CarBrandLogos archive · Rivian · 2021
The first electric pickup to reach customers, and it beat everyone who was watching.
Discover the storyPhoto: Kevauto · CC BY-SA 4.0
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Rivian R1T, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
Rivian spent nearly a decade in near-silence, changing direction more than once, before revealing a truck and an SUV at the 2018 Los Angeles show. The R1T then did something none of the larger manufacturers managed: it went on sale first. Deliveries began in September 2021, ahead of the Hummer EV, the F-150 Lightning and the Cybertruck, from a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Illinois that Rivian had bought and rebuilt.
Rivian R1T · Richard Truesdell · CC BY-SA 4.0
02
The engineering choices reflected who the truck was for. A skateboard platform carries the battery between the axles, with a motor at each end in the dual-motor cars and one per wheel in the quad-motor version, which allows genuine off-road control as well as speed. Air suspension gives a wide range of ride height. The body includes a gear tunnel running across the vehicle behind the cab, accessed from both sides, which is the sort of idea that only appears when there is no engine or transmission to work around; a slide-out camp kitchen was offered to fill it.
Rivian at the Del Amo Mall in Torrance CA · RykJ · CC BY-SA 2.0
03
Jeff Hammoud's design deliberately avoided the aggression of the American full-size truck, using vertical oval lamps and a soft face that reads as friendly rather than imposing. It was judged Motor Trend's Truck of the Year for 2022.
Rivian Normal Plant Floor · Photo by Rivian. · CC BY-SA 4.0
04
Rivian's survival has depended on more than the R1T. Amazon invested early and ordered electric delivery vans in bulk, and a later partnership with Volkswagen brought both cash and a market for Rivian's electrical architecture. But the truck is what established that a start-up could build a complex vehicle properly, and it remains a luxury item rather than a working one.
At a glance
Produced
2021–presentDesigner
Jeff HammoudBody
4-door crew cabTechnical specification
Badge at launch
This is the marque emblem that accompanied the R1T's era. The full identity timeline is documented in the brand archive.
Explore the logo history →From the journal
Contemporaries from the 2020s
Spotted something wrong on this page? Send us the correction — with a source, and we will fix it. How this site is written.
