Like it or not EVs are the way of the future. There’s only so much dino-juice in the ground so eventually we’ll need to use it more efficiently than burning it. There’s no doubt EVs are a great option for second cars and runabouts in suburbia. But their practicality in the great outdoors is still subject to large debate.
U.S. based Rivian have gone to great lengths to push their R1T as a serious offering in the off-road market. With built in accessories like slide out kitchens, roof top tents, and extended range battery packs. They’ve even sponsored trans-american adventures with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s Long Way Up series driving the electric pickups from the bottom of South America up to LA.
Their latest stunt is the first that’s seriously caught out attention though. Water and electricity mix, it’s the first comment made whenever we post an EV 4×4. It immediately writes off EVs for serious off-road work. After all, you’re not going to turn around three hours deep into the High Country just because you came across a river crossing. Rivian claim their R1T has a water fording depth of 1.08m in the spec’d up version. To prove its up to the task, Rivian Founder and CEO Robert Joseph “RJ” Scaringe recently took to Twitter showing the all-electric pickup effortlessly driving through the headlight deep water proving the batteries and electrical components have been adequately sealed.
Videos have previously emerged online of Teslas driving through bonnet deep water; but with reports of some battery pack failures due to poor sealing the Rivian is the first EV that gives us faith electric 4x4s of the future will actually be fit for purpose. What do you think? Will all-electric 4x4s ten or even twenty years from now do everything you want them to? Just in the comments below and let us know
