The automobile journal MotorTrend on Monday named Amazon-backed startup Rivian’s very first electric powered pickup R1T “2022 Truck of the 12 months,†a prestigious recognition seldom awarded to upstart automakers but significantly so with the increase of electric autos.
Last thirty day period, the publication picked Lucid Air, built by Silicon Valley startup Lucid Motors, as “2022 Vehicle of the Year†from a lineup of other common luxury EVs built by Tesla, Mercedes and Porsche.
Rivian R1T stood out in the pickup truck category amongst finalists which includes the electrical GMC Hummer, Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.
R1T is the initial mass-made electric pickup in the market. The only very similar presenting out there is the electric powered GMC Hummer, which entered generation last month. Other remarkably anticipated electric powered pickups, such as Lordstown Motors’ Endurance and Tesla’s Cybertruck, have yet to attain the current market.
MotorTrend reported R1T excelled in all of its six crucial standards: style improvement, engineering excellence, performance, effectiveness of intended functionality, basic safety and worth.
The magazine’s editors praised Rivian’s means to combine innovative automobile layout and the functionalities of a common pickup truck into a person. Not like the hyped Tesla Cybertruck, R1T purposefully retains the vintage glance of a pickup. “Take away the de rigueur EV gentle bars entrance and rear, and the R1T looks like a pickup truck, not a science fiction movie prop,†MotorTrend claimed.
It’s also packed with outstanding specs you would anticipate in a $74,000 pickup truck: 11,000-pound towing ability, 1,760 pounds of payload and a greatest variety of 314 miles powered by a 135-kWh batter.
MotorTrend also observed Rivian’s engineering excellence with the “skateboard layout†style and design observed in quite a few electric automobiles.
“Constraints on designers and engineers are out of the blue unique, granting liberty to consider new things. Some will not, at minimum not at 1st. As we’ve now seen from GMC and Ford, they’ll incorporate a frunk (front trunk) exactly where the motor made use of to be and change the rear suspension to unbiased, but if not it’s nonetheless the exact same a system-on-frame contraption,†the magazine reported. In distinction, Rivian “engineered a unitized cab and pickup box that opens up new structure chances,†this kind of as R1T’s transverse gear tunnel.
“As the to start with all-electrical pickup truck to current market, the R1T manages to attain all of this devoid of offending historic truck-purchaser sensibilities. For these factors and much more, MotorTrend is honored to identify the Rivian R1T our 2022 Truck of the Yr,â€Â MotorTrend team head of editorial Ed Loh stated in a assertion on Monday.
