Ben Sullins put his new Rivian R1T through its paces until it died.
This type of range test is usually fairly thrilling, as the goal is to keep driving until the car stops moving.
Tuesday, June 14, 2022 | Chimniii Desk
Rivian claims that its R1T with the larger 135 kWh battery pack (with 125 kWh usable capacity) can go 314 miles on a single charge, according to the EPA. Independent testing have proved that you can even go above and beyond the stated claim, but how long can you drive an R1T on its final electrons?
Ben Sullins, the proud owner of a new R1T Launch Edition, wanted to film a video in his new truck to test how far it could drive on a single charge. To add a twist, he also wanted to examine how the car behaves when it's on the verge of running out, as well as what happens when it reaches zero percent charge and how long it takes for it to come to a halt.
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If you have these concerns, watch his video, which begins with the phrase "when it dies, it dies" in reference to the R1T. Even though Edmunds topped the EPA claim a few months ago by driving the R1T for 317 miles, they were actively attempting to drive effectively in order to get as near to the official number as possible.
The R1T achieved 289.3 miles when Out of Spec Reviews took it through its 70 mph highway range test, a significantly more controlled and dependable test. It was probably capable of a few more miles, given it was not driven until it was dead in that particular test.
Tom managed to drive the vehicle for 256 miles in our own 70 mph range test (conducted in cold weather, not ideal for maxing out EV range), despite the vehicle being on the least efficient wheel/tire combination, 20-inch rims shod in all-terrain rubber (which Rivian says can drop the range by as much as 40 miles).
Ben, on the other hand, simply drove it around like any other car, and despite the fact that the vehicle (which was fully charged at the start of the movie) had a theoretical range of 293 miles, it actually drove significantly less than that before refusing to proceed any further. He drove his R1T for 236 kilometres before having to have it taken away to be charged (which he initially wanted to do with another Rivian R1T).
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