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Rivian R1T vs Tesla Cybertruck: The electric pick-up truck war

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Rivian, a USA based startup, has gained a lot of attention and investments as well with a total of $2.85 billion raised from tech and business giants such as Amazon, Ford Motor Company, and Cox Automotive. The company has been aiming to provide a pick-up truck with off-road capabilities. They showcased the prototype vehicle back in November 2018 and are now close to starting delivering the actual product, more than a decade after it was founded in 2009.

On the other end of the same marketplace, the EV giant Tesla just recently unveiled the Cybertruck in November 2019 a year later after the launch of the R1T. Tesla’s Cybertruck gained a lot of popularity because of its design and the broken glass incident that happened during the launch.

The Cybertruck has impressive specs and comes with multiple options such as an electric ATV option, a solar panel on top of the bed of the truck which can charge the battery on the go. Both the pick-up trucks are meant to compete against each other directly.

Read ahead to know how the trucks stack against each other.

Rivian R1T vs Tesla Cybertruck: The electric pick-up truck warAlso read: How do self-driving cars work? The science behind it

Size

The R1T measures are 5.5 meters long, 2 meters wide, 1.8 meters tall, and has a wheelbase of 3.44 meters. The Cybertruck is 5.9 meters long, 2.0 meters wide, and 1.98 meters tall. Both the trucks have almost the same width and height and only differ in length.

Both the EVs have an adaptive air suspension and can handle any road surface and gradient.

Motors

Unlike the conventional setup of putting motors on the differential of the vehicle, the Rivian R1T has a quad motor setup with one motor on each wheel. Cybertruck on the other side has a single, dual or triple motor setup with a rear or all-wheel-drive configuration.

Performance

Rivian R1T vs Tesla Cybertruck: The electric pick-up truck war
Rivian R1T

Rivian R1T’s four electric motors produce up to 750 horsepower and 829 pounds (0.38 ton)-feet of torque. Instant torque and power from the electric motors can shoot the R1T truck from 0 to 60 MPH in 3 seconds. Tesla has provided no horsepower or torque numbers for the Cybertruck but has released the 0-60 MPH time for the truck, which takes less than 2.9 seconds to reach from 0 to 60 MPH for the triple motor all-wheel-drive variant.

Battery and Range

The Rivian R1T comes in three different battery options. R1T has 105/135/180-kWh batteries, with a range of 400+ miles on the highest capacity battery. Cybertruck also comes in three battery options. Tesla hasn’t revealed the actual figures but has provided the range for each of them. The batteries in the Cybertruck offer a range of 250/300/500+ miles (EPA estimated).

Design

Rivian R1T has a more conventional pickup truck design compared to the futuristic design of the Cybertruck. But the trucks look good and are convincing enough to make the customers buy them.

Also read: Porsche Taycan Turbo S vs Tesla Model S: The EV Rivalry

Towing Capacity

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Tesla Cybertruck

The R1T has a towing capacity of more than 11,000 Lbs, which is much higher than the towing capacity of Cybertruck at 7,500 LBs for the triple motor all-wheel-drive setup. This additional towing capacity of R1T gives it an upper hand while towing a trailer behind it or helping someone get their car out if it’s stuck.

Both of the pick-up trucks are first of a kind in the electric vehicle market place and are impressive in terms of specs. Both Rivian and Tesla have just shown the prototype vehicle and have promised to start the delivery of the vehicle by late 2020 or early 2021.

The Rivian R1T starts at $69,000, while the Cybertruck starts at $39,000 going up to $69,900. The base price of Cybertruck is quite less than the former, which will surely make it tough for Rivian to get the customers for its R1T. Both the trucks are up for pre-order and can be ordered from the respective company websites.

You can pre-order Rivian R1T / Tesla Cybertruck here.

Also read: Rivian vs Tesla: Can Rivian challenge Tesla in EV?

Akshit Kansal

Akshit Kansal

A BTech student whose interest lies in automobiles, tech, music, coding and badminton.

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