What if there were a vehicle with the 0-60 speed and horsepower of a $1,375,000 Lamborghini Veneno, off-road capability better than a Jeep, the clean look of a Tesla, the power to tow a over 11,000 pounds, and it costs under 100,000. Well this vehicle is real: the Rivian R1T.
Rivian is an American automotive startup company that was founded on April 4, 2009 by Robert (RJ) Scaringe. He is now the CEO of Rivian. Rivian has been staying under the radar until late 2018 when they unveiled their first vehicles, the Rivian R1S and Rivian R1T. The two vehicles made a big hit at the Los Angeles Auto Show where the vehicles debuted. They are constantly becoming more known throughout this year. Rivian has raised a total of 1.4 billion dollars in funding to help bring their electric vehicles to production. The most recent funding boosts were from Amazon, who gave $700 million dollars, and Ford, who gave $500 million. Ford is partnering with Rivian to co-produce an electric vehicle. Rivian currently has over 750 employees at their 5 locations in different parts of the world.
The Rivian R1T
The Rivian R1T is an all-electric luxury pickup truck. It was released first at the LA Auto Show with the R1S SUV following the next day. The R1T starts at $69,000 and will most likely not exceed far past $100,000. The R1T is built for off-roading without worrying about destroying your truck. Here I will go through the performance, capability, and most importantly design. Functions of vehicles are important, but design is what draws people to the vehicle.
The Environment
Pickup trucks are the best-selling vehicles in the United States. More than 1.4 million pickup trucks were sold in the just the first half of 2018. And all of them were gasoline-powered trucks. Gasoline-powered vehicles hurt the environment by emitting Co2, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. All those trucks emit around 7 tons of Co2 per year! Having more electric pickup trucks like the R1T will really help the environment. To learn more about global warming and its effects, go to racetosavetheearth.com
Performance
The R1T is a performance vehicle just as much as it is an off-roader. It can do what a 4.5 million dollar Lamborghini Veneno for can do for 1/64 of the cost. That’s a really good deal! The R1T has an all-electric maximum range of over 400 miles with a 180kWh battery. It can zip from 0-60 mph in just under 3 seconds! It has 750-hp with about 190-hp coming from 4 motors at each wheel.
Capability
The R1T’s capability challenges and exceeds the capability of some of the best off-road vehicles on sale today. It can drive through water up to 42.3 inches high. It’s maximum ground clearance in 14.1 inches. It can tow up to 11,000 pounds. It has very flexible independent 4 wheel suspension.
Exterior Design
This truck’s design is what sets it apart from other trucks. I will review its design from front to back. There are features on this truck that have never been seen on any pickup truck in history. Let’s begin at the front of the truck.
The R1T has a very clean, unique front end. It has a bright, thick light bar going across the front of the vehicle. When the R1T is fully charged the light bar can turn green. Another unique feature is the oval full LED lights. Rivian calls the lights “stadium shaped” lights. The lights are very distinct, making this truck quickly recognizable as a Rivian.
The R1T has two LIDAR sensors below the headlights. They scan the front of the vehicle for other objects. It also has cameras, radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors and GPS. All these sensors will help the R1T to get a complete view of its surroundings to enable autonomous driving.
On the side of the vehicle there is a bold crease that starts where the windshield begins. The same crease continues up to the middle of the C pillar. But if you look closely, you will see that there is an air vent at the beginning of that crease.
The R1T has doors handles that are embedded into the vehicle. They open just like how the Tesla Model 3 door handles open.
The side of the Rivian R1T is very different than all pickups because the bed and the cabin are not separated. In every pickup truck on sale today, the bed and cabin are two separate parts.
The R1T’s cabin and bed are one piece which makes the vehicle look smoother. It also improves aerodynamics and effeciency.
Another thing that sets the R1T apart from other trucks is the rear light strip on the tailgate. No other truck has this feature. The lights on conventional pickup trucks are always on the sides of the tailgate, not the actual tailgate. I don’t know why pickup truck designers have not added this feature. Maybe because the tailgates on some trucks are removable. Or it could be that some drivers may drive with the tailgate down and the designers did not want lights there. The good thing is all the important lights on the R1T, such as the brake and turn signal lights, are not connected to the tailgate. That means the tailgate can be down while someone is driving.
That is it for The Dream Vehicle Part 1. I hope you enjoyed it and learned a lot about the R1T electric pickup truck. Please subscribe!
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