Rivian R1T Off-Road: The Good and The Bad 

For those asking about range off-road, I didn't see a HUGE depletion of range when doing off-road stuff, though it did go quicker than on-road. I'd say range depleted maybe 30 percent faster off-road than on road. Interestingly I only lost a mile or two going up and down the rock hill.

As a guy who's tortured his Jeep through the Rubicon, Johnson Valley, Dusey, and every trail at Shaver Lake, Big Bear and Ocotillo, I know exactly where that hill is, and it's a legit hill that requires a lot of patience. The fact that Doug was able to do it just by pointing it uphill is a testament to the engineering that went into this.

One awesome benefit Doug didn't mention there at the end is off roading in near silence with a full electric. Going up that monster hill would have made huge engine noise normally. Just imagine cruising around through mountain trails with the birds chirping etc. You could be pretty stealth and not disturb wildlife. Pretty awesome :)

Rivian actually added a TPMS for all 4 wheels in a recent update after hearing the customer demand for it! Stoked to see that they listen to what the people want!

Rivian has to love you for doing this, even with the drawbacks discussed

I think that it is AMAZING that Rivian let you borrow this truck and test it to the extreme. You done good, Sir. You done good!

Can you just picture the executives in the board room at Rivian, laughing hysterically and high-fiving each other over the success of this video. Some of them probably even now have Doug DeMuro tattoos. Drawbacks excluded, what an insane first run success. I Love they had the balls, to let Doug go to town on it. GREAT video!!!!! Thank you.

Great video of a terrific vehicle! Cheers Doug! Regarding the bad stuff: * Hill descent control * As others have mentioned, this could be an extension of the SinglePedal/EV mode, where the vehicle moves extra slowly with little to no pressure on the accelerator pedal. Possibly just requires a software update. Would use a combination of regenerative braking and regular braking. Side note: like all electric and hybrid vehicles, regenerative braking becomes ineffective once the battery is full (there's typically nowhere else to send that converted energy). * Hill hold assist * Sounds like it could be a software update. Essentially don't allow the wheels to turn while there is no pressure on either the accelerator or brake pedal. * Locking differential, etc. * This really needs a little bit of thought. A "virtual locking differential" is really not what is needed. The intent of a locking differential is to prevent the "normal differential" feature of one wheel spinning freely while the other wheel (which has grip) receiving no turning force. None of this applies in a vehicle propelled by 4 separate motors. Instead, we want the system to apply suitably high force/torque at the wheels which have grip, and to apply no torque to those wheels with no grip. More specifically, to Doug's complaint, ensure that no wheel spins fast when there is no grip e.g. limit rotations to say 30 RPM (or some other low number) when off-road climbing. That will overcome the concern of applying high throttle pressure, which normally could cause high spin rates on non-gripping wheels. Further thought: the traditional accelerator pedal is used to both increase torque AND speed. In a hill-climbing scenario you really only want torque (at low speed). So perhaps a software update to add a hill-climbing mode that allows the accelerator pedal to apply torque (to wheels with grip) but limit rotational speed to say 30 RPM (to prevent wheel spin). * Tire Pressure Monitor * Agreed, would be good to have for convenience, although far from a show stopper. If the sensors are already installed, then maybe this is just a software update. It does at least have a built in compressor. * Camera system * Unfortunate. Sounds like this will be a hardware upgrade.

A tip for recording steep hills & off-road stuff: Keep the camera in-line with the horizon, or lined up with a tree. Trees always point up, the horizon shows flat or unflat ground. Don't "look down" or "up" with the camera. Be at the same elevation as the off-road vehicle, and record it from the side view while holding camera level.

even cutlery has a bigger benis 🙄

Being an electric it surprises me that it doesn't have some sort of hill decent control that uses regenerative braking as a means to avoid using the conventional brakes as much. This would also be a useful feature to replace an engine brake if you were towing because i can imagine that towing with this thing in particular could become fairly heavy pretty quickly

Who else noticed the new Tundra

I love the impression Doug uses for his fans... That said, "my Ford Escort could do that hill with mere tires chains and an anti-gravity machine."

I feel like the individual TPMS readout, hill descent control, and hill hold assist are things where the hardware is clearly present and could probably be added with a software update. It might be worth contacting them to request that.

Doug sells cars. Point blank period. We’re watching history. Soon it won’t be jd power & associates but demuro stars. I’m telling you. I love Doug been watching for a very long time since he had a dc plate on his Ferrari back in 2013 that’s how i found him.

Have to say that was of the best reviews of the operation/driving of a vehicle Doug had made. Some really good technical advice that you can use and a whole lot for the manufacturer to think about. But have to say that for their first vehicle ever, I’m pretty amazed of the rivian and what it can do!

Considering it has pretty entry level AT tires, that's a damned impressive showing.

Landcruiser guy : “what are you talking about? I never off-road this thing, its for instagram only”

It sounds like he was driving it in the "normal car" pedal configuration where the gas and brakes were separated. From what I've heard, when you have it in the "ev" pedal configuration where you push in the gas to go and back off the gas to regen brake, it basically has built in hill descent control. And you wouldn't have to switch pedals to go from stop to go like he talked about with hill stop assist. Plus the Rivian has variable regen braking modes, and I've heard the maximum regen is super aggressive and slows it down rapidly without having to use brakes.

This is legitimately the best press Rivian could hope for.

Not sure what I'm more excited for. Your Hummer EV review or your Lucid Air review.

I can’t even imagine how well this thing would do with some beefier tires

I like how it deploys its door handles to help with the braking @10:02

Doug sold a lot of Rivians that day. No better marketing than just preforming when it counts.

Doug is the type of guy to spend his Black Friday on the trails and then shaming Ferraris with a truck 👌

Maybe an off-road package is in order. Hill descent, hill lock, and a “locking diff” mode can be programmed to all Rivians. But the off-road package could come with better cameras, knobbier tires, onboard air, even more adjustable lift, aggressive styling, and maybe a winch hidden in the bumper

The great part about finding this video again after a year is that all of the "negatives" have been addressed with updates from over-the-air. And we got camping mode to level the truck, along with a ton of other upgrades.

The coolest thing about the drawbacks of lack of hill descent, individual TPMS, and the hill hold functions is that its all programming and electronics. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rivian is (Monday, Nov 29th) working on this after a start-of-the-week company meeting. And the early build trucks get a recall for different sensors to be installed in the wheels. Then, with a few tweaks, Rivian has your answer.

Finally Doug got a hold of the Hummer EV can’t wait for him to release that video

Doug : "on camera its never looks like its in person" Me : "holly sh*t that looks freaking scary"

Would have been nice to see one of the other offroad trucks go up the same trail so we could see how much better or worse the truck did compared to like a stock wrangler in the same situation.

Doug, I work for GM. I think you accidentally created a new test course. I hope to see you try this with the new Hummer and Cybertruck when possible. You are too cool, and that video was fun to watch. Congrats to you. Ken.

I feel like this could all be wildly improved with software updates, even a pseudo locked diff option where it just spins all of the motors in sync as if they are locked together.

I feel like Dougs gonna get a Rivian

The amount of energy that goes into the brakes when you are moving at 1 mph compared to slamming on your brakes at highway speeds is vastly different. It would be impossible to over heat the brakes at rock crawling speeds.

Definitely needs a "simulated lockers" mode, where the "front diff", "rear diff" and "center diff" could all be locked individually. And, a "lock everything together all at once" button would be nice. Just one press of a button and you're guaranteed that all wheels spin/don't spin at the exact same rate.

I'd like to give a HUGE thanks for the detailed off-road review-one that’s incredibly relevant to us! We've placed an order for the R1S and sometimes tackle trails with similar, boulder-like scree here in Southwest Colorado. Firstly, we find it shocking that it lacks a hill-hold mode-INSANE! Secondly, we find it disconcerting that it lacks a mode to lock the rear and/or front wheels to spin simultaneously, as spinning tirelessly on sharp rocks will inevitably lead to tire failure and is-quite frankly-destructive to the terrain. Thirdly, the lack of hill-descent control is unfortunate, as it would’ve been really beneficial to be able to move at a crawling pace as one might in first gear in low-range… We’d be utterly thrilled if a simple software update could add these features-an incredible possibility in this day and age!

A new era in off-roading is upon us ! Also notice the silence, so much better to enjoy nature that way !

Doug: "Hills and climbs don't look as impressive or dangerous on camera as in real life" Also Doug: Shows hill that he wants to climb, LOOKS TERRIFYING All in all I think this vehicle is going to sell very well and it will earn a high up spot in the offroader community. That said the bad things pointed out by doug are very useful and I hope they fix it for the next revision.

Over an hour video lenght of Rivian truck! what a documentary, totally worth it!

Definitely needs a “simulated” locking differential mode. With most likely a very limited top speed like 5 or 10 mph (that would also allow them to program maximum tire rotation speed to prevent crazy spinning of a tire that is not touching the ground) and a warning screen letting you know your range and efficiency would be dramatically decreased. So people wouldn’t just use it on a 6 mile dirt road to their campsite for no reason.

I like how ford was like “we can let you sit passenger in our new lightning” and Rivian was like yep jump it off a cliff here’s our truck for a while

regarding the differential lock comments: Rivian can solve this easily enough. Give the user the option to "lock" virtual differentials. the motor controllers would operate as tied pairs, or locked totally together. front and rear digs can be done in the same fashion, with the ability to selectively turn off motors and motor pairs as needed. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this couldn't be done via an OTA update. It's just software at that point.

It’s good to see PROPER truck review!! Truck doing truck things. Props to Rivian. Props to Doug for having the “stones.” 😆

I love seeing you and your friends having fun. It's so wholesome and I'd love to see more of this kind of content! Doesn't have to be vlogs, it can be informational just like this.

Its interesting that they couldn't put in some sort of "virtual" diff lock, where it would send the equal amount of power & torque to each wheel.

I'll be upfront that I have zero attraction or appreciation of EVs. Doug has made me interested in this particular one. The first thing that crossed my mind was "no skid plates, no diff, no oil pan to damage!" An electric offroader seems brilliant, so long as it can charge easily. That inability to "refuel" if you're deep out there is a huge deficit. Imagine not being able to charge and having to leave that behind until you could find a way to bring a generator or something back to it. I watched his overview video and it looks genuinely well thought out and comfortable. I'd honestly probably enjoy it, and that's saying a lot because I have a disdain for EVs. I hope other companies steal some of the ideas presented by them and implement them in other cars. Very well presented Doug, and well done Rivian.

I read through several comments in order not to repeat what could have been stated many times. I did not see this posted. Doug, what I really like about this review over most of your other reviews, was the 3rd person camera perspective! Not just the in-cabin mounted view. Thank you! Of course, in an off-road review, most of your criticisms would only be opinion without the video evidence to back them up. For anyone that has off-roaded, the steepness did come through. Several suggestions posted before this one detail some ideas and tips of course. I have been following other Rivian content because I am becoming a fan of the platform. While I think its important that the big car companies are finally producing EVs. I want these smaller and new upstarts to do well while competing against them. I still hold a grudge against the mega American car companies, like GM that killed their EV1 program in favor the Hummer lines they went nuts with. Then Toyota swooped in and flooded the US with the Prius, when an American car company could have ruled the market (at least in the US). Sorry the rant on the tangent. Keep the 3rd person video content while test-driving please. Moreover, another opportunity would be having the competition vehicles parked next to one another for scale when possible.

The absence of an engine revving noise while offroading with this rivian is insane

Doug, I’m a seasoned watcher of your excellent videos, but this time you have really excelled yourself! I am a die hard petrol head and always have been, I’m not keen on electric vehicles, particularly as I live in the uk and always associate them with the slow electric milk delivery vehicles that still deliver milk to houses in the early hours of the morning and were electric so they were quiet. I drive an Audi RS6 as it’s practical, fast and fun, as I’m still clinging on to my fossil fuelled V8 as long as I can! But you have convinced me I want this truck! I’ve enjoyed both videos you’ve done on it. I think it’s fair to say that you are always fired up and always passionate about what you do, but you just took it to a new level! Great work and much respect!

I love it when he does a review from his garage and I can see my States license plate on the wall.

One beautiful aspect to some of the disadvantages being described here is the solutions will almost all be produced through creative power management through those electric motors. There really won’t be the need to throw a bunch of expensive parts at the problem with the exception of the crappy camera position/angle and resolution and the tire air monitor/management systems. Rivian can partner up with a company like High Sierra and come up with a “High Sierra” package that comes with the new longer range 400 mile battery, fully upgraded camera package, tire air monitoring system, the cargo tunnel kitchen, some Rivian specific adventure luggage, and a cool custom designed over cab and bed mounted tent, lol. There are already the spots over both the cab and bed for weight bearing mounts for the tent!! 👍🏻😎👍🏻

4 minutes. Ooh. First off-road review. Quite exciting! ALSO, IS THAT THE HUMMER EV? I’ve been SO hyped for the full review after your initial preproduction walkthrough. Hell yeah!

Rivan team watching Doug’s vid are all high-fiving each other right now, I bet.

My main reservation with the Rivian is that there's not much of a path for aftermarket upgrades. I don't believe you can put different size wheels or tires on it without throwing off the computer that controls the motors. Likewise it will be very difficult to lift it or modify the suspension due to the proprietary design. Air suspension isn't ideal for off-roading because it gets stiffer the higher you raise it up, so at maximum ground clearance you're also getting minimum travel. Will be interesting to see how the aftermarket responds to electric cars over the next decade.

The best thing about an electric off roader is that almost every complain you have, can be solve with a software update, and in my opinion that's a huge win, the "locking dif", the hill descent, the brake hold, all of that could be programmed, and be a super cheap or even free up grade

Please more off-road reviews Doug 🙏

Just watched The National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation for the holidays and realized that Doug could probably do a great uncle Eddy impression if he tried.

holy cr*p Doug offroading, my life is complete! :D love you man

Rivian should endorse Doug because his videos is what has sold me. I was seriously looking at the Silverado EV, then the F150 Lightening but after reviewing this Rivian, I am done. Rivian it is, not big on the odd headights but I will get over it.

Clearly knobbier tires would’ve made a huge difference. Regardless I’m impressed.

Doug is the type of guy to go back to the classic days of his channel by off-roading vehicles.

One of Doug's best videos yet.

From one Doug to another, this video is tops

Doug is the type of guy to steal your license plate for his collection.

Since each wheel has its own motor seems like there would be a way to "lock" them together. Like a differential locker. Probably could be done with programming.

There's a point in the video where you can really see the angle. It's the type of angle that you can't quite see whats coming up. Also it's wild to not hear any engine noise while climbing. Very impressive.

Inman Park Fest for the win! 🦋 Thanks Doug!

You know you made it. When rappers start putting your name in their songs. There's a new rap song, with a Doug Demuro reference. This rapper was Netflix and chillin, with a female. And when the night ended. He "gave her a rider review, like Doug Demuro."

Brakes will overheat when you dump a large amount of energy into them. That doesn't happen going down a short hill very slowly. You could ride the brakes all day at that speed and they'll never get warm.

The sounds of the truck going down silently, just a slow rockslide, so cool

These are manufactured about a half hour from me, Rivian has quickly become a MAJOR employer in our area and I have hesrd nothing but good things about them as a company *so far* feels cool seeing something made locally do so well!

Doug is never getting his second channel back 😂

Very nice to see a detailed off road evaluation of the R1T. Thanks Doug!

Very impressive. Great work Rivian👍👍

Waiting for mine, ordered Nov 29th, 2018! More than three years now, might get it 3.5 years after ordering! So get in line if you want one in less than 2 years at least!

10:10 being electric, I assume pressing the brake pedal gives a mix of electric regen and actual brakes. It's almost certainly not 100% brake pads alone. Sounds like they just need to simulate a low gear mode where regen is always intensely active. This would probably work for hill hold too.

You know Doug is seriously into the car when he doesn't bother posting funny thumbnails.

Some of the things you mentioned are actually easily added on thru software. The tire psi is already monitored for the TPMS mandatory on vehicles. Just a matter of allowing it to be displayed. Hill descent is also just a software upgrade. As is the ability to “lock” an axle. Rivian is gonna be a big player the EV truck market .

Doug is the kind of guy who is not afraid to scratch the doors on a brand new Rivian, respect

I gotta say, it was a crazy feat going up that road. One realizes this once the Land Cruiser guy is like "I'm not going there"

Doug is covered by his insurance for $1.5 mil and he's worried about wrecking a $70,000 truck while offroading. This made my day.

Good on Rivian for enough confidence in their product to allow real world and honest review of it! Some of the negatives Doug mentioned could likely be resolved via software updates. 👍🏾👏🏾 Great review Doug!!

This test may dispel the belief from other YT videos that Rivian is hiding weaknesses. You must assume every new vehicle has a few bugs, but this truck looks amazingly good for off-road use.

Doug, appreciate your unbiased (as much as man can be, at least) take on things, but in particular, this Rivian review. Not sure many CarTubers are being 100%honest in their reviews

I’d like to think of this as a beautiful collaboration between Doug and Rivian to better product development. Living an off-roader’s experience is key to produce a capable truck!

Not even an off-road guy (I think the vehicles and community are very cool though), but I’m excited to see what this truck will be like in a few years. For how good it already is I think they can still make massive improvements (not just on off-road stuff but the user interface and other small details). Looking forward to what it’s capable of with mods too.

Doug, I love the attention to detail of your videos. Everything down to how you pick your back drops to start the video. You're on fire! Keep it up!

"This! Is the Morrvair from Matt's Offroad Recovery and today he is going to rescue me in my 7000 lb truck on AT tires" Just kidding. It seems very capable. I'll be interested to see if any sort of modding community develops armor for this thing.

You keep saying how heavy the R1T is at 6k, but I think your reference point is a bit off. No doubt the most popular platform currently is the Jeep JKU and JLU and they are right there in terms of weight. My stock JKU is 5500# and not that 500# doesn't make a difference, but it's not that far off. I think the biggest problem you had climbing the hill was that your didn't let enough air out of the tires. I didn't reference the sidewall rating on those tires, but assuming it's about a D, you should be down at like 14psi for a trail like that. It would have helped get more tire tread on rock and given you better grip. Other than that, I agree with most of the comments that it seems like the hardware is capable, but they need to add some software to get it the rest of the way there.

Hearing Doug mock the lame ass dissenters is always enjoyable.

Watching this reminded me of a little puppy learning to crawl. Surprised I didn't hear any cries. The fact there is no engine noise takes away from the excitement of taking this off road.

This is like, the best possible press for the Rivian lol.

Another great video on the R1T. You seriously put out an HOUR of content on one truck. I think your drawbacks are very note worthy but everything but the camera system can probably be greatly improved with software upgrades. I get the issues with camera resolution but I thought the R1T had a ton of cameras, including some on the bottom to let you see obstacles as you drive over them. I do hope Rivian upgrades the cameras. On the tires, I'm kinda surprised you liked the Pirelli Scorpion ATs. They don't look very aggressive and I saw a lot of slippage that I don't think I would have saw with the Falkens on my Jeep. Also, even though those are 34" tires, they are on 20" wheels. Rivian did that to fit on those huge brakes but less tire sidewall is never a good thing. One thing you didn't mention was regen braking when going down that steep hill. Did that provide any benefit? Still, seeing the R1T attack that hill was VERY impressive. Rivian needs to get busy and build mine NOW.. 🤣

Man, if the biggest complains are cameras quality and lack of stupid hill assist, you know its a good car ; Lets go rivian go go 200 and more! :D 🚀🚀🚀

Doug, I need the following off road vehicle: - Supplies all the off road capabilities of the Rivian. -Supplies all the power output of the Ford Lightning - Allows me to be off grid overlanding for a week or more. Suggestions? I know that off road vehicle doesn't exist. What we need is a off road Prius with the plugins of the Ford Lightning. That will be the home run!

Can't wait for Dougcember (Hummer EV, LucidAir)

My biggest takeaway Doug is that a few times you instinctively went to put your thumbs inside the steering wheel. I was an off road driving instructor for 10 years, if you want broken thumbs, that's how you get them. I've watched someone have thumbs outside the wheel for days, put them in once, and then the wheel spins and they bust their thumbs up. I was one of those people. Plus your thumbs are important. You only did it for an instant, but after hurting myself, and watching others get hurt, I see it.

Kudos Doug on being honest about the negative checklist. I watched the RU-vid channel JerryrigEverything, and he nonstopped gushed about it with no negatives.

It has a defining quietness to it. It’s absolutely mind blowing.