for, without having to manually or electronically disconnect any sway bars.
All this complex technology makes the act of rock-crawling about a million times simpler. That means letting go of hard-learned habits. You dont have to worry about smashing a differential or snagging a crucial chassis component on a rock. You can go around a hairpin turn on the trail without fighting through axle hop caused by a locked differential. You never have to wonder whether to downshift for power or stay in a higher gear for gentler throttle response. All you do is pick your line, feather the accelerator, and crawl to the next obstacle.
Its hard to overstate how revolutionary this feels. This is what off-roading was always meant to beits just that, up until now, weve had to compensate for internal combustions shortcomings on every trail ride.
Rivian isnt the only automaker pursuing off-road-capable EVsthe R1T will soon be joined by electric 4x4s from a bunch of legacy automakers, and more startups are sure to follow. But while some of this experience could be replicated by any dedicated rock-crawling electric vehicle, its the thoughtful, purposeful engineering that makes the R1T excel.
Take the four-motor layout. Its a little more complex, and assumedly a good deal more expensive, than the more common EV all-wheel drive setup, with a single motor at each axle. But the four-motor layout allows for true, instantaneous torque vectoring, allowing the vehicle to react immediately to changing traction conditions. Through frame-twisting transitions, over loose rocks, and up steep, white-knuckle climbs, it was easy to nudge the R1T along with a minimum of wheel spin or drama. And with no drivetrain noise save for the occasional, distant high-pitched squeal of heavy current, you can dedicate all your attention to listening for that tiny moment of tire slip that tells you where the traction limit lies. The calibration is spot-on: off-road mode gives you gentle response from a long accelerator pedal, perfect for making teensy adjustments as you power over obstacles.
The built-in air compressor, housed in the left side of the pickup bed.
Rivian leans hard into the outdoor-adventure image. Its not just poseur contrivance. The truck is absolutely loaded with features and capabilities any hiker, biker, climber or camper will appreciate. The optional cargo crossbars telescope to fit the roof or the pickup bed; they install and come off without tools, and collapse to fit in the front trunk. An optional air compressor is built into the side wall of the pickup bed. You can preset any inflation pressure up to 150 psi, perfect for airing up the truck's tires after rock-crawling or inflating some lake gear. Next to that is a cable lock for securing gear in the cargo bed; a rear-facing camera mounted above the back window spies on anybody snooping around your gear.
The Gear Tunnel offers full-width storage in a space that goes to waste in conventional pickups.
In addition to the front trunk, the pickup bed, and a plethora of in-cabin cubbies, the R1T has a huge storage chamber between the back doors and the rear wheels. Called the Gear Tunnel, it spans the full width of the vehicle, offering 11.6 cubic feet of space. The flip-down doors on either side of the Gear Tunnel double as seats or steps.
The Gear Tunnel makes possible the single coolest feature on the R1T: The Camp Kitchen. This $5000 option includes a two-burner electric induction stove, a fold-out sink, and a four-gallon water tank with a retractable hose. The whole operation slides out from the passenger side of the gear tunnel; one person can set up the whole operation in less than a minute. It even comes with a pot and pan, cooking utensils, plates and cutlery for four, plus a complete coffee brewing kit, all stowed in cork-lined drawers so theres no rattling noises while driving. The cooktop is powered from the trucks battery pack, and Rivian assures us that running both burners full-blast for an hour will only cost a mile or two of driving range. The Camp Kitchen is fully modular: The stove and sink units can each be removed from the Gear Shuttle that slides in and out of the storage compartment (and can be ordered on its own without the kitchen for $1500).
On pavement, the R1T is sporty and smooth. Once again, the utter silence of the drivetrain is momentarily jarringespecially when youre sampling the full grunt of this 800-plus-hp machine. I did my acceleration runs with four people riding in the truck, and while the R1T didnt deliver the sternum-crushing sensation of the most powerful Tesla sport sedans, Rivians 3.0-second zero-to-60 claim is utterly believable. The R1T is limited to 110 mph (it could touch 130 with the governor removed). With no auditory input or shifting gears to alert you to your speed, its easy to blast to triple digits without really noticing. In sport mode, the suspension drops to its lowest setting (still pretty high, with 9.7 inches of ground clearance), the dampers stiffen, and the roll stiffness goes full firm. This is a heavy beast, but with the bulk of the weight resting below your feet, and the fine-grained control of that electronic suspension, it corners with pure confidence, with barely any body roll and none of the front-end sloppiness of a conventional pickup truck. The steering is direct and precise, though even with sport mode's increased steering effort, there is zero feedback through the wheel, and hardly any resistance. It feels like an arcade game controllereven when parked, you can spin the steering wheel lock-to-lock with one fingerbut that lack of feedback doesnt detract from your confidence in the trucks cornering abilities.
Compared to the typical pickup trucks imprecise steering, poor roll stiffness, and awful front-rear weight distribution, the R1T tackles mountain passes like a sport sedan. On the freeway, the Rivian whispers along in utter silence, with no wind noise or tire roar to speak of. My test vehicle rode on 20-inch wheels, the smallest available, and Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain tires designed specifically for this vehicle. Optional wheel packages offer 21- and 22-inch wheels with more street-oriented Pirellis, but even in spirited back-road driving, the off-road tires gripped well past the point of responsibility.
Its not a perfect machine. The interior on my top-spec test vehicle was luxurious and tastefully designed, but aside from the window switches, every function is controlled through the giant central touchscreen. Rivian took an obvious page from Tesla here, and the result is the same frustrating dance you perform in a Model 3, hunting through sub-menus and pecking away with your pointer finger to do the simplest things, like change the direction of your air vent or adjust your side-view mirrors. Rivian is a tech-forward startup, and touchscreens are trendy, but in a vehicle thats so clearly designed for easy, seamless use, this feels like unnecessary complicationespecially after a morning of windows-down wheeling, when the screen is covered in a fine layer of trail dust.
That same tech-heavy over-complication extends to the exterior. Every enclosurethe front trunk, the tailgate, the Gear Tunnel openings and the optional tonneau coveropens electronically, via a remote button. Even the door handles are motorized, popping out as you approach with the key fob in your pocket. In a vehicle built for hardcore off-roading, the excess electronics seem like an invitation for malfunction. Then again, the whole truck is powered by electrons.
Last gripe: That giant touchscreen is bright and clear, but it doesnt offer Android Auto or Apple CarPlay integration. Rivians people told me this was a conscious choicetheyre very proud of their digital interface, and they apparently didnt want to relinquish that real estate to a third party. But the built-in GPS maps didnt know about two newly-built roundabouts on my road drive, a problem that wouldnt have surfaced if I was able to cast Google Maps to the touchscreen. At least Rivian avoided the Teslas Model 3 mistakethere's a separate, dedicated instrument panel with speedometer and nav readouts ahead of the steering wheel.
The R1T Launch Edition is EPA rated at 314 miles of driving range, netting 74 MPGe city, 66 highway, and 70 combined. Rivian says a larger battery pack with up to 400 miles of range is on the way. The R1T is rated to tow 11,000 pounds, and the version shown here costs $73,000. (Sadly, the Launch Edition is already sold out, but a nearly identical Adventure spec will carry the same price, followed later by the $67,500 Explore variant.)
Bob Sorokanich previously served as deputy editor of Road & Track Magazine. He is based in New York City.
