We happen to have selected three pickups to our Top 10 Trucks list, in small, medium, and large. When you remove the typical truck negatives of a jarring ride, noisy cab, and pocket-friendly fuel economy, you get the practical package consumers want. Just as the 90s popularized SUVs as a cool vehicle option, the 2010s normalized pickups. And the mid-size Rivian R1T is the best driving pickup we’ve ever come across.
With 835 horsepower, the Rivian R1T is also the most powerful vehicle—pickup or not—to make the 10Best. Four motors, one per wheel, propels this sleek 7150 pound machine to 60 mph in just 3.0 seconds. One of the reasons the R1T is so heavy is its 128.9 kWh battery pack. That power source nets a highway range of 75 mph to 280 miles. Two other battery sizes will be available, one larger and one smaller, as well as a less powerful two-motor version which will start at $74,800.
Acceleration and range aren’t the only things that make Rivian a winner. The interior design looks like the future, the seats are comfortable, and the cabin materials will be unrecognizable to a contractor. Then there’s the exemplary on-road dynamics (sadly, they’re not shared by the R1T’s shorter wheelbase SUV counterpart, the R1S, which is part of the reason it’s not on the list). Hydraulic anti-roll control, air springs and adaptive dampers are usually reserved for large luxury sedans, but here it’s all in the pickup.
While the R1T is rated to tow a whopping 11,000 pounds, it can’t do that long on a single charge. In our tests, the truck only traveled 110 miles towing a 6,100-pound camper.
The day-to-day survival is the impressive one. There’s a new tunnel behind the cabin for locking up your long, skinny gear, ample wardrobes, a decent-size bed, and even detachable speakers. For anyone who drives a half-ton pickup every day, the R1T is way more than you need. It’s also more like a sports car than any of the trucks you’re used to, making it one of the best on the market.
