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00:00Hey, what's up, MKBHD here.
00:07This is a key fob and the key fob unlocks this, which is the most impressive electric
00:13truck I have ever seen.
00:14This is the Rivian R1T.
00:17So it's literally brand new.
00:18It's just hitting the streets.
00:19And for the next 24 hours, I'm going to drive it.
00:22I'm going to daily it.
00:23I'm going to live with it, spend some time with it.
00:25And then I'm going to try to answer all the questions people have had about it that I
00:28possibly can.
00:29And there are a lot of questions because this is a very hyped up vehicle.
00:32This is maybe the most promising of any of the EVs coming out of the startups.
00:37You know, we have all the old manufacturers, of course, making lots of promises to electrify
00:40their lineups.
00:41But there's also a lot of really interesting stuff from the Teslas and Lucids and Rimacs
00:46of the world.
00:47This, I think, is the most interesting of all of them right now, thanks in part by their
00:51background with Amazon and Ford.
00:53So this is Rivian's first consumer vehicle.
00:56It's a pickup truck.
00:57It's called the R1T.
00:59So I've got it here in this sort of Pacific blue color.
01:02And the basic specs are this.
01:03It's quad motors, one on each 21-inch all-terrain wheel, 314 miles of range, zero to 60 in three
01:11seconds flat, which is hilariously quick for a pickup truck.
01:15And then this is the launch edition with the Adventure package, which includes a lot of
01:19the most premium interior finishes.
01:22It has the off-road upgrade and pretty much all the options.
01:25So it starts at just over $70,000, and it can quickly jump up into mid-80s or 90-plus
01:32from there.
01:33So definitely premium.
01:34But it's packing a lot of stuff that makes it feel worth the price.
01:38So number one, what's good with this design, right?
01:41So Rivian is a new company.
01:43They don't really have a heritage or a design DNA where they have to keep certain shapes
01:48in mind when designing their vehicle.
01:50So really, they could have made whatever they wanted.
01:53And at the end of the day, they chose this shape for a short bed electric pickup truck.
01:58Personally, I do actually like a lot of the design here.
02:01It's not completely crazy out of this world like a Cybertruck, but it's also not flying
02:05way under the radar like the F-150 Lightning.
02:08It's kind of somewhere in between.
02:09It has a lot of modern shapes and modern touches.
02:12And really the biggest feature that of course stands out looking at it is the bar taillight
02:17across the back, which I love, and the face.
02:20The bar plus headlights across the front, which definitely takes some getting used to.
02:26But again, I think it's pretty nice.
02:28The headlights on each side are the most powerful, and that's where the high beams are and everything.
02:32But the entire bar light is functional, and you definitely find that out pretty quick
02:36driving it at night like I did.
02:37So that's cool.
02:38And I also do like this blue color, which is one of a bunch of colors that they have
02:41that I think are really adventure-y.
02:44And I got to say, this truck turns more heads than anything else I have ever driven.
02:49I think a lot of it is the face, but more than any other electric car, more than any
02:54McLaren, more than any Tesla, all day people are coming up to it, asking about it, pointing
03:00at it.
03:01It definitely makes a statement right now.
03:02And someone on Twitter told me it looks kind of like this truck is 50 years old and from
03:07the future at the same time.
03:08I feel like that actually hits the nail on the head.
03:11Okay, number two, how is the interior?
03:14So it's really good, and also doesn't really look like anything else.
03:18But if I had to describe it, it's kind of like if someone combined the layout from a
03:22Tesla with the wood and leather and metal type finishes from a Volvo or something, and
03:28then stuffed a bunch of extra features in it.
03:30So this is the black mountain interior color.
03:32So pretty much everything inside is matte black.
03:34And it just gives me the impression that there's a lot of thought that went into a lot of the
03:37little things.
03:38So like the back of the seats, each one of them has a coat hook and a USB type C port.
03:43There's a wireless charger between the front seats.
03:46There's also a bunch of hidden features in this interior too, which I'll get to in a
03:50second.
03:51Don't worry.
03:52Space wise though, it is still, it's a compact pickup truck for sure.
03:55Much smaller than say a full size F-150.
03:59The panoramic glass roof definitely helps it feel more spacious when you're sitting
04:02inside and there's plenty of leg room in the second row, which is awesome.
04:06But from left to right, I probably wouldn't put three people in this middle seat.
04:10I think there's a video somewhere with three people on the back of the Rivian and you know,
04:14it's fine.
04:15It's a little bit, but probably wouldn't want to do that for a multi-hour road trip.
04:18All right.
04:19So number three, if it's a small truck, how's the storage?
04:23So here's the thing.
04:24It's small for truck, but since it's an electric truck, there's no engine under the hood, no
04:29transmission running through the middle and it absolutely maximizes the space inside in
04:34every way.
04:35So it's a small bed, four and a half feet with the tailgate up.
04:39Plenty for me personally, but smaller than some other trucks out there.
04:41There's also supposed to be a bed cover that wasn't working on this early model I'm driving,
04:45but that will give you about 29 cubic feet, which can be extended a bit to a seven foot
04:50length when you open the tailgate, since it sort of slides this extra piece down between
04:54the bed and the gate for larger items.
04:56Then there's also storage underneath the bed for an optional full-size spare, but that
05:00space also has a drain plug in case you wanted to use it as a cooler or something.
05:05Then in the front, there is a fully powered lift gate revealing a massive front trunk.
05:12And again, this, this is so nice for a pickup truck.
05:14There's more than enough room to fit several bags.
05:17You can go grocery shopping with just the front trunk and the fact that it powers up
05:22and down like a regular trunk and even has this little button underneath the front headlights
05:26to open and close it.
05:27To me, it's so convenient that I kind of feel like I would use this more than the back,
05:32like for covered locked storage.
05:34This is great.
05:35This is great for a pickup truck.
05:36Then inside the truck, there is a lot of storage too.
05:39There's actually no normal spot for a glove box, which is funny.
05:44It's just a leather paneling here, but there's a huge amount of storage in this super deep
05:49center console where you can clip papers and stuff that would normally go in a glove box.
05:53There's storage in the doors.
05:55There's storage inside a little pocket in the front of the front seats, which is kind
06:00of random, but cool.
06:01And then there are in fact pop-out cup holders in the middle between the front seats.
06:06There's even the back seat, of course, for casual storage, but also even more hidden
06:10storage underneath the back seats.
06:13And then maybe the most iconic extra space on this entire truck, the gear tunnel.
06:19So that is this column of space with a cover on both sides.
06:23That's right between the rear wheel and the back seats.
06:26It's actually super cool.
06:28I'm not sure what you'd specifically use this space for when it's empty, you know, it could
06:33fit technically a whole set of golf clubs in here or a couple of backpacks or something.
06:37You know, it can definitely fit some larger duffel bags.
06:40It can fit a human body.
06:42You know, we have to try.
06:43I don't know why you guys were asking on Twitter, but it's not just the space here that's useful.
06:47There are power outlets inside of this tunnel on either side and the doors that open on
06:52either side are actually strong enough that they can support up to 300 pounds.
06:57So you can sit on it.
06:58You can even use it as a step to climb over and into the bed of the truck.
07:03And there's storage inside those doors for even more stuff.
07:07And in case whatever you're hauling here is precious, you can actually access the gear
07:12tunnel from inside the truck, from between the back seats.
07:16You pull that armrest down and you can reach inside behind this cover into the middle of
07:21the gear tunnel to grab whatever stuff you have in here.
07:24I've never seen anything like this in any other truck.
07:27And yeah, I love it.
07:29So your grand total just for the spec sheet, 68 cubic feet of storage in this compact pickup
07:34truck.
07:35That's massive.
07:36Okay.
07:37Number four, how does it drive?
07:38Well, I know most people aren't buying pickup trucks just for the way they drive.
07:42But if you do care about that, this is an incredibly impressive truck to drive.
07:47Now, like you saw, this one's running on 21 inch all-terrain wheels.
07:50So it's not even set up to drive like a sports car clearly, but anytime you combine quad
07:55motors totaling 800 plus horsepower with a world-class air suspension, it kind of doesn't
08:01matter how much the thing weighs.
08:03This truck absolutely hauls.
08:05Zero to 60 in three seconds flat, which is amazing.
08:08It does taper off after that, but that is a crazy fast time for a truck.
08:12And it feels fast.
08:13And there's a couple of different driving modes to talk about.
08:17Most of the time you can just leave it in all purpose mode and it can handle pretty
08:20much any daily driving.
08:22The air suspension has a massive range of adjustment for how much clearance, how much
08:27ride height you need.
08:29And there's a couple options.
08:30You can have a stiff or soft ride, and you can turn brake regen to low or high, which
08:36I've kept it on high as much as possible while driving because it is actually calibrated
08:40for one pedal driving, which is awesome.
08:42And stability on or off.
08:45So yeah, on the road, it's crazy.
08:46I know I said the number, but just to say it again, zero to 60 in three seconds flat,
08:52that'll be in sport mode where you can also have the firm ride and the suspension really
08:56does turn extra firm and minimize roll.
08:59Obviously only having it for a day, I couldn't take it to a track or anything, but it's a
09:05pickup truck.
09:06Honestly, I've never had more fun driving a truck ever.
09:09So great for highway driving, has a pretty tight turning radius too for a truck, which
09:13is partially due to the torque vectoring you get from having one motor at each wheel.
09:17Now there's also a conserve mode, which is good for saving battery and maximizing your
09:21range if you're doing some sort of road trip stuff.
09:24And it really does hunker down the suspension in the sport and conserve modes for the best
09:28aerodynamic efficiency and the firm ride.
09:31I'm sure that most people are most interested in the off-road stuff, which actually has
09:37several versions, has automatic, rock crawl, rally, and drift mode, casual.
09:44Now I didn't really get to really off-road in the couple of hours that I'm out here near
09:49the studio in New Jersey, but I did take it off on a dirt path that I would never take
09:54my car.
09:55And it's a truck, it handled it with ease with these tires as you'd expect.
09:58And it was a pretty great demo actually of how the suspension can really go from very
10:04firm to very soft and adaptive and just absorb all of the rocks and the terrain.
10:09So this truck is capable of way more off-roading than I was able to throw at it.
10:14The bottom is plated in metal and there are even more aggressive off-roading tire packages.
10:20There's a great video from Zach on the JRigEverything channel where he gets to put it through some
10:25rock crawling.
10:26And the thing absolutely eats whatever you throw at it, and it does it in silence too.
10:31That's the thing.
10:32I mean, we all already knew EVs were quiet, but there's something about driving around
10:36through crazy mud or rocks in nature and not drowning out everything with the sound of
10:42the engine, but just hearing the tires basically.
10:46So off-roading was eerily quiet in a good way.
10:56All right, so number five, what makes the Rivian different from other EVs or other trucks?
11:01Well, the form factor is already pretty unique as a small pickup truck, but they're also
11:05really leaning into this like adventure thing.
11:07You're supposed to think of this more as an adventure vehicle than a normal truck.
11:11And that kind of sounds cheesy at first, but hey, they're throwing everything but the kitchen
11:15sink at it to live up to that.
11:18Actually they're literally even throwing a kitchen sink at this thing.
11:22So look, all right, in the driver's side door, there was a flashlight that clicks away
11:25here hidden away, and it's powered by one of the car's batteries.
11:29Matter of fact, it actually has one of those exact cells inside, and it just sits here
11:34wireless charging in case you ever need it.
11:36And it's a legit super bright flashlight.
11:37Apparently the reason they did this is because there are 7,776 of these batteries in the
11:43bottom of the truck, and RJ, the founder, just really wanted a nice number.
11:47So the flashlight had to happen.
11:49So the story goes.
11:50Either way, that's a nice little addition.
11:52And not only are there two full outlets in the trunk, but there's also an air compressor
11:56that can go up to 150 PSI, and it comes with a 20 foot hose that can reach all four tires.
12:03So you can literally inflate your tires with a built-in compressor on the truck or do whatever
12:07else you want with the air compressor.
12:09It's just there anytime you need it.
12:11And if you check underneath the center armrest, there's a whole Bluetooth speaker separate
12:17from the car's sound system that just lives under there and wireless charges all the time
12:21too.
12:22It's got a huge battery.
12:23It's got lights.
12:24It's got a USB-C port to charge your phone.
12:27It can easily be the centerpiece of a camping trip or whatever sort of adventure is happening
12:32around this car.
12:34That's pretty sick.
12:35I love that.
12:36And then the gear tunnel, of course, is ripe for possibilities.
12:40So it already has a full size outlet inside and tons of space.
12:44But then there's a $5,000 option on their site for a camp kitchen that expands to reveal
12:51a 1,400 watt stove top, a four gallon water tank, a countertop, and a 30 piece cutlery
12:57set just sitting in the back of your truck.
13:00It's just, it's very impressive that the whole thing just slots back into the tunnel when
13:04you're done using it.
13:05And there's more that can fit back here and I'm sure there will be more third party stuff
13:10to slot into the gear tunnel in the future.
13:13It's super dope.
13:14The cherry on top, instead of a horn, this adventure vehicle makes a locking sound inspired
13:19by nature.
13:20All right.
13:21So number six, what's the charging situation, right?
13:24It's electric.
13:25Like I said, 314 miles of range, which is pretty decent.
13:29So it's public chargers and home chargers only for now, which it will happily route
13:33you to on the map, which is good.
13:35The spec sheet says it supports 200 kilowatts fast charging speeds.
13:39I stopped at an Electrify America station near the studio with around 35% battery left.
13:45And while the station says it supported 150 kilowatts, the car itself never got over 100
13:51and was quoting me about an hour to charge the remaining two thirds of the battery.
13:55So this is part of the big early question with a lot of these EVs.
13:58As of right now, they can't use the Tesla supercharging network.
14:02And this is supposed to be a vehicle you really want to adventure with.
14:06So you really don't want to be thinking about how much range you have left.
14:10You kind of just want to go drive off into the woods and not think about it.
14:13So ideally, this Rivian adventure network that they're promising will start to get built
14:18up soon.
14:19Now, if you're a day one customer getting a truck today, that doesn't exist yet.
14:24But they're planning on building a bunch of fast chargers at the most convenient locations
14:27for adventures.
14:29And that'll kind of act like the Tesla supercharger network for Rivian charges fast.
14:33You can monitor it through the app, et cetera.
14:36We'll see, though.
14:37It's getting built.
14:38I'll believe it when I see it.
14:39The best part, though, about charging a Rivian is when you plug it in and it starts charging,
14:44the LED bar light at the front lights up green and starts pulsing.
14:50It kind of looks a little weird on camera, but it's great.
14:52I thought I saw somewhere that it was actually going to act like a progress bar and sort
14:56of light up from left to right as the charge is completed.
14:59But it doesn't do that.
15:01Maybe that would draw too much attention.
15:02Or maybe they'll add it with a software update.
15:04But it does light up green.
15:06But then, you know what?
15:07Number seven, what is the software situation?
15:11So this whole car, it's got some screens inside.
15:13The whole car's UI is made in-house by Rivian.
15:16There is no Apple CarPlay.
15:18There is no Android Auto.
15:19It's just Rivian software through and through.
15:22I was optimistic that it would be really great.
15:24You know, it's a California company.
15:26I will say, functionally, it's very good.
15:28And I think it's actually laid out pretty well.
15:30You have the dock at the bottom for organizing things, similar to Tesla.
15:34But it's not super responsive.
15:35And especially when manipulating the map at all, the map is super slow and laggy.
15:41But thankfully, this is something that can be improved with future iterations.
15:45And yes, Rivian is one of the car companies that will be pushing over-the-air software
15:49updates to all their cars, which they can download using the built-in cell connection
15:53or Wi-Fi.
15:54And that's nice to see.
15:55Plus, it means they can add features later if they come up with more cool stuff.
15:59As of right now, it's pretty clear by how much is happening on this 16-inch touchscreen
16:04that they are pretty heavily inspired by Tesla.
16:07I mean, I'm sure many former Tesla employees who now work at Rivian would agree.
16:12But I mean, it's the dock at the bottom, like I mentioned.
16:14They have a security camera mode, not sentry mode.
16:17It's called GearGuard.
16:19And it's a little more advanced because it can connect to a cable that comes with the
16:23car.
16:24So if you tie something down and someone comes by and tampers with that cable, it'll automatically
16:28record and set off the alarm.
16:30But it's got that going.
16:32The air conditioning, the way the vents move entirely by software, that's just like Tesla.
16:37Even the single scroll wheel and pair of buttons on either side of the steering wheel is just
16:42like Tesla.
16:44And even the way you adjust the mirrors and the steering wheel, Quinn pointed this out
16:48in his video, is exactly like we've been doing with Teslas for years.
16:52So plenty of inspiration here in the software department, which is not a bad thing at all,
16:56but I look forward to it getting better too.
16:59So number eight, speaking of Tesla software, there's a Rivian driver assist feature called
17:04Driver Plus.
17:06What is it?
17:07What does Driver Plus actually do?
17:09So from my experience, it's just a pretty simple set of driver assist features like
17:13I've seen in lots of other cars.
17:15It's not like any sort of advanced autopilot by any means, but it uses the 11 cameras and
17:20radar and ultrasonic sensors all around the car to do adaptive cruise control, lane keep
17:25assist, cross traffic warnings, emergency braking, all the typical safety type stuff.
17:30There is a full on highway assist that will do all the steering and braking and acceleration
17:36for you on select highways.
17:38You literally engage it just like a Tesla, you pull down on the drive stock all the way
17:42twice and that turns it on and it should keep that lane and turn the wheel for you and everything.
17:48I was able to try it a few times and I noticed like it was very picky about when it would
17:53engage.
17:54Like many roads with turns on them at all, it would just tell me driver assist was unavailable.
17:58Sometimes even on major highway straightaways, if I wasn't in the middle of the lane on the
18:03straightaway, it wouldn't turn on.
18:05But once it does turn on, it works and it just keeps you going with traffic.
18:10It can take light turns.
18:11Uh, yeah, it's fine.
18:13It doesn't change lanes for you, just so you know, you'll have to disengage it, change
18:17lanes yourself and then re-engage it.
18:19But again, maybe this can also be changed with a software update.
18:23All right, number nine, how does it compare to the other options?
18:26You know, the other electric pickup trucks?
18:29I think that's the natural question.
18:30Like, all right, the Cybertruck is going to happen.
18:32The F-150 Lightning is around the corner, maybe the Hummer too, I guess.
18:36So if we look at the Cybertruck, that's at least a year away, but when that comes out,
18:40if we give it the benefit of the doubt and they actually deliver what they say, then
18:44at the same price as the Rivian, it should outperform it.
18:47But it's also a much bigger truck with a very, very different style.
18:52It'll be a triple motor Cybertruck at that price.
18:54It'll do 14,000 pounds of towing while the Rivian will do 11,000 pounds.
18:59And of course, Cybertruck has the Tesla Supercharger advantage, a longer predicted range, and it
19:05has much, much better software, but also the yoke and a wildly minimal interior.
19:11But the F-150 Lightning might actually be a more likely comparison.
19:15So they tow about the same.
19:16The range is also pretty close, about the same, but again, that's going to be a much
19:21bigger truck too, physically speaking.
19:24And yeah, same with the Hummer.
19:25It's just ridiculously huge.
19:27I don't know if anyone's cross-shopping with that.
19:29Personally, from the amount of fun I've had with this thing, I would pick the Rivian every
19:35time.
19:36And I think it's the most promising for a bunch of reasons.
19:38It's the most daliable because of the size and the range and the comfort.
19:43I love the powered frunk and the gear tunnel, and it's just so much fun to drive.
19:47I really have to cross my fingers for that Rivian Adventure Network.
19:50Fit and finish also was excellent pretty much everywhere inside the truck, except for this
19:55little plastic latch on the gear tunnel storage compartment.
19:59That probably could have been metal or something, but whatever.
20:02And it seems like they're starting deliveries really soon.
20:04I believe the first ones are out there in the wild already.
20:08So here's the big one, number 10, should you get it?
20:12Well, this isn't a full review.
20:14I've only had the thing for like 30 hours, but look, if you've got 70 grand burning a
20:18hole in your pocket and you're looking for a pickup truck to daily, I would keep this
20:24one on the short list.
20:25It's really fun.
20:26Now Rivian also has an SUV, the R1S coming later.
20:31It's got a slightly shorter wheelbase, but essentially it's the same type of adventure
20:34vehicle without a truck bed.
20:36That should be cool to see.
20:38And it's just, it's overall super cool to see real genuine competition starting to fill
20:44out the space.
20:45You know, I think someone asked on Twitter if this is a Tesla killer or something.
20:49No, not everything that comes out that's electric has to be a Tesla killer.
20:53The Tesla truck isn't even out yet, but electric trucks as a whole will benefit from really
21:00good ones coming out.
21:01So they all boost each other up.
21:03And I love that.
21:04The entire industry going electric just got a little bit faster.
21:08Thanks to this one.
21:09Thanks to Rivian for letting me borrow this thing for a day.
21:11I hope you guys enjoyed this first look.
21:13Thanks for watching and I'll catch you guys in the next one.
21:16Peace.