After previously showcasing the R1T electric pickup truck undergoing rock-crawling testing in sunny Arizona, Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe remembered it was still winter in many parts of the United States. So, he naturally joined the snowy action while also teasing us to even more highlights from the model’s development program.
As always, legacy automakers are probably going to be late at the electric revolution truck party. We already know the 2022 GMC Hummer EV is coming in limited Edition 1 quantities this fall, while the run-of-the-mill Hummer EV3X, 2X, and Hummer EV2 aren’t expected until late 2022, spring 2023, and 2024, respectively.
Even Ford’s own all-electric F-150 is scheduled for arrival sometime during mid-2022, probably aiming to leave the F-150 PowerBoost ample room to spare as its hybrid powertrain and available Pro Power Onboard system rack up points in the hearts of U.S. customers.
But there’s one little startup (actually, with all the investment, including from the Blue Oval, it's not so little anymore) that aims to beat all others. We’re naturally talking about RJ Scaringe’s Rivian, which has just reconfirmed on social media the R1T electric pickup truck is keeping to the previously announced schedule of kicking off first deliveries in June.
To paraphrase Rivian, “in the meantime,” the company and its CEO are busy with the final development phases and the rigorous testing schedule. Rivian and Scaringe recently revealed a duo of interesting (but very short) videos – both are embedded below, of course.
First up is an eclectic mix of short clips showing different moments during the development, testing, and evaluation of the upcoming R1T pickup truck. There’s just about everything in there, from reliability to cold/heat testing, and right down to the always uneasy crash tests.
On the other hand, not to feel left out from the snow-related media spree, the second clip shows the R1T while undergoing extreme winter testing. Rivian even exemplifies the conditions by claiming it was -19 degrees Fahrenheit (-28 Celsius) while they were out performing various procedures in Baudette, Minnesota.
Even Ford’s own all-electric F-150 is scheduled for arrival sometime during mid-2022, probably aiming to leave the F-150 PowerBoost ample room to spare as its hybrid powertrain and available Pro Power Onboard system rack up points in the hearts of U.S. customers.
But there’s one little startup (actually, with all the investment, including from the Blue Oval, it's not so little anymore) that aims to beat all others. We’re naturally talking about RJ Scaringe’s Rivian, which has just reconfirmed on social media the R1T electric pickup truck is keeping to the previously announced schedule of kicking off first deliveries in June.
To paraphrase Rivian, “in the meantime,” the company and its CEO are busy with the final development phases and the rigorous testing schedule. Rivian and Scaringe recently revealed a duo of interesting (but very short) videos – both are embedded below, of course.
First up is an eclectic mix of short clips showing different moments during the development, testing, and evaluation of the upcoming R1T pickup truck. There’s just about everything in there, from reliability to cold/heat testing, and right down to the always uneasy crash tests.
On the other hand, not to feel left out from the snow-related media spree, the second clip shows the R1T while undergoing extreme winter testing. Rivian even exemplifies the conditions by claiming it was -19 degrees Fahrenheit (-28 Celsius) while they were out performing various procedures in Baudette, Minnesota.
Winter Testing :) pic.twitter.com/QCGqszLy7q
— RJ Scaringe (@RJScaringe) February 22, 2021
Deliveries begin this June. In the meantime... pic.twitter.com/BsihoqLIVN
— Rivian (@Rivian) February 19, 2021
It’s -19° today in Baudette, Minnesota. We love it here this time of year.
— Rivian (@Rivian) February 10, 2021
ø: Elliot Ross. Pre-production vehicle shown. pic.twitter.com/OGSUEAWus5