Rivian R1T Effortlessly Pulls Stuck Semi Truck Free

The truck was stuck on the side of the road and the Rivian was in the right place, at the right time.

Rivian R1T pulls semi truck

Andrei Nedelea

By: Andrei Nedelea

Apr 14, 2022 at 2:31pm ET

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Electric vehicles can have a lot of pulling power and few pull as well as the quad-motor Rivian R1T. Its combined power output is 835 horsepower, while torque is rated at 908 lb-ft (1,231 Nm), and it looks like it was put to really good use helping out a stuck semi truck that could not move under its own power.

NotNearlyNormal posted the very low quality video on Reddit stating that it had been shot in Normal, Illinois on April 13. The R1T is actually manufactured in that town, so its presence on the scene is less surprising than it would be anywhere else - we’re more wondering how the truck got in that situation.

Maybe the truck went off the road due to the rain, the driver was trying to get back and then got stuck just as the front tires touched tarmac. Perhaps it was being backed out of one of the driveways that can be seen in the video, and they backed it out too far.

What makes this even more impressive was that it was done on a wet road and it could have hampered traction, especially considering the fact that a semi-tractor can weigh over 15,000 pounds. Some commenters on Reddit seem convinced that the video is in some way staged, arguing that an even smaller vehicle could have done the job; they say it looked too easy.

What do you think?

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However, considering the fact that the truck was spinning all four of its rear tires, it surely helped - the R1T would have undoubtedly struggled more had the truck not been able to assist with at least some forward momentum. We can’t say definitively, but to us this doesn’t actually look staged.

Tesla also caused some controversy with a video showing its Cybertruck winning against a Ford F-150 in a tug of war. One of the issues with that viral video was that they used an F-150 that was only rear-wheel drive, making it an unfair fight from the start. Elon Musk stated at the time that the Cybertruck was “a better truck than the F-150.”