Rivian hopes to break into the all-electric truck and SUV segment in the same way that Tesla is doing. Rivian’s EVs, on paper at least, look like they will bring some tough competition to Tesla and other EV automakers. Here’s a look at how the Rivian R1T and R1S have some surprisingly great EPA range estimates.

Rivian may be worth $80 billion already

Rivian has come a long way since it was founded in 2009. In its early days, Rivian’s engineers worked on making EVs in the truck and SUV segment. After years of hard work, Rivian was able to show something to the public. The first two vehicles in Rivian’s lineup will be the R1T, a pickup truck, and the R1S, an SUV. 

Rivian will also be making electric vans, but these are unlikely to be as popular as its trucks and SUVs. Now, Rivian is getting very close to actually getting its cars into the hands of paying customers. There’s a lot of hype and excitement around Rivian’s cars, too. When Rivian filed for an IPO in late August 2021, it’s partially why Rivian set its valuation at $80 billion. Lots of big-name companies, like Amazon, have already invested in Rivian, too. 

The Rivian R1T and R1S have great range estimates

There are many reasons why Rivian’s vehicles have a lot of hype behind them. One of those reasons has to do with their range. While regular car shoppers may not have to care about their range very much, the range is an area EV customers care a lot about. Most EVs on the market don’t have great range estimates. Combined with a shortage of EV chargers, many EV customers will have something called range anxiety.

Since the R1T and the R1S are supposed to be bigger vehicles, Rivian could install some bigger batteries on them. As CNET wrote, the R1T and the R1S’ range estimates aren’t that bad. But, these estimates from the EPA aren’t complete just yet. The EPA only tested out Rivian’s “Large Pack” battery option. This isn’t the biggest battery option available, so their max range may be higher. 

The EPA still estimated that the R1T and the R1S got about 314 and 316 miles on a single charge, respectively. These estimates easily put the R1T and the R1S into the 300-mile club, which very few EVs are currently in. However, according to CNET, the R1T and the R1S fall a bit short compared to their peers in terms of efficiency. That said, that’s not a big deal.

What the R1T and R1S can do

As CNET wrote, it’s not a big deal because it’s not a fair comparison. The R1T is a pickup truck meant to go off-road, while most EVs don’t do that well. That is one of the main perks of the R1T. Not only can it tow about 11,000 pounds, but it has four electric motors that allow the R1T to do some fun stuff with its torque.

Having four electric motors are going to provide a lot of power. The R1T gets over 800 hp and 900 lb-ft of torque in total, and that allows it to be swift. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3 seconds. However, it won’t be cheap. The regular R1T starts at about $68,000, and its trims are a lot more expensive than that.