No One Has Ever Pitted Two Electric Pickups Against Each Other Like This Before

Before the epic showdown, first let’s see what each one brings to the table. The $84,214 Rivian is fitted with quad electric motors that produce an astounding 835 horsepower (846 ps) with 908 lb-ft (1,231 Nm) of torque. It has a maximum towing capacity of 11,000 lbs. (4,989 kg), with the car itself weighing 7,150 lbs. (3,243 kg).

The $80,014 F-150 has a dual electric motor setup with 580 hp (588 ps) with 775 lb-ft (1,051 Nm) of torque. Its maximum towing rating is 10,000 lbs. (4,536 kg), and the scales say it weighs 6,745 lbs. (3,059 kg).

This isn’t your typical tow-off, because they will be pulling a giant sled that’s more than three times heavier than each truck’s maximum tow rating, weighing in at 34,000 lbs. (15,422 kg). The trucks are bought and paid for, so if anything goes wrong, it’s money out the window.

In all fairness, they won’t be pulling all that weight. Because the Terminator, as they named the sled, has an interesting mechanism that increases its weight over time. As the sled’s front wheels turn, they change a gearbox that pushes a weight forward, so the longer the trucks pull the sled, the more weight is added to the tow itself.

After a couple of practice runs, the driver figured out that slow and steady doesn’t win the tractor pull race, but going fast right from the start does. The dual-motor Ford F-150 was the first to go, and it managed to hit the 231 feet (70.4 meters) mark. The quad-motor Rivian R1T was up next and managed to pull the sled 246 feet (75 meters). That’s 15 feet (4.5 meters) more than the Ford.

While they performed respectably among the heavily-modified diesel trucks, neither won the overall event. Some ICE monsters managed to pull the Terminator 342 feet (104.2 meters). According to the operator of the Terminator, this competition was a first among electric pickups, and something tells me it's just the beginning of a new trend.