Tested: We Love the Rivian R1S Tri Max, But It’s Not the Ultimate in Range or Acceleration
A three-motor R1S recharges our excitement for the Rivian brand, but we also see the electric 3-row SUV’s limitations.
Pros
- Luxurious interior
- Incredibly quick
- 300-plus-mile road-trip range
Cons
- Tough to access the third row
- Buzzy cooling fans
- 850 hp, but not the top R1S
Mustangs don’t stand a chance against the new 2025 Rivian R1S Tri Max on the dragstrip. Neither does any Corvette unless it’s a Z06 driven by a capable driver. That a three-row luxury SUV can accelerate so quickly is something, but what blows us away about the updated R1S in three-motor form is what happens after the race is over. The R1S resumes life as a premium, electric family SUV with more than 300 miles of MotorTrend-tested range.
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This is no one-trick pony, and there’s only one other three-row luxury SUV as fun and quick as the 2025 R1S Tri Max.
The Luxury of Choice
Part of the updated 2025 Rivian R1S’ appeal is the level of customization it offers. Four different levels of power range from impressive (533–665-hp dual-motor setups) to ridiculous (850-hp Tri Max) to hold on (1,025-hp Quad Max). The R1S’ update this year makes the three-motor Tri Max more powerful and quicker than last year’s four-motor flagship.
Isn’t automotive progress great?
The dual-motor R1S models earn anywhere from 258 to 410 miles of EPA-estimated range all for less than $100,000, but you’ll find more fun and indulgent luxury up higher in the trim line.
Incredible Performance, but Not the Best Overall
If you want the best straight-line performance in a three-motor electric SUV, skip the Hummer and climb into an R1S Tri Max. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph takes only 2.9 seconds, better than the 2025 R1S Dual Max’s still incredible 3.5 seconds and the Hummer SUV 3X’s 3.4 seconds.
Trust us when we say you feel the difference in acceleration moving from R1S Dual Max to Tri Max. Above both of those models in the R1S lineup is the newly updated Quad Max model. The Quad Max prototype we drove felt a little squirrelly at the limit, but its 2.6-second 0–60-mph time snags bragging rights away from the Tri Max. That’s a shame for Tri Max owners, but don’t lose sight of how quick all R1S SUVs are now. It’s like going to a Michelin three-star restaurant—at that caliber, the menu has no weak spots.
Rivian Range
In our Road-Trip Range test, which records how far you can drive an electric car using 95 percent of a fully charged battery at 70 mph, the R1S Tri Max earned a 311-mile range rating. That’s short of the 371-mile EPA range but still a very useful distance. In the same evaluation, the Quad Max came in at 274 miles while the Dual Max Performance is rated at 341 miles.
In fast-charging tests, the R1S Tri Max SUV added 81 miles of range after 15 minutes and 152 after half an hour. For such a large and heavy electric SUV, that’s not bad, but the Dual Max Performance added 93 and 179 miles over the same intervals.
Feeling the Weight
Handling dynamics are also solid as long as you respect the R1S’ massive weight. Our R1S Tri Max Ascend test SUV weighed a massive 6,826 pounds, or about 1,000 pounds more than a Mercedes-AMG GLS63 and around 400 pounds heavier than a Mercedes-Benz EQS580 SUV.
Our test crew found the R1S Tri Max handles very well for a large, high-horsepower SUV despite a lot of understeer, adding, “Get your braking done before a turn, and you’ll be OK.”
The R1S Tri Max is more in its element on winding roads with long sweepers instead of quick hairpins where you’ll feel the weight more. The Quad Max is quicker, but the extra motor affects how it feels on the road. Features editor Scott Evans described the Tri Max model as the sweet spot of the lineup, saying, “You don’t have to be quite as careful with acceleration [as you do with the Quad Max], and the steering feels a little lighter and sharper with one fewer motor on the nose.”
Attention to Detail Inside, With Two Exceptions
One of our biggest R1S criticisms has been mostly rectified in the new 2025 version: There’s still no glass-roof cover, but an electrochromic Dynamic Glass Roof feature dims the sun’s piercing rays on command from a control in the touchscreen. The tech is standard on the Tri Max model and a $1,500 option on most dual-motor R1S models. Unless you live under a permanent cloud, we suggest ticking this options box.
The R1S’ interior surprises with its richness. Upscale surfaces in a beautiful combination of colors fill the cabin, with neat Chilewich floormats on dual-motor models and attractive plaid ones on the Tri Max model. That detail carries through on the side of the headrests, a distinctive touch. The same is true of the way the Rivian name is incorporated in a silver trim piece in the seat itself. Unlike the similar accent in the GMC Hummer EV, in the Rivian you never feel the trim piece in your back.
There’s functionality inside, too. Despite wide-opening rear doors, third-row access is a real limitation. Once you’re back there, though, you experience more attention to detail in the armrests than some automakers spend on the entire third row. There are soft-touch materials and an armrest that folds up to reveal a hidden storage area. The boxy exterior design pays dividends here, with a great big window to look out of.
Then there’s the phone-mirroring conversation. At MotorTrend, you’ll find a full spectrum of opinions on whether cars like the 2025 R1S are fine without Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It comes down to this: If Rivian doesn’t want to offer those features, it must step up its infotainment game to match the core functionality those technologies offer.
In other cars, without a paid subscription, infotainment screens notify us when we receive new text messages, the messages can be read to us, and we can voice-dictate a response. We also take slight issue with the need to add Connect+, a subscription that costs $149.99 a year, just to stream Audible, Apple Music, Spotify, and other audio sources with an upgraded UI. Should you instead connect via Bluetooth audio, the display leaves a lot to be desired, with a pixilated album cover and a relatively small area of song info in the center of the Rivian’s generously sized display.
Our other big issue with the pre-production R1S Tri Max is with the SUV’s Premium Audio branded sound system. A few MotorTrend editors noticed poor sound quality, and it’s unclear whether this irritating issue was isolated to our test SUV.
Put It All Together
This thing rocks. The 2025 Rivian R1S Tri Max is more than the sum of its parts. Few luxury SUVs back up off-road cred with quite so much supercar speed. We appreciate updates like the dimming glass roof and the updated interior, but we still hope for driving-range improvements in the future more through increased efficiency rather than ever-larger batteries.
With so many available 2025 Rivian R1S models, one of the silliest but realest reasons to go Tri Max are the interior color schemes and trims unique to this variant.
Choosing the Tri Max for performance is a nuanced endeavor. Stab-and-go acceleration enthusiasts will find nearly as much goodness with the dual-motor model upgraded with a $5,000 Performance package bump. Those who like shiny trophies won’t be able to resist the Quad Max’s 1,025 hp and the promise of even more impressive dynamics.
Which leaves the 2025 Rivian R1S Tri Max somewhat awkwardly in the middle. But if you want a balance of range with supercar-like straight-line performance, the R1S Tri Max is ready to go.
I’ve come a long way since I drove sugar packets across restaurant tables as a kid, pretending they were cars. With more than 17 years of experience, I'm passionate about demystifying the new car market for shoppers and enthusiasts. My expertise comes from thoughtfully reviewing countless vehicles across the automotive spectrum. The greatest thrill I get isn’t just from behind the wheel of an exotic car but from a well-executed car that’s affordable, entertaining, and well-made. Since about the time I learned to walk I’ve been fascinated by cars of all shapes and sizes, but it wasn’t until I struggled through a summer high school class at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design that I realized writing was my ticket into the automotive industry. My drive to high school was magical, taking me through a beautiful and winding canyon; I've never lost the excited feeling some 16-year-olds get when they first set out on the road. The automotive industry, singing, and writing have always been my passions, but because no one seeks a writer who sings about the automotive industry, I honed my writing and editing skills at UC Irvine (zot zot!), serving as an editor of the official campus newspaper and writing stories as a literary journalism major. At USC, I developed a much greater appreciation for broadcast journalists and became acquainted with copy editing rules such as why the Oxford comma is so important. Though my beloved 1996 Audi A4 didn’t survive my college years, my career with MotorTrend did. I started at the company in 2007 building articles for motorcycle magazines, soon transitioning to writing news posts for MotorTrend’s budding online department. I spent some valuable time in the copy editing department, as an online news director, and as a senior production editor. Today, MotorTrend keeps me busy as the Buyer's Guide Director. Not everyone has a career centered on one of their passions, and I remind myself all the time how lucky I am.
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