Hells Gate is a heart-pounding trail of adventure in Moab, Utah, and the Rivian R1T makes easy work of it with nothing more than all-terrain tires. The bone-stock truck takes on the steep climb with flying colors thanks to its independent suspension and four electric motors, one for each wheel.
Slotted between mid- and half-ton pickups, the R1T is the first mass-produced electric truck for the consumer market. Series production started earlier this month, and the most affordable specification retails at $67,500.
What do you get for your hard-earned bucks? For starters, $7,500 for the federal tax credit. As far as hardware is concerned, the e-truck features the standard battery (which is dubbed large for some reason), a manual tonneau cover, air compressor, vegan leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats with lumbar adjustment for the driver, matte-black trim, and recycled textile floor mats.
Driving Assist and Active Safety Assist come standard as well, along with automatic high beams, trailer assistance, collision mitigation, rear cross-traffic warning, and dynamic brake support. Available in a total of nine finishes for the body shell, the zero-emission truck is capable of more than 400 miles (644 kilometers) of range if you spend $10k on the max battery.
For $2,000 extra, the Off-Road Upgrade sweetens the deal with reinforced underbody shielding and a couple of tow hooks in the front bumper. As you can tell from the video, the Hells Gate-conquering R1T flaunts this option.
In addition to the base trim level, Rivian further offers the premium-oriented Adventure Package and the celebratory Launch Edition that costs $73,000, the same as the Adventure Package. Two drive units on each axle house four motors that produce 800 horsepower and 900 pound-feet (1,224 Nm).
Not long now, the Irvine-based automaker will be joined by the Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV, and a yet-unnamed electric version of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Ram intends to launch an e-pickup as well, and Tesla still hasn't finalized the design of the Cybertruck.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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