Rivian R1T and R1S: All-Terrain Tires = Less Range, EPA Says
New ratings reflect different wheel and tire combinations for the first time.
Since the Rivian R1T and R1S EVs were announced, the company has been touting the big numbers: 314 miles of range for the truck and 316 miles for the SUV. In fact, in February of this year the company pushed an over-the-air (OTA) software update that increased range to 328 miles for the truck and 321 miles for the SUV. With the company's latest EPA filings, though, we're learning those numbers only apply to certain powertrain, wheel, and tire combinations. Other combos get even more range, but some get far less.
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With the production of the long-awaited Dual-Motor drivetrain on both vehicles, the EPA has updated its range and efficiency estimates for the R1T and R1S and they're a lot more nuanced than before. Rivian has been promising for some time that using half as many motors and building them in-house would net real range gains, and they're not wrong. The EPA now rates both the R1T Dual-Motor and R1S Dual-Motor at up to 352 miles of range when equipped with the 21-inch wheel option. (Getting the Dual-Motor Performance model does not affect range, according to the EPA, just power output.)
So far, so good. Scroll down through the results far enough and you'll find the R1T Quad-Motor and R1S Quad-Motor with their 328 and 321 miles of range on those same 21-inch wheels. Keep scrolling, though, and you'll see the range drops with the 22-inch wheels to 303 miles for the R1T and 307 miles for the R1S.
Keep scrolling and you'll eventually discover just how badly the all-terrain tire option hurts range. The EPA estimates as little as 289 miles for the R1T Quad-Motor and 274 miles for the R1S Quad-Motor when equipped with the All-Terrain Upgrade package and its 20-inch wheels with specially developed all-terrain tires. That's a loss of 39 miles for the truck and 47 miles for the SUV.
This helps explain why ourMotorTrendRoad Trip Range test (which measures real-world range driving on freeways only) returned just 228 miles of range on our long-term R1T with the all-terrain tires. At first glance, that's a huge drop from the 328-mile advertised range, but it's less shocking when you know our truck was actually rated for 289 miles all along.
It's bad news for the Dual-Motor models, too, though the data is a bit harder to decipher as it's not all on the EPA's website yet. Rivian, however, has updated its configurator to account for the difference. Put the All-Terrain Upgrade on either an R1T Dual-Motor or R1S Dual-Motor and the range drops to 300 miles, a loss of 52 miles.
Interestingly, that number doesn't correlate to any entries on the EPA website. There's no entry at all for an R1T Dual-Motor on 20-inch wheels and the entry that seems to correlate to the R1S Dual-Motor with 20-inch wheels lists the range at 289 miles for a loss of 61 miles. The answer comes if you dig deep enough on Rivian's configurator: the company reports its own mileage estimates, not the EPA's.
That's something you should also keep in mind when you read the specs on Rivian's website. The company is estimating up to 400 miles of range on the R1T Dual-Motor with its upcoming Max battery and up to 390 miles for the R1S Dual-Motor with that battery. The actual EPA ratings may differ.
Same story for the also upcoming Standard battery pack. Available only on the R1S Dual-Motor for now, Rivian claims its range will be just 260 miles on the 21-inch wheel. There are no estimates for the 22-inch wheel yet, and the all-terrain tires are not available with that battery.
How did this all happen? It's all down to what automakers are required to report, and when they're required to report it. When a brand new vehicle goes on-sale, the automaker is required to certify its fuel economy and range for a given powertrain based on which model it thinks will sell the most. Rivian thought the 21-inch wheels would be the most popular (though it didn't hurt that was the wheel that also got the best range). After a year on-sale, automakers update their ratings based on actual sales figures. They also have the option of certifying other wheel and tire combinations if they choose, and Rivian apparently chose to, which may reflect a change in its projected sales mix.
For the serious off-road enthusiasts out there, it isn't new that all-terrain tires are bad for range and efficiency compared to street tires, and this isn't a problem unique to Rivian. Still, it's nice to know exactly what you're getting into when you go for the off-road package on a brand new truck, especially if it's electric.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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