2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali vs. 2025 Rivian R1T Tri: The $100,000 Luxe Truck Duel

Call us old-fashioned, but At MotorTrend we still believe a $100,000 vehicle should look and feel luxurious. It’s almost a radical idea in 2024, especially when it comes to electric pickups, where spending nearly six figures can buy what appears to be a $70,000 truck with $30,000 in batteries.

The pickups in this comparison test are as close as it gets to a $100K truck that actually looks the part. The $99,495 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 and the $101,700 Rivian R1T Tri don’t need to apologize for their prices. Upscale cabins and high-tech hardware in the Sierra and R1T mean you’ll never need to explain to your neighbor that lithium-ion batteries are really expensive.

Like so many gas Sierras before it, the electric GMC is a mechanical twin of the Chevy Silverado EV. Both the Denali Edition 1 and Chevy’s Silverado EV RST First Edition use the same 205-kWh battery pack, and both are rated at 754 horsepower and come with the same 24-inch tires, air springs, four-wheel steering, and folding midgate that extends the bed into the rear of the cab.

What’s different—and what sets the GMC apart—is its interior. The Denali Edition 1 features open-pore wood trim, aluminum accents, stainless-steel speaker covers, and neatly stitched leather, dressing up a cabin with a unique dash, center console, and screens. Considering the GMC commands a mere $3,000 premium, or just 3 percent more than the Chevy, this is the first Sierra in MotorTrend institutional memory that we believe to be worth buying over a Silverado.

The Rivian R1T measures more than 16 inches shorter than the Sierra EV in both overall length and bed length, making it dimensionally closer to the midsize Toyota Tacoma than a full-size truck. In price, performance, and capability, though, the R1T doesn’t shy away from this comparison. It’s rated to carry two more pounds in the bed and tow an extra half ton compared to the GMC. The new Tri-Motor model, introduced as part of the R1T’s “Gen 2” 2025 refresh, packs 850 hp and Rivian’s 141.5-kWh Max battery pack into a truck that’s almost 1,800 pounds lighter than the GMC. Also new for 2025, plaid carpeted floormats and bronze trim ratchet up the sense of style inside a truck that already felt plenty luxurious.

Where GMC’s Edition 1 comes in a single spec and one color, the Rivian R1T Tri tested here had its price inflated to $109,150 by options including Forest Green paint ($2,500), the All-Terrain package ($3,950), and black painted wheels ($1,000). We won’t hold that against it, since the ability to customize your truck exactly how you want is a luxury in itself. To pick our winner, we subjected the Sierra EV and the R1T Tri to a full workup, including our proving ground performance regimen, range and fast-charging tests, on-road evaluations both unloaded and with 1,000-pound payload, and a day at the off-road park.

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My, What Big Everything You Have

The GMC Sierra EV’s greatest luxury is its size. Between the commanding view of the road, the limo-like rear seat space, and the 5-foot, 11-inch bed that stretches to 10 feet, 10 inches when you open the midgate, it’s the right tool for the job, whether that job is commuting alone, hauling a family of five to the vacation spot, or bringing drywall home in a downpour. At 83.8 inches wide, it feels even larger than the typical full-size gas truck, and yet, thanks to the four-wheel steering, its 42.2-foot turning circle is 2.7 feet tighter than the R1T’s. The Sierra EV snakes through city streets and slips through crowded parking lots like it’s a full size smaller.

It’s a different story on the open road, where the Sierra occasionally uses all its lane. The steering runs too much boost and a slow 17.2:1 ratio, making for a light and lazy feel that requires constant attention. It’s especially egregious when you tap the unlabeled hammer icon on the driving modes screen to unlock GMC’s Max Power thrill ride. Drop the hammer and the Sierra EV will knock out a 4.2-second 0–60-mph run—dang quick for an 8,802-pound beast, but hardly hair-raising by today’s ludicrous standards. There is one downside though: The Sierra is afflicted with a nasty case of torque steer that causes the truck to veer left and right as speed builds while accelerating hard. When we loaded the bed with 1,000 pounds, the steering got light enough and the torque steer sketchy enough that one editor called it “dangerous.”

The Sierra’s 24-inch wheels and rubber band tires handle broken pavement better than you’d expect in most situations. But “better” isn’t the same as “well.” Potholes and misaligned slabs slam through the squishy bits and jolt the cabin with a wince-inducing sharpness. My Mode allows you to dial in your preferred steering and damper settings, but just as you can only build the Denali Edition 1 in a single spec on GMC’s online configurator, the Sierra EV has one consistent character no matter your selections.

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One Truck, Multiple Personalities

The Rivian R1T Tri, on the other hand, has enough personalities to warrant a full psych eval. Is it a sport truck? A hardcore off-roader? A city slicker? Yes. All that and more.

Rivian’s menu of nine drive modes sounds like overkill until you drive the R1T and realize that there’s a real and distinct use case for All Purpose, Sport, Conserve, Snow, All-Terrain, Soft Sand, Drift, Rally, and Rock Crawl. The R1T is connected to the road through firm bushings and a suspension that links left and right shocks for driver-selectable control over the damping and roll stiffness. Its default All Purpose mode prioritizes body control over isolation and the steering is perfectly precise. That, combined with the tidy footprint, makes the R1T far more agile than the Sierra on the road.

And that’s before you tap Sport mode. With two motors at the back and one up front, the Tri’s rear torque bias makes it easy to steer the truck with the right pedal. It’s even more playful than the 1,025-hp R1T Quad. Despite rolling on the optional all-terrain tires and weighing a beefy 7,016 pounds, the R1T Tri stops from 60 mph in 124 feet, corners at 0.78 g, and laps our figure-eight circuit at 26.4 seconds, besting the Sierra by 8 feet, 0.04 g, and 1.3 seconds, respectively.

The Rivian absolutely smokes the GMC in acceleration, too. Activate launch control and the instrument cluster flips to a stripped-down, only-the-essentials screen that takes you through the three-step process. Once you turn the third light green, you lift off the brake and let all 1,103 lb-ft of torque rip. The R1T tears to 60 mph with the cluster showing the same 2.8 seconds as our VBox testing equipment. It’s absolutely nuts, and this isn’t even the quickest version Rivian builds.

We do wish there was a setting to unlock the cushy ride that the R1T’s suspension system should be capable of. The ride is comfortable, but we’ve driven McLaren supercars (which use the same suspension tech) with more compliance than the R1T. And with 1,000 pounds in the bed, the R1T’s ride became clumsy and stiff, which is a step backwards compared to the pre-refresh R1Ts that we drove across the Trans America Trail, which were loaded to capacity.

For day-to-day use, though, you won’t find a better pickup truck than the R1T. It sits at the perfect height to easily climb in and out without running boards, and yet, unlike other midsize trucks, there’s ample room for four adults. There’s a lockable, weather-protected space for pretty much anything in the frunk, the gear tunnel, the under-bed compartment, or the bed that’s covered by a power-operated tonneau cover. Admittedly, you won’t be keeping any eight-foot lumber locked away in the R1T’s four-and-a-half-foot bed. But the thing is, the more we used the Sierra’s midgate, the more we saw it as a solution in search of a problem. Opening and closing it is fussy enough that most owners will just carry large loads the same way R1T drivers will (and the same way pickup drivers have for decades): by dropping the tailgate and letting the load hang out the back.

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Tech Check

Rivian and General Motors have both shunned Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, thinking they can provide a better experience by controlling more of the software—and they might be onto something. GMC offers the familiar comfort of Google Maps in an infotainment system that looks and operates like an oversized tablet. The nav works great, but the tiled app menu gives equal visual weight to every function, no matter how frequently or infrequently it’s used, and several key settings are buried three or four taps deep. That’s not ideal in a four-ton machine that’s regularly piloted at 80 mph. We do like that the designers retained a volume knob and physical climate controls, and that most of the virtual buttons are so big they’re hard to miss.

GMC’s system is a solid execution of today’s technology, but Rivian’s infotainment is the way of the future. The cohesive integration of its navigation and third-party apps like Apple Music and Spotify gives the whole system a unified look and feel. There’s a logical hierarchy to controls and displays that suggests Rivian understands your truck shouldn’t work just like your phone … because it’s not a phone.

Rivian’s software isn’t just an infotainment system—it’s as central to the character of the R1T as its suspension or its friendly, unthreatening face. The R1T’s Camp mode can use the air springs to level the body for sleeping in the bed or a rooftop tent. Gear Guard allows you to use the truck’s cameras as a security system. For Halloween, the company released a Knight Rider-themed “costume” for the infotainment system and exterior lighting. And after years of watching engine temperature gauges disappear from combustion cars, we love that Rivian gives nerds like us a glimpse of what’s happening under the metaphorical hood with battery and motor temperature gauges.

GMC counters Rivian’s infotainment with its best-in-the-business Super Cruise, which allows hands-free highway driving, through construction zones, and even with a trailer attached, so long as you’re on its 750,000 miles of mapped roads. Like a Ronco Rotisserie, you set it and forget it (just keep your eyes on the road), and Super Cruise will even change lanes to get around slower traffic without driver input (though this feature is disabled when towing).

Rivian’s Highway Assist is a simple, hands-on system that combines lane-centering and adaptive cruise control—unless you’re towing, in which case all you get is old-school set-speed cruise control. We’re promised that Gen 2’s new computing architecture will allow owners to unlock new capabilities via over-the-air updates, but for now this is one front where Rivian’s software team is playing catch-up.

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Highway Range and Fast-Charging Speed

In MotorTrend’s 70-mph Road-Trip Range test, the Sierra covered 422 miles using 95 percent of its battery. Do the math for using the full battery and you’ll see the advertised 440-mile claim isn’t a fib. That’s particularly impressive because the Sierra’s heavy-duty gross vehicle weight rating means GMC doesn’t have to certify that range number with the EPA. It’s a welcome respite from automakers setting unrealistic expectations with impossible-to-hit range estimates.

Take, for example, the Rivian R1T Tri. In the same test, the R1T turned its official 329-mile estimate into 267 real-world miles using 95 percent of the battery. The GMC’s 800-volt DC fast-charging also recoups energy significantly faster, peaking at up to 350 kW versus the Rivian’s 220 kW. In our charging tests, the Sierra added 129 miles of range in 15 minutes, and the Rivian added 76 miles.

That makes the Sierra a fantastic electric road-tripper—not just for a pickup, but even among far more efficient EVs, like the soap-shaped Lucid Air sedan. And for most Sierra buyers, range and charging times will likely only come into play a few times a year, since anyone buying a $100,000 truck no doubt has the means to install a home charger.

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Getting the Details Right in the Dirt

We’re keenly aware that off-roading in an EV truck is even less common than taking road trips, so the fact that the Rivian is a goat (in every sense of the word) in rocks, mud, and sand earns it only a few bonus points. At Michigan’s Holly Oaks Off-Road Park, the interplay of software and hardware made scrambling up climbs and sliding across the dirt a blast. Rivian gets the basics right by making each off-road mode adjust every attribute to the ideal setting. Rock Crawl, for example, raises the truck to its max ground clearance and flattens the accelerator map for precise torque control. That might seem blindingly obvious, but apparently it wasn’t at GMC. There’s an Off-Road mode in the Sierra, but you still have to toggle a separate button by your left knee to raise the suspension, and every time you exit the vehicle—like you might do to spot a friend or scout your line—the truck defaults back to its standard ride height.

More maddening, the Sierra EV repeatedly rolled to a halt and refused to move while climbing a relatively smooth and tame 25-degree slope. When this happened, the truck would never send more than 30 horsepower (as indicated on the dash) to the wheels, no matter what we did with the accelerator and despite the fact all four tires were in firm contact with the ground and had good grip. The only thing we could do to move forward was back down and try another approach. Though most Sierra buyers might never see anything more rugged than a gravel driveway, we’re left wondering how it would pull a 7,000-pound boat up a slippery launch ramp or a snow-slicked mountain pass.

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Which Truck Does Big-Buck Luxe Best?

Current pickup truck owners will probably see a clear winner in the Sierra EV. Its huge range, huge cabin, and huge bed are as close as you can get to emulating today’s full-size gas pickups in a battery-electric vehicle. There’s no question that the Sierra EV is a seriously impressive vehicle. But most people buying EV pickups aren’t conventional truck owners, and as capable as the GMC is, it seems unlikely to sway the majority of EV-skeptical truck owners.

The Rivian R1T is tailored for a different mission—one that aligns better with someone looking to lay down $100K on an EV. Its fashionable and upscale interior, high-tech hardware, and deeply integrated software turn it into the luxury truck buyers deserve at this price point. It may not be a mulch-gobbling, plywood-hauling workhorse, but the R1T has a unique breadth of abilities all its own. It can carve up a backroad, tiptoe over boulders, cruise in comfort down the highway, and seamlessly fit into suburban life. And if exclusivity is one of the defining attributes of luxury, well, no other truck can do exactly what the Rivian does.

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Second Place: 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1

Verdict: If you believe bigger is better and more is always more, the Sierra EV is the luxury EV pickup for you.

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First Place: 2025 Rivian R1T Tri

Verdict: Rivian blends comfort, athleticism, and luxury in a way few vehicles—and no other pickup—can.

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