Two days after<\/span> I pulled into Death Valley, California, to test the Rivian R1T, a sandstorm rolled through. Not quite biblical, more Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol<\/em>. So intense was the weather, cellular towers quit working and nobody was able to keep their eyes open long enough to find the slat-board general store that was providing refuge. Worse, we couldn\u2019t find the only saloon. It turns out these were perfect conditions for testing a rugged EV from a newbie brand looking to make its mark.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not long after my California sojourn, I was cruising around lush, forested upstate New York in an R1S, the SUV version of Rivian\u2019s truck. This model has its sights firmly set on Range Rover\u2019s customers, and it will arrive before the British brand even gets its first legitimate hybrid out of the gate.<\/p>\n The R1T starts at $67,500, and the R1S starts at $72,000, and the options add up fast. The loaner R1T that I drove came out at a cool $90,000, but in truth the $22,500 worth of options were just gravy on an already stellar truck. You could buy the base-level model without any options or upgrades at all, and you\u2019d still get all the best parts of the R1T.\u00a0<\/p>\n I put 1,300 miles on the R1T in all kinds of conditions\u2014from Los Angeles rush-hour traffic to open highway, cold mountain roads to off-road desert trails. Later I drove another 100 miles on an R1T and an R1S through rural New York, finishing on a muddy off-road trail just to be sure. Here\u2019s why it is, to date, the highest-rated EV I\u2019ve reviewed.<\/p>\n Home From Home<\/p>\n Tent camping wasn\u2019t going to happen the first night the sandstorm hit, obviously. Cruising on the last 30 miles of juice in the Rivian\u2019s 300-mile battery range, I found Death Valley\u2019s only charging stations\u2014four slow chargers powered by an array of solar panels\u2014and bunked down for the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n I never sleep well in cars, but with the driver\u2019s seat leaned all the way back and the charging station pulsing slowly as it fed the Rivian\u2019s batteries, I nodded off in no time. Automakers have gotten awfully good at creating synthetic leather that can be mistaken for the real thing. The R1T\u2019s faux-leather seats could\u2019ve fooled anyone, and even after several 12-hour days driving (and sleeping in) the Rivian, I never once felt a pang of discomfort.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t spend much time riding in the back seat, but with a touchscreen for the rear-facing climate controls and a comfortable fold-down armrest, the second rows of both the R1T and R1S were as comfortable as the front seats. The R1S has a third row of seats for a total of seven passengers. There\u2019s no option for second-row captain\u2019s chairs (two individual seats) instead of the three-person bench. Both rows fold flat, as is typical, and should be expected in an SUV these days.<\/p>\n As part of the $5,500 Adventure package, you gain ash-wood interior panels. They\u2019re available in three colors: tan, brown, and black. What impressed me most is that they weren\u2019t covered in a thick layer of plasticky varnish, like the wood trim of most cars. The stain used on the wood is just enough to color it, and when you run your finger over the surface you can feel the wood grain. The carpeting on the Adventure Trim is equally tactile and includes woven floor mats from Chilewich. They provided a nice, distinctive design detail, whereas most floor mats are plain old carpet or rubber.<\/p>\n You can store whatever you like in the pass-through gear tunnel that runs horizontally below the front of the truck bed. It serves as a second lockable trunk, in addition to the front trunk under what we\u2019d normally call the hood in an internal-combustion-engine (ICE) truck. There\u2019s plenty of room for a load of groceries in the frunk, and I carried around a couple of large duffel bags and a backpack in there with room to spare. There\u2019s even a handy dedicated Bluetooth speaker with subwoofer, tweeter, and two mid-range speakers that stores under the center console and can be removed entirely from the cabin. If only all car manufacturers had such attention to detail.<\/p>\n Exemplary Interior<\/p>\n![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/gp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/2022-Rivian-R1T-LE-01.jpg\"\/)