---
title: "Rivian Is Not Messing Around With Its Off-Road Tests of the R1T"
description: "Four electric motors vs. one rocky desert landscape. Who wins? Everyone, because these electric pickup test clips look like a blast."
date: "2021-02-17"
modified: "2021-02-17"
authors:
  - name: "Stef Schrader"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stef-schrader"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/39291/rivian-is-not-messing-around-with-its-off-road-tests-of-the-r1t"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "Electric Vehicles"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Rivian News"
  - "Trucks"
tags:
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "Off-Road"
  - "pickup"
  - "r1t"
  - "Rivian"
---

# Rivian Is Not Messing Around With Its Off-Road Tests of the R1T

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2021/02/truckin_970x546.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Those of us patiently waiting for the arrival of the [Rivian R1T](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/25104/rivian-r1t-aims-to-be-first-mass-produced-off-road-electric-pickup-truck>) have something [else](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/34393/watch-rivians-r1t-electric-truck-prove-itself-off-road>) to salivate over: some brief clips of it off-road testing in Arizona wherein the electric pickup definitely holds its own.

[Rivian](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/37501/rivian-r1t-and-r1s-online-configurators-go-live-nov-16-report>) founder and CEO RJ Scaringe posted a pair of clips over the past week where they're definitely not taking it easy on their test truck. The eerily quiet truck only leaves the sound of the rocks it travels over, but the point is—it gets over them.

![message-editor%2F1613544699093-screenshot2021-02-16at11.09.03pm.png](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1613544699093-screenshot2021-02-16at11.09.03pm.png>)
**Twitter | RJ Scaringe**

The [first](<https://twitter.com/RJScaringe/status/1359742073910353922>) obstacle shows just how rigid the R1T is as its travels over some lumpy depressions in a gravel road. Naturally, some of the R1T's wheels popped up in the air through this section, but the four drive wheels kept clawing it forwards anyway.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1359742073910353922

Once it was out of the bumps onto more level ground, naturally, the quad-motor electro-truck started speeding away from the cameraman. *Sucker.*

The [other](<https://twitter.com/RJScaringe/status/1360622179730157577>) clip shows an R1T clawing its way up a steep, rocky, uneven hill—the kind of hill that loves to dent the underside of trucks up. The R1T just keeps going up to the top, though, and it's pretty fun to watch. It's not even on particularly gnarly off-road tires like many of the hype trucks du jour.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1360622179730157577

While there's always the temptation to look at videos like this and sneer "I've had worse!" like a grizzled old fart, what's reassuring is the fact that they're not babying it to avoid denting it up, spare the battery pack or what have you. It looks like they're doing what the rest of us [want](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/35528/rivian-sent-two-r1t-electric-pickup-prototypes-on-a-13000-mile-trip-from-patagonia-to-la>) to do with it: have some fun off the pavement. Between these clips and posting footage of [hooning an R1T around the dunes](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/36547/watch-rivian-prove-the-electric-r1t-pickups-11000-lb-towing-capacity-in-the-hottest-place-in-america>), though, we can't wait to test the R1T out ourselves.

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## Author
Stef Schrader is a former senior staff writer for The Drive. She started writing about cars in 2013 after meeting Jalopnik's editor-in-chief at a race track, where Stef can be found at every available opportunity.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefschrader/>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/stefthepef>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/stefthepef>)