Rivian R1T Performance Dual-Motor AWD (with Max Pack)
It’s a bit of a ‘choose your own adventure’ — and that’s before wheels ever hit pavement. Rivian — RJ Scaringe’s Silicon Valley startup that was founded in 2009 (with manufacturing in Normal, Illinois) and went public in November 2021 — produces an all-electric pickup truck (R1T) and SUV (R1S). Focusing on the truck, there’s no less than 17 configurations. Avoiding the minutiae, not every drive system pairs with each type of battery. The Performance Dual-Motor all-wheel drive (with a 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and 665 hp) integrates with the Max pack, which offers 410 miles per charge. Whereas the Quad-Motor all-wheel drive (0-60 in 3 seconds flat with 835 hp) only works with the large pack. But it has four additional drive modes: conserve, rock crawl, drift and rally. Choices.
When adventure of the outdoor variety finally arrives, it’s delightful. Three feet of water feels like half that. The 14.9 inches of ground clearance makes it nearly impossible to bottom out — on anything. Towing capacity is 11,000 lbs. The company recently filed a patent for a mobile movie projector. There’s a cargo tunnel running behind the cabin the width of the truck and a useful front trunk. Plus, the touchscreen isn’t a screen; it’s a flat 15-inch monitor, akin to a medium-sized laptop. Without question, this is the intersection of technology and automobile manufacturing.
Without question, this is the intersection of technology and automobile manufacturing