Throttle House Likes The Rivian R1T But Still Finds Faults

While the R1T does a lot of things really well, Rivian’s lack of experience does show in some areas.

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Andrei Nedelea

By: Andrei Nedelea

Feb 14, 2022 at 8:23am ET

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Rivian realized a remarkable feat by being the first company to launch an electric pickup truck that has the performance, range, tech and off-road capability to make sense to buyers. It’s not a utilitarian proposition at all, pitched as a fun, green lifestyle vehicle, and all reviews so far say it really delivers on the driver enjoyment front.

It looks like the guys from Throttle House really had a blast driving the R1T for this video review. The vehicle proved remarkably planted, surefooted and tactile when it was driven quickly on winding paved roads, but then when the asphalt ended, the R1T turned into a rally car, sliding its tail out with ease around corner.

And it’s all really controllable, helped by the fact that you can actually feel what the front tires are doing. In fact, they explain that this was one of the most pleasantly surprising part of the driving experience - the road feel through the wheel - which they say is considerably better than in any truck or even a Tesla.

But while the performance and capability of the R1T on and off-road are remarkable, some of the interior details are not. It’s here where the two hosts have the most to criticize, starting with the laggy response of the steering wheel adjustment to the fact that you cannot run Android Auto or Apple CarPlay on the infotainment screen. They also found that the route calculator is bad at estimating your arrival time and if you rely on it, you are probably going to be late.

Still, these end up being minor annoyances in an otherwise remarkably well engineered, designed and rounded vehicle. Check out our own first drive review video of the R1T below.