It was the Rivian R1T's turn to undergo the InsideEVs 70 mph high range test; the first electric pickup truck we've had the opportunity to do so with.
The R1T has a combined EPA range rating of 314 miles per charge. However, that's with the 21" Road wheels. Rivian also offers 20" All-Terrain and 22" Sport tire & wheel packages, both of which will reduce the driving range.
Rivian estimates that the 22" Sport wheels will shave 21 miles off of the EPA range rating, and the 20" All-Terrain wheels that we had on our R1T, will offer a 40-mile range penalty.
Therefore, the R1T we tested would have a combined EPA-rated range of about 274 miles, if Rivian when through the trouble of certifying it with the 20" All-Terrain tire and wheel combo. Since this is a highway range test, we always look at the highway EPA range rating when it's available.
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Rivian did publish that figure for the R1T, and it is 293 miles, which is 21 miles less than the combined rating. But again, that was with the 21" Road wheels. Therefore, if we deduct 21 miles from the 274 miles that the estimated combined rating would be, we arrive at 256 miles.
| Segment Of The Test | Average Efficiency | Miles driven | Total Miles |
| 100% to 75% | 2.04 mi/kWh | 65 | 65 |
| 75% to 50% | 2.06 mi/kWh | 65 | 130 |
| 50% to 25% | 2.00 mi/kWh | 60 | 190 |
| 25% to 0% | 2.03 mi/kWh | 63 | 254 |
The weather conditions weren't optimal for the range test. When we started out the temperature was 45° F (7° C) and there was a slight drizzle. The rain stopped pretty quickly and the temperature only rose up to about 49° F (9° C). However, the biggest problem was the wind. We experienced winds up to 16 mph that got progressively worse during the range test.
We finished up covering 253.7 miles and using 125 kWh to do so. That works out to an average consumption rate of 2.03 miles per kWh (30.54 kWh/100km). Even though we only came up about 2 miles short of the estimated EPA highway range for an R1T with the 20" All-Terrain tire & wheel combo, we're pretty sure the R1T would have gone significantly further, perhaps 20 miles more, if we didn't have such high winds and if the temperature was 30 degrees higher.
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Because of that, we're going to try to repeat this test in a couple of months with more favorable driving conditions to see if that assumption holds true.
About our range tests
We want to make it clear our range tests aren't perfect. There are variables simply out of our control like wind, traffic, and weather. However, we do our best to control what we can.
We always set the tires to the manufacturer's recommended pressure, crosscheck the speedometer with a GPS for accuracy, place the vehicle in eco-driving mode (in the case of the R1T that's called "Conserve Mode", DC fast charge up to 100 percent, and enter the highway either immediately or within a couple of miles. We then drive at a constant 70 mph and in long loops so we end up either where we started, or very close by.
Driving conditions, temperature, and topography will affect an EVs driving range and our 70-mph range tests serve only as a guideline of approximately what you should expect if you drive the same EV under similar conditions