The great-driving and fully capable R1T is a perfect pickup.
From the February/March 2023 issue of Car and Driver.
It just so happens that we elected three pickups to our 10Best Trucks list, in sizes small, medium, and large. When you take out the typical truck negatives of a jarring ride, a noisy cabin, and wallet-busting fuel economy, you’re left with a practical package consumers want. In the same way that the ’90s popularized SUVs as a cool vehicle choice, the 2010s normalized the pickup. And the medium-size Rivian R1T is the best-driving pickup we’ve encountered.
With 835 horsepower, the Rivian R1T is also the most powerful vehicle—pickup or not—to make 10Best. Four motors, one per wheel, move this sleek machine’s 7150 pounds to 60 mph in as little as 3.0 seconds. One reason the R1T is so heavy is its 128.9-kWh battery pack. That power source nets a 75-mph highway range of up to 280 miles. Two other battery sizes are coming, one larger and one smaller, as well as a less powerful two-motor version that will start at $74,800.
The acceleration and range aren’t solely what make the Rivian a winner. The interior design looks like the future, the seats are comfortable, and the cabin materials are ones no contractor would recognize. Then there’s the exemplary on-road dynamics (unfortunately, they’re not shared by the R1T’s shorter-wheelbase SUV counterpart, the R1S, which is part of the reason it’s not on the list). Hydraulic anti-roll control, air springs, and adaptive dampers are usually reserved for big luxury sedans, but here they all are on a pickup.
While the R1T is rated to tow a massive 11,000 pounds, it can’t do so for long on a single charge. In our testing, the truck went only 110 miles pulling a 6100-pound camper.
The day-to-day livability is what impresses. There’s a novel tunnel behind the cab to lock away your long and skinny gear, a spacious frunk, a decent-size bed, and even a removable speaker. For anyone who daily-drives a half-ton pickup, the R1T is way more than you’ll ever need. It’s also more like a sports car than whatever truck you’re used to, making it one of the best on the market.
K.C. Colwell is Car and Driver’s executive editor, who covers new cars and technology with a keen eye for automotive nonsense and with what he considers to be great car sense, which is a humblebrag. On his first day at C/D in 2004, he was given the keys to a Porsche 911 by someone who didn’t even know if he had a driver’s license. He also is one of the drivers who set fast laps at C/D‘s annual Lightning Lap track test.
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