After a couple of unfortunate delays, the first customer-bound unit of Rivian’s all-electric R1T pickup truck rolled off the production line last month.
In a recently published video, YouTuber Snazzy Labs gives us our best look yet at the electric vehicle (EV) as part of a media tour he was part of, plus walks us through some of its most noteworthy specifications and features. He also shares his experience with the “Cybertruck killer”, while also highlighting some features borrowed from Tesla, as Nelson also owns a Model Y.
Snazzy Labs‘ Quinn Nelson had nothing but good things to say about what Rivian has achieved with the R1T in terms of performance, especially when it comes to the vehicle’s suspension, road feel, and circumstantial adaptability. Nelson found the cabin quite premium and roomy, and road noise almost non-existent.
Nelson also gives us a look at some of the features Rivian ‘borrowed’ from Tesla for its all-electric pickup. The front trunk or ‘frunk’, which on the R1T is considerably larger, has developed a strong association with Tesla vehicles.
Rivian’s ‘Gear Guard video’ clearly takes inspiration from Tesla’s ‘Sentry Mode’, with both features using onboard cameras to maintain and monitor a 360° perimeter around the vehicle.
Rivian engineers were also not afraid to admit that a number of software elements and a significant portion of the User Interface on the R1T’s center console and driver display were derived from Tesla’s software.
However, UI elements and animations in the R1T are often choppy and not as polished as Tesla’s.
Unlike Tesla, the Rivian R1T keeps things mechanical where possible, such as in the door handles and headlamp/windshield wiper stalk. Built-in Drive Modes allow the driver to effortlessly and quickly optimize the R1T for whatever terrain they’re driving on.
Where the R1T truly excels is storage space — even though the all-electric pickup is smaller than the Ford F-150, it has storage space for days. The truck bed is deceivingly spacious, and the dedicated gear tunnel between the cabin and the truck bed is a true blessing.
The R1T also has a ton of nooks, crannies, and neatly squared-away compartments for maximum cargo space.
Driver+, Rivian’s competitor to Tesla’s AutoPilot suite of autonomous driving offerings, is in its infancy but does exactly what it says on the packaging.
The R1T has an EPA rated range of 314 miles, and according to Nelson, its hefty regenerative braking helps make the most out of it.
In another review of the Rivian R1T, automotive publication MotorTrend called it the “most remarkable pickup” ever driven.
