Tesla Cybertruck vs. Rivian R1T Pickup Truck – Spec for Spec comparison

The closest electric pickup truck competing the Tesla Cybertruck in the market today is the Rivian R1T and perhaps the only one that we have seen performing in the real world. Both the Cybertruck and the R1T are in the prototype phase and some specs in the final production versions are likely to change but a comparison is inevitable.

When the Rivian R1T was unveiled last year, it brought some innovations with itself like the Gear Tunnel and the ability of water fording for an electric vehicle for the first time, the overall look was close to a traditional pickup truck but the Cybertruck unveiling swept tradition off its feet — a revolutionary and polarizing design, an icon of true disruption.

But still, the R1T will be well received for its practicality, off-road abilities, decent battery size, and range — Cybertruck has a wider audience, beyond conventional pickup truck buyers, a new breed of cyberpunk futurists that want to be bullet, scratch, and dent-proof!

#1: Drivetrains, Battery Sizes, Range

Both the Rivian R1T and the Cybertruck come in 3 different variants according to battery-size, range, and the number of motors in the drivetrain. Since the advent of the Tesla Model 3, the Silicon Valley-based automaker stopped announcing the battery-size at the unveiling events and in the spec sheets, they did the same with the Cybertruck this time.

Tesla thinks the masses get confused by this terminology (kWh or kW etc.), instead, they only announce EPA estimated range for their products now — but electric car enthusiasts, journalists, and fans want to discuss battery sizes and how they are performing in terms of range and energy consumption, ultimately everyone will know when the truck gets into the hands of the customers but for now Tesla is reluctant to offload that information.

Rivian did announce battery-pack sizes when they announced both of their R1T Pickup Truck and R1S SUV, unlike Tesla. Let’s compare the figures for Cybertruck vs. R1T in the following table.

#2: Exterior Dimensions

Both the Tesla Cybertruck and the Rivian R1T are eyeing to grab a good chunk of the huge American pickup truck market, this is the reason Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed the Cybertruck pulling a Ford F-150 uphill in a tug-of-war competition.

When it comes to the exterior dimensions, the Tesla Cybertruck supersedes the Rivian R1T in length by almost 20 inches, also it is slightly larger in height and width. The length of the bed of the Cybertruck which Tesla likes to call a ‘vault’ is also significantly longer than the R1T, approximately 2 ft larger.

Payload capacity is where the Tesla Cybertruck takes a prominent lead over the Rivian R1T — Rivian lists the towing and payload capactities same across all of the three variants of the R1T pickup truck, on the other hand Tesla has listed one value for the payload of up to 3,500 lbs (1,587 kg) for all variants and the payload capacity numbers for each variant separately.

The following table shows how the numbers stack up against each other.

#4: Performance

Tesla and Rivian both are confident about their pickup truck’s performance, Elon Musk even said that the Cybertruck will be faster than a Porsche 911, and recently we saw the Cybertruck accelerating like a sports car on the streets of LA.

Riving lists their mid-range 135 kW R1T to go from 0-60 mph in just 3.0 seconds, this on par with a relatively very small Tesla Model 3 Performance which has the same 0-60 mph acceleration.

#5: Storage Capacity

The Cybertruck and the Rivian R1T being electric pickup trucks have some special storage spaces in the absence of a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrain, the front trunk (frunk), the gear tunnel (only R1T), the hidden extra space under the truck’s bed that Rivian is calling a ‘rear bin’.

The rear storage compartment in the Tesla Cybertruck is shown being used for luggage but Rivian has it mainly for the spare wheel, that you might eventually need in an off-road excursion, let’s look at the stats, although Tesla has not shared much about the specifics, and also not showed the frunk of the Cybertruck till now or anyone at the unveiling event took the courage to open the frunk lid.

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