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Shaquille O'Neal Checks Out, Fits In the Rivian R1T Electric Pickup Truck

Rivian is one of the hottest companies in the automotive industries right now. Come 2020, the R1T pickup truck will enter production for the 2021 model year with three battery options. If you were wondering, the e-workhorse is much obliged to fit people as tall as 7 ft. 1 in.
Shaquille O'Neal in Rivian R1T 39 photos
Photo: RJ Scaringe on Twitter
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That’s 2.16 meters over in Europe, and yes, that’s the height of Shaquille O'Neal. The basketball player from Newark checked out the R1T at a recent event, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Shaq will purchase the electric pickup truck at some point in the future. After all, the 47-year-old athlete is a big fan of big rigs such as the Ram 1500 and Ford F-650.

Speaking of the Ford Motor Company, the Detroit-based automaker and Amazon have both invested in Rivian. Millions of dollars keep pouring in, and with a bit of luck, production of the R1T will begin on schedule at a former Mitsubishi factory in Normal, Illinois. Not that long ago, the plant used to be the center of the Diamond-Star Motors joint venture with Chrysler.

Mitsubishi closed down the facility in May 2016, but at that point, Normal was producing replacement parts instead of vehicles such as the Outlander Sport. Be that as it may, Mitsubishi continues to post improving sales in the United States of America since 2013. The Japanese automaker from Minato City promises even better results in the near future with the help of Nissan and Renault.

Turning our attention back to Rivian, the up-and-coming business has been around since 2009. Hardly a start-up as opposed to the views of a handful of analysts, the Plymouth, Michigan-based automaker had 750 employees in February 2019. Their number will increase in the coming months, and in addition to the R1T, a sport utility vehicle (the R1S) will be added to the lineup.

From the get-go, the R1T comes with four electric motors for each wheel, a 105-kWh battery, trailer weight rating of 5,000 kilograms (11,023 pounds), and a payload of 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds). In terms of size, the e-workhorse blurs the line between the mid- and full-size segments.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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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.
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