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The electric pickup segment is still in its infancy, with only a few viable models to pick from right now. We’ve already seen that EV trucks can carry their weight, with the F-150 Lightning towing up to 7,700 lbs, but the high price points may scare many drivers off of making the switch. Give it another five years or so, and who knows, the Lightning could be one of the top three sellers in the country. But, for now, electric pickups are still the domain of early adopters, pioneering consumers who are excited to be a part of the future.

Even so, that doesn’t mean you leave common sense at the door when buying an innovative new vehicle. You still want something that’s sensible, and practical. For our money, that leaves the Rivian R1T effectively uncontested as the best electric pickup you can buy right now.

Here’s Why The 2025 Rivian R1T Is The Most Sensible Electric Pickup On The Market

When we’re talking about sensibility in a vehicle purchase, we’re looking for three things:

• A fair price. This means something different for every segment, of course, but generally we’re looking for something that can be bought within spitting distance of the segment median.
• Safety. An IIHS award is a gold star in this category, but we at least want mostly Good ratings in the crash tests.
• Reliability. J.D. Power ratings of around 70/100 or better are preferred.

Here’s how the Rivian R1T checks all three of these boxes.

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The 2025 Rivian R1T Is Reasonably Priced For An Electric Pickup

To be clear, the R1T is not the most affordable electric pickup on the market. That would be the F-150 Lightning, with the 2024 models starting at $54,995. The 2025 Rivian R1T starts at $69,900 for a Dual Motor Standard Pack Adventure model with 533 hp, which is a good fifteen thousand bucks pricier than the entry-level Lightning, but we’re still well below the $78,868 average for the segment overall.

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Here’s What It Costs To Drive A Rivian R1T For A Year

Here’s what you can expect to spend on a Rivian R1T per year.

At the same time, the ceiling is pretty high if you don’t mind spending extra for a 1,050-hp quad-motor model with 380 miles of range.

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The Rivian R1T Is The Safest Pickup On The Market

The Rivian R1T is currently the only pickup in any segment with a Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS, and the safest pickup on the market. The Lightning holds mostly Good scores, with a Poor for one crash test and middling scores for safety accessories, but the R1T’s scores are nearly perfect.

The R1T’s crash test scores resulted in Good ratings in every single category, except two:

• Driver injury measures earned an Acceptable for leg/foot protection in the updated moderate overlap front test.
• Rear passenger head protection earned an Acceptable in the updated side test.

The truck’s middling crash avoidance test had to do with the vehicle’s inability to fully avoid a collision in most tests, although speed was significantly reduced in every instance. With low beams engaged, the R1T reduced its speed by 36 mph in a 37 mph nighttime test.

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The Newest Rivian R1T Is J.D. Power’s Best-Rated EV Pickup By Default

J.D. Power has yet to rate the GMC Hummer EV, the F-150 Lightning, the Cybertruck or the Silverado EV. Admittedly, these scores could be more impressive, and we’ve only got two years on file, but the R1T is running uncontested.

Here’s Why The 2025 Rivian R1T Is The Most Practical EV Pickup Available Today

Practicality means something different depending on the segment, but we can boil it down to a few key factors for electric pickups:

• Capability. That is, towing capacity, payload capacity, and the size of the bed.
• Range. The average for the EV segment overall is somewhere around 300 miles. That might not be realistic for every electric pickup, but we want a base model that can at least go for 250 miles or thereabouts.
• Daily drivability. This means cabin space, accessibility, and, in the case of a pickup truck, we want to know it can handle some rough terrain, so ground clearance is important.

The 2025 Rivian R1T Can Tow Five And A Half Tons

The Rivian R1T actually has the shortest cargo box of the three models being compared here, at just 54 inches, but, when it comes to towing capacity, it clearly out classes the competition, with all configurations pulling 11,000 lbs, a half ton better than either the Silverado EV or the Lightning are rated to pull.

The 2025 Rivian R1T Can Go Up To 410 Miles On A Max Pack Battery

The Silverado takes a clear lead when it comes to range, with an Extended Range Premium LT offering up to 390 miles of range on a single charge (standard-range batteries have yet to be rated for the 2025 model year), and a Work Truck model getting getting up to 492 miles, according to the EPA. Still, 410 miles in the Dual-Motor Max Pack Adventure model is nothing to sneeze at.

The 2025 Rivian R1T Works As A Daily Driver

Numbers can only tell you so much when we’re talking about how it feels to use a car or truck on a daily basis, so we’ll refer to our own review of the R1T, where we stated that the truck “does a convincing job of impersonating a large sedan” when it comes to suspension and handling. It can get a bit wobbly with the height-adjustable suspension stretched to its limit, and it can be a bit jittery at its minimum, but there are enough drive modes available to tweak the pickup to handle how you like.

Is The Rivian R1T Expensive To Maintain?

The R1T has only been out for a few years, so there’s not enough data available just yet to calculate what this truck should cost to maintain year after year. But you’ve no doubt read of five-figure repair bills and body-work more expensive than a new compact. On the other hand, Rivian offers an impressive mobile repair service that feels like a glimpse into the future.

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Cost of Driving a Rivian R1T: Here’s What to Expect

Here’s what you can expect to spend on a Rivian R1T per year.

It’s hard to say what you’ll be spending in a year to keep an R1T running, but we do know that the 2025 model has already been hit with a recall, for exterior lighting failure in 5,128 R1T and R1S units. But, the 2025 edition has yet to generate a single complaint, and the 2024 R1T only produced two, with the NHTSA, for horn failure and for temporary loss of automotive power.

In short: you should expect to spend more maintaining an R1T than an ICE pickup, but that’s true of all electric trucks at present.

Sources:
EPA
, NHTSA, IIHS,
J.D. Power
.