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Rivian Employee Crashes Test Truck Near California Offices

This month came with mostly good news for EV truck maker Rivian as the first production Rivian R1T electric pickup rolled out at the company’s Normal, Illinois factory.
Rivian R1T Crash 8 photos
Photo: rivianforum.com
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But the inevitable has happened, as it does to most vehicles sooner or later, one suffered a traffic accident. It seems an R1T wrapped in test camo went off the street, up an embankment, and slammed into a parked Ford Explorer. It marks the first such known incident of a crash involving a Rivian on a public road.

And in what is surely good news for the company, it seems the accident was simply a case of driver error that involved a prototype R1T with a company employee - who was unharmed - behind the wheel.

Rivian says and that all systems "worked as intended" and added that the incident is being investigated as nothing more than an unfortunate fender-bender type of collision.

Various reports say the collision happened near Rivian's offices in a business park near Irvine, California.

Photos of the aftermath of the crash seem to show that the truck hopped a curb, plowed through a hedge, and then smashed into a couple of parked vehicles in a small parking lot along Myford Road.

But it’s pretty much been all good news for Rivian of late. Some time ago a Motor Trend team came out of their evaluation of the R1T, and called it “the most remarkable pickup” they ever drove.

The Rivian R1T electric pickup represents the first production model which will be delivered to a customer and the first truck to come out at the end of the plant in the under three years since the company announced its plans at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Rivian has made huge strides since that moment, such as the refitting of a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois, raising enormous piles of cash from heavy-hitting backers Amazon and Ford, and passing EPA range estimate certification that says their truck will be capable of 314 miles (for the R1T) and 316 miles (for the as yet delivered R1S utility vehicle) on a single charge using a standard midsized battery pack.

Rivian is also teasing an IPO of the company’s stock before the end of the year, expected to raise up to $8 billion USD.
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