Rivian has released new information on its test program for the R1T electric pickup truck and released a video of a R1T pickup prototype off-roading.
Earlier this year, we reported on Rivian participating in Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s the Long Way Up motorcycle roadtrip TV series.
Now Rivian is sharing some interesting details from their tests during the trip in a blog post:
“As beautiful as it may be, our time in South America isn’t designed to be a leisurely stroll. Spanning the course of months, our regimen consists of driving hundreds of miles every day across mixed terrain – from steep mountain inclines that last hours to washboard dirt roads that seemingly have no end. Along the way, these long-distance endurance drives are interrupted with hard bursts off-road. It’s the elite athlete’s equivalent of mixing marathon training with high-intensity interval sprints, without any rest in between.”
The company says that the longest trip without charging that a R1T electric pickup prototype has completed so far is 314 miles and there was still some charge left.
We recently reported on Rivian’s quad-motor torque vectoring system and they put it to the test in the mountains and dunes of South America.
They wrote:
“South America’s mountain ranges offer the perfect opportunity to demonstrate quad-motor torque vectoring. To gain the most traction for a given driving scenario, such as exiting a corner at full throttle, the brain of the R1T is constantly optimizing power distribution. This ability to instantly – and independently – apply torque at each of the four corners, combined with the R1T’s chassis control systems and low center of mass, results in a vehicle that’s planted to the ground, even on loose-gravel hard turns like these.”
They even released a rare video of a R1T electric pickup truck prototype going off-roading:
Rivian says that it will keep us updated on its trip to South America going north.
They also released several beautiful pictures from the trip (kudos to whoever took these because they are stunning):
It’s part of their tests leading to the production of the R1T and R1S vehicles late next year.
There are several electric trucks coming to market in the next few years, but Rivian is differentiating itself by designing and marketing the R1T as an “adventure vehicle” and this latest update is in line with that strategy.
While they have a few vehicles down south, we reported yesterday that Rivian also has a beautiful blue Rivian R1T electric pickup prototype made it up North to Canada.
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