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IPFS News Link • Transportation

Rivian vs Ford: Which Electric Pickup Truck Can Go Farther?

• https://insideevs.com, Tom Moloughney

The Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T were the first two all-electric pickup trucks to hit the market, and their respective launches were only months apart. While these two vehicles may appeal to different buyers and offer vastly different utility and driving experiences, they are compared and measured against each other simply because they have so few peers.

We decided to put the two together for a side-by-side range comparison and see which one can go farther on a single charge on a route that was mostly highway with some secondary and tertiary roads positioned at the beginning and the end.

The Ford F-150 Lightning with the extended range battery has a total capacity of 143.4 kilowatt-hours (kWh) with 131 kWh usable. The Rivian R1T's battery is a little smaller and has a total capacity of 135 kWh and a usable capacity somewhere between 125 kWh and 128 kWh (Rivian hasn't officially stated the usable capacity).

Our F-150 Lightning in Lariat trim has an EPA range rating of 320 miles per charge but that was with the stock 20" all-season tires. We replaced those with all-terrain BF Goodrich KO2 tires a few months ago and the aggressive tread on the all-terrain tires certainly has an adverse effect on the driving range.

The Rivian R1T we used has an EPA range rating of 289 miles per charge and came equipped with 20" wheels and Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain tires. When spec'd with the 21" wheels and all-season tires, the R1T has a combined EPA range rating of 328 miles per charge, so the range penalty of the all-terrain tires is 39 miles.


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