The Rivian R1S is one of the fastest SUVs on the planet
We all love a ridiculous, perception-challenging performance SUV. Hell, who doesn’t smile watching a Jeep Cherokee SRT Trackhawk or Lamborghini Urus turn rubber into smoke and gasoline into giddiness? Well, if you can live without the motor music, the Rivian R1S Quad Motor just staked its claim as one of the fastest SUVs on the planet.
The Rivian R1S Quad Motor is more than fast– it’s one of the fastest production SUVs ever
The Rivian R1S Quad Motor busted into the room and commanded the attention of every high-riding, heavy-weight performer in the SUV segment. Specifically, the R1S Quad Motor and its (duh) four electric motors launched the electric SUV to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds on its way to a 10.5-second quarter mile.
| Make and model | 0-60 mph | Quarter mile |
| Rivian R1S | 2.6 seconds | 10.5 seconds |
| Tesla Model X Plaid | 2.5 seconds (Claimed) | 9.9 seconds (Claimed) |
| Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT | 2.9 seconds | 11.2 seconds |
| Lamborghini Urus Peformante | 3.0 seconds | 11.3 seconds |
A look at the numbers lends some perspective to the near 7,000-lb brute’s straight-line savagery. To heave its massive curb weight down the drag strip, the Rivian SUV employs four Bosch-sourced electric motors. Those motors, pulling power from its 149-kWh battery pack, combine to produce an asphalt-kicking 1,025 horsepower and 1,198 lb-ft of torque, per MotorTrend. That’s the same horsepower output as Dodge’s alcohol-swilling farewell Challenger halo car, the SRT Demon 170.
Tesla claims the Model X Plaid, its most expensive SUV, will hit 60 mph in two and a half seconds with rollout subtracted. Further down the blacktop, Tesla says its hulking Model X range-topper will finish the quarter mile in under 10 seconds. That sort of speed would make the Model X Plaid the Sultan of SUVs. The Baron of Brutes. That is, if you take Tesla’s word for it.
However, the Rivain R1S Quad Motor’s whiplash-inducing sprint instantly humbles some of the sharpest contenders from the internal combustion engine (ICE) camp. For instance, the 2024 Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT will obliterate a sprint to 60 mph in just 2.9 seconds. That’s rarified air for a heavy, hungry SUV. And by the end of the quarter mile, the top-tier Cayenne model returns a blistering 11.2-second result.
