The Rivian R1T is a battery electric mid-size light duty luxury pickup truck produced by the American company Rivian. The first production R1T rolled off the assembly line in Illinois and was delivered to a customer in September 2021. The official EPA range for the Rivian R1T (MY 2022–2023) ranges from , depending on drivetrain, battery pack capacity and wheel size.
History
Rivian unveiled the upcoming truck under the working name A1T in May 2018 but rebadged the vehicle in November 2018 as the R1T. Designed to be off-road capable, the 2018 concept design was planned to have of ground clearance, feature an 800HP [] electric motor, with the most expensive models being designed to achieve approximately on a charge. The company claimed that early prototype testing showed the truck to be able to accelerate from in under 3.3 seconds, wade through of water and climb a 45degree incline. These design objectives were largely achieved in the 2021 production vehicle release. Rivian said it was designing the vehicles to facilitate "car-sharing" with their autonomous features.
In 2018, Rivian stated it intended to license its electric chassis to other manufacturers as a design base for machinery such as cars and other components. As of 2018, Rivian stated it planned to begin production of the R1T in 2020.
In March 2021, Rivian announced plans to develop a network of public charging stations by 2023. Similar to competitor Tesla, they plan to eventually offer a combination of fast chargers and slower destination chargers, while also selling home chargers. The target is for 600 Rivian-only Adventure Network sites with 3,500DC fast chargers at high-traffic locations; 200kW will be the initial charging speed, with an eventual target of 300kW. , the company is planning 10,000 destination chargers (Level 2, 11.5kW) — called Rivian Waypoints — at retail, lodging, and dining businesses, as well as parks and other locations; Waypoint chargers are slated to be available to all EVs with a J1772 connector. Starting July 2021, Rivian will install, at no cost to the government, two Rivian Waypoint chargers at up to 50 Colorado State Parks and state recreation areas.
In the summer of 2021, journalists from Motor Trend became the first to cross the Trans America Trail in an electric vehicle—on a journey covering terrain including rocks, mud, gravel and sand—using a stock R1T pre-production version of the truck.
In September 2021, the first customer vehicle rolled off the production line and was delivered to a customer. Rivian began delivering the first R1T trucks to customers in October 2021.
Design and specifications
As initially delivered in 2021, the Rivian R1T is an all-electric, battery-powered, individual wheel drive light duty pickup truck.
Drivetrain
Quad-Motor
The initial version of the R1T features four electric motors, one on each wheel, that combine to produce and deliver of torque. Each motor is an AC permanent magnet motor designed by Robert Bosch GmbH and produced by Rivian under license. The front two motors produce and of torque while the rear two motors produce and of torque. The four motors are carried near the centerline of the chassis and use direct-drive transaxles to each wheel; the quad-motor setup allows the use of a torque vectoring wheel control system, which senses slip on each wheel with millisecond granularity and responds by "distribut[ing] the proper amount of power to each wheel, precisely as needed."
Dual-Motor
In March 2022, Rivian announced it would develop and sell a dual-motor powertrain for the R1T, with one electric motor for each axle. The price of the dual-motor (DM) version would start around the same initial price at which the quad-motor (QM) version was offered, while the QM version would increase in price by almost 20%. The output of the DM version was expected to be more than and of torque, but was later published by Rivian at and of torque. The largest ("Max") battery was removed as an option for the QM version in December, limiting availability to DM versions only. The "Enduro" traction motors for the DM versions were developed by Rivian in-house and reduce the number of semiconductors used compared to the QM, alleviating a key component supply restraint; production began in February 2023, although most of the initial production were diverted to Rivian EDVs.