2025 Rivian R1T Tri Motor Review by Motortrend

[ja_kub_sz]

Review Link:
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2025-rivian-r1t-first-drive-review-by-owner/

Sounds like a solid win for the trimotor R1T

"But then I did something stupid: I put the new R1T in Sport mode and drove up Angeles Crest Highway, one of the world’s great canyon roads. Dammit."

"The new one drives so much better. Annoyingly better, especially as I’d just run my truck up the same road a week earlier. Dammit times two."

"Please don’t read me wrong: The first-generation R1T is still an amazing driver’s car/truck that mashes together a Porsche 911 and a Ford Raptor R, to paraphrase Sean McLain from The Wall Street Journal. Annoyingly, the gen 2 R1T is simply better to drive, and I’m still making payments on mine."

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2025-rivian-r1t-first-drive-review-by-owner/

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[R1Tom]

It sounds pretty cool.....just wish you could get at the full performance levels in All Purpose mode.

 

[KRG]

Love to hear it. I can’t wait to hear how the tri-motor R2 drives.

 

[HeresRonnie]

Interesting article but from what I gather the author doesn’t think it’s worth an upgrade from a Gen 1 Quad to a Gen 2 Tri

 

[CrazyOne]

Johnny Lieberman is entertaining, but I wouldn't trust him for good reviews. He famously hates the Lexus LFA.

 

[beatle]

It sounds pretty cool.....just wish you could get at the full performance levels in All Purpose mode.

Yeah, having to switch into sport mode every day and having the truck only as powerful as the base model in day to day driving is much a bigger deterrent to buying a higher performance Rivian than the price.

 

[ja_kub_sz]

Interesting article but from what I gather the author doesn’t think it’s worth an upgrade from a Gen 1 Quad to a Gen 2 Tri

It is better, but for a non-enthusiast to appreciate it more then price hike you'd be hard pressed according to him.

I'm kind of of the opinion when reading his review that their are 3 types of people/owners that'll appreciate G².

1. People who can afford/don't mind the trade-in hit or purchased for original pricing. It's a buy, just more of what you already love about your Rivian.

2. People who drive a lot of miles and spend a good amount of time in their Rivian's (15k mile/year or more types).

3. People who'd want a mid tier optioned Rivian (dual, large(+),+/- performance). I feel Rivian has made extremely compelling products with G² down range. But to this he didn't specifically comment.

 

[Captblue]

So, 3 is better than 4? I don’t buy it.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Interesting article but from what I gather the author doesn’t think it’s worth an upgrade from a Gen 1 Quad to a Gen 2 Tri

It might be if there wasn't an even better quad motor coming out, and if depreciation hadn't come back down to "normal" levels.

I'm still somewhat on the fence about upgrading to the new quad because of the depreciation issue. At this point, I'm likely in a holding pattern on a new Rivian until tri-motor R2 or R3X start shipping. If Rivian delivered on that removable roof, and original max pack battery size though, I'd be first in line.

 

[R1Tom]

It might be if there wasn't an even better quad motor coming out, and if depreciation hadn't come back down to "normal" levels.

I'm still somewhat on the fence about upgrading to the new quad because of the depreciation issue. At this point, I'm likely in a holding pattern on a new Rivian until tri-motor R2 or R3X start shipping. If Rivian delivered on that removable roof, and original max pack battery size though, I'd be first in line.

I am likely keeping my OG Meridian R1T. Absolutely love the thing and for what little it is worth as a trade in I can't imagine enjoying the new G2 QM enough to warrant the likely $60k+ to upgrade.

 

[ja_kub_sz]

So, 3 is better than 4? I don’t buy it.

Yeah, but not due entirely to the new motors. The motors (torque) and everything else around it like steering precision and feel.

@Dark-Fx I absolutely agree with you.

My R1T is nearly at 65k miles and if Rivian did a pay XX dollars extend the warranty 2 years, 24k miles I'd probably have considered keeping mine. I did get OG pricing and did a 4 year loan so based on Rivian buy back calc I should be getting a decent amount of money to use as a DP on my G² R1T³.

Honestly, the range, the cameras and the storm blue with dark package are what I'm looking forward to the most.

I'm sure that'll change once behind the wheel.

 

[Bullwinkle]

It might be if there wasn't an even better quad motor coming out, and if depreciation hadn't come back down to "normal" levels.

I'm still somewhat on the fence about upgrading to the new quad because of the depreciation issue. At this point, I'm likely in a holding pattern on a new Rivian until tri-motor R2 or R3X start shipping. If Rivian delivered on that removable roof, and original max pack battery size though, I'd be first in line.

Depreciation is affected by fulfillment of all of the $75-$80k orders and Gen 2, I expect/hope the curve flattens out considerably after 24 months of ownership and as the $80k prices disappear.

 

[dleepnw]

Can't take this article seriously.

He talks about the smaller frunk, with too many wasted words, being a deal breaker. Huh? Its not that much smaller. Come on.
And then he goes into some ridiculous comparison about the range being up when compared to his quad. Well, yeah, the Tri you tested has a Max pack. And your Quad has a Large pack.

 

[ja_kub_sz]

Can't take this article seriously.

He talks about the smaller frunk, with too many wasted words, being a deal breaker. Huh? Its not that much smaller. Come on.
And then he goes into some ridiculous comparison about the range being up when compared to his quad. Well, yeah, the Tri you tested has a Max pack. And your Quad has a Large pack.

Yeah some editorial oddities, but the frunk being smaller is gonna cause me some grief also. All my gear is kept up there under the shelf and it doesn't sit flat as is, let alone less space.

Some things like that can be impactful in a day to say kinda way.

I feel the new frunk however might bring better ergonomics considering it's new wall bins.

 

[jjswan33]

Can't take this article seriously.

He talks about the smaller frunk, with too many wasted words, being a deal breaker. Huh? Its not that much smaller. Come on.
And then he goes into some ridiculous comparison about the range being up when compared to his quad. Well, yeah, the Tri you tested has a Max pack. And your Quad has a Large pack.

Not really defending the journalism but there is more to it than battery size. The gen 2 TM is going to be more efficient than the gen 1 QM.

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