I drove the Rivian R1T truck. It’s the most adventurous EV but.

As a still left coastline urbanite, I am not exactly what you would connect with a truck man. (Fifteen to 20 mpg when the entire world is warming and gas is pushing $5 a gallon? No thank you.) But I’m certainly an electric powered auto man (most not long ago whilst testing the Lucid Air) and a self-sufficient tenting out in the elements sort of guy (together with at a dozen Burning Mans). So although I was wary about my to start with ever truck travel staying an off-road check of the Rivian R1T — an electric truck now transport to early clients in its $73,000 launch edition and garnering wonderful evaluations along the way — I also seized the chance like it was an outsized steering wheel.

Excellent matter I did, due to the fact the R1T just shot to the best of my listing of aspiration cars. Turns out that vehicles are a blast to generate, in particular when they’re studded with 10 cameras feeding to a 16-inch display that can assist you navigate even the muddiest downhill furrows. Turns out that when you just take mpg worries and selection panic out of the equation (the R1T start version receives 314 miles to a demand, which places it in the exact array as a Tesla Design 3 the firm is promising a 400+ mile model in 2022), off-roading and tenting come to be much a lot more doable for the eco-mindful urbanite.

As lots of of the evaluations have pointed out, Rivian appears to be offering its launch car or truck as a variety of “Patagonia” or an “REI” truck. But which is not just advertising and marketing bluster. It genuinely is supremely straightforward, if not affordable, to pop up a tent on leading of the truck, both on the flatbed or the roof, with a pair of crossbars at $450 each and every. Just insert some effectively-staked-down shade, and you have bought the perfect Burning Man truck tenting setup.

The $5,000 “camp kitchen” attachment is also optional, but Rivian has done its stage very best to make it fascinating. All of the plates, bowls, cutlery, and machines you need for a cookout — which include the necessary espresso pot — are secreted in properly-developed drawers. A pair of induction stoves can prepare dinner for hours and nonetheless not deplete the automobile battery by extra than a one mile of assortment. And the total detail slides into a sort of donut hole storage area in the center of the car or truck that’s also available from the rear of the cabin. Which, alongside one another with the frunk and the flatbed by itself, give the R1T an impressive 68 cubic feet of storage.

To make absolutely sure I wasn’t just becoming dazzled by my intro to truck tenting earth, I introduced together my close friend Larry, who is a truck guy. (He as soon as went to Colorado to get a unique alternatives deal on his Ford F-150 even however he’d have to generate it back again to California — that sort of truck male.) Moreover, Larry is considering of changing that F-150, the most well-liked gasoline vehicle in The usa, with an electrical truck. He is primary Rivian demographic, and has been eyeing the R1T for some time — but also may well maintain out for the F-150 Lightning, the Ford EV established to start in 2022. Would the R1T convert his head?

When it arrived to off-roading, the response was a pretty crystal clear yes. The phrase Larry retained returning to was “nimble.” The R1T, smaller sized and lighter and with greater suspension than the F-150, was basically extra entertaining to navigate all around curves (together with at some roller-coaster-like 20-diploma angles) and up and down hills.

In the meantime, the surround seem technique was ready to tackle an solely proper Queen soundtrack with no smothering us in as well significantly bass.

Take in our dust: The Rivian R1T just after a zero-to-60 uphill check.
Credit history: larry edelstein / mashable

Larry did observe that the cabin of the R1T was just not as cozy as its Ford counterpart. Having just pushed an hour with the F-150 seats massaging our backs and butts, I was inclined to agree. It is really not that it felt smaller if anything at all, the flat tinted glass roof built the cabin experience a lot more roomy than it is (just as the a lot more curved glass roof in the Lucid Air does). But the comfort and ease of the seating, dinged by some reviewers for not standing up to the requires of extensive-length driving, reminded me more of the flimsy Chevy Bolt than the very well-created Lucid seating working experience.

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Nonetheless, that was not the characteristic that turned Larry off the R1T for now. It really is the reality that Rivian isn’t going to present Apple CarPlay, which has develop into indispensable to him many thanks to its inclusion on the F-150. It also doesn’t give Android Automobile. That’s pretty much surely mainly because Amazon is an investor, and the R1T will come with Alexa integration. The truck’s software package interface is a very little on the baffling aspect, while enterprise reps had been anxious to remind us that it would be swiftly updated more than the air. But not delivery with the two most well-known vehicle programs for the two most common sorts of smartphone seems like an unforced mistake.

Irrespective, the R1T really should change a ton of heads amongst urbanites wanting to unleash their internal adventurer. With the F-150 Lightning and Tesla’s Cybertruck going on sale in 2022 (allegedly setting up at $42K and $40K, respectively), we may perhaps be about to enter a golden age of blue-condition truck enthusiasts, and extreme competitors involving the 3 styles that can only advantage the purchaser. But if you just won’t be able to wait around to get your camp on, the cookout-friendly and nimble Rivian truck is your very best bet nevertheless.