Electric Pickup Boasts Some Serious Muscle

The last thing most people associate with pickups is efficiency, but that could soon change. We’re about to see a horde of electric pickup trucks, including Rivian’s beefy R1T.

Rivian is relying on standard cylindrical cells, with two layers sandwiched together and liquid cooling in the middle, and four battery packs (and motors) at 135-kwh or 180-kwh. As Wired points out, the largest pack from Tesla is a mere 100-kWh.

And the R1T boasts some serious muscle – Rivian’s electric pickup sports a tow rating of 11,000 pounds. By comparison, the 2018 Ford F-150 has a tow rating of 13,200 pounds (and a relatively sparse 22 mpg, which leads gas-guzzling pickups).

Meanwhile, the aluminum and steel R1T variant can hit 60 mph in 3 seconds, and the company estimates a range north of 400 miles for the 180-kwh version. And here’s some neat stats – the R1T can climb a 45-degree gradient and ford 39 inches of water.

“We’re going to take the traditional tradeoffs that exist in the segment—poor fuel economy, not fun to drive, not good on the highway—and make them strengths,” claims Rivian founder and MIT grad RJ Scaring.

Deliveries of the R1T should start in 2020, and Rivian’s electric pickup will join models from Tesla, Bollinger Motors (profiled by PSD), Workhorse, Havelaar Canada, and more.

Read more here: https://www.wired.com/story/rivian-wants-to-do-for-pickups-what-tesla-did-for-cars/