The Future is Here… and it Can Get Muddy!

Two 4x4 Rivian EV’s took the toughest test of all - running the entire rugged Trans-America Trail across the U.S.

by

Words by Robb Pritchard Photos by Ben Moon

Forward-looking car aficionados who are happy that there’s an alternate choice over combustion engines have had a lot to be excited about over the last few years. Whatever you may think of Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, or Croatia’s Mate Rimac, the founder of the Rimac Automobili, these are leaders in the EV arena and are game-changers who engineer incredible designs of automation.

For off-road enthusiasts, Tesla’s Cybertruck was all there was to look forward to. But not anymore. US-based Rivian just made the prospect of a battery-powered four-wheeling trip even more of a reality. Underneath its exterior is some astounding, industry-leading technology and to prove that its R1T is fit for purpose, the company undertook the hardest off-road test they could imagine - driving a pair of them from coast to coast across the US.

The 8,000 km (5,000 mi) Trans-America Trail is arguably the greatest off-roading challenge in the US. It begins on the North Carolina Coast, leads into the densely wooded rolling Appalachian Mountains, crosses the flatlands of the Mississippi Basin, winds up through the Great Plains of Oklahoma and Colorado, and through the high desert plateaus of Nevada. It then zig-zags up and over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean on the other side of Oregon’s redwood forests.

Locally, a short stretch this mega-trail would make for a great weekend expedition and only very few have been brave or capable enough to take on its entire length, an expedition which was expected to take around six weeks. Of course, no one has ever attempted it with a fully electric vehicle but this is exactly what a team of journalists and Rivian technicians did.

Two Rivian R1Ts, loaded with camping and recovery gear, undertook the incredible journey. One vehicle was called ‘Rocky’ for the journalists and the other was named ‘Holly’ that transported the Rivian technicians. They came along on the adventure in the event the electric and drivetrain systems needed any remedial service and, despite how capable the Rivians are lauded as being, it’s hard to let go of what you know. A Ram TRX was also on the journey as a backup vehicle.

The main mastermind behind the extraordinary undertaking was Christian Seabaugh who spent almost three years organizing the process. In terms of camping, cooking and using recovery gear, it wasn’t much different from any normal, yet extremely long, off-roading trip. But, the route had to account for charging stations, where they were located and how to get to them by short detours.

What Seabaugh didn’t have to do was find ‘softer’ routes for the pair of Rivians. From the outset, even though they are pre-production vehicles, it was understood they can take on any trail like any other normal production off-roader. In fact, with its electronic control systems and clever adjustable air/hydraulic suspension, it was expected to be even more capable and comfortable.

The futuristically shaped body of the R1T may not be for everyone but under the surface, the technology is undeniably far superior to any conventional 4x4 on the market. Each wheel is powered by its own dedicated motor and when combined, they deliver an output of a massive 835 horsepower and 908 lb-ft of torque. Never mind the rivals in the utility vehicle market, these are supercar numbers.

Additionally, the 135-kWh battery pack is rated for a range of 505 km (314 mi) but that number will be drastically reduced off-road just as kpg would be for a conventional engine. So complicated was the level of planning that Seabaugh had to account for fires, which in the western reaches have devastated the landscape and necessitated diversions. But one thing that was out of his control was the weather.

For the first few days, the trail was easily negotiated with gravel, mud, exposed rocks and the occasional water crossing, nothing too challenging and the crew cycled through all of the system settings, like Off-Road Auto, Rock, Rally, and the hopefully unneeded Drift, to get a feel for their differences. The first real test came when the road deteriorated into a muddy, rock crawling section.

A long way from anywhere, if a vehicle became stuck or worse, broken, they’d truly be on their own but they weren’t going to be fazed by the very first obstacle. With precarious embankments that gave way under the weight of the vehicles and driving at challenging angles on wet rocks, it was sometimes easier just to drive in the stream.

In this difficult section of the trail, the Rivians proved supremely capable. In contact with the ground is a set of 20” A/T Pirelli Scorpion tires, tailor made for the Rivian. With approach, break-over, and departure angles as good or better as any Jeep, and a motor on each wheel with sensors that instantly reduce drive to any wheel that breaks traction much faster than any mechanical slip differential, the teams were soon on their way again with an air of confidence.

Yet, that section was just a taste of what would soon come. A couple of days of torrential rain, an incredible 47 cm (19 in) in just one day, flooded the region. Although the Rivian can wade through 1 m (about 3 ft) of water it can’t manage 1.5 m (5 ft).

At one point, with many parts of the trail washed out, the groups could either turn the Rivians into boats or make their way around the washed-out section through a forest. Also, as the charge was running low at this point, they didn’t have the option of turning around. Oh, the area was riddled with rattlesnakes.

Being spotted over the sharp stumps (left by the locals who’d made a way through for their ATVs), and inching along trees practically scraping the bodywork, they made it. Then the Ram had to get through. Although an electric chainsaw was part of the inventory that plugged conveniently into the Ram’s 120V outlet, it wouldn’t work. Being in the middle of nowhere, there was no alternative and the Ram had to follow somehow. Thinking methodically, they plugged the chainsaw into Rocky and it came to life! The Rivians had saved the ‘support’ truck.

There was something else that the team noticed. When they popped out into civilization to stock up on fresh supplies and charge the vehicles, the Rivian was the most friendship-making car anyone had experienced. It wasn’t because no one had ever seen an electric off-roader, but they were impressed with its capabilities - tell a rural local resident in the U.S.  that a truck can tow 4,500 kg (10,000 lb) and they can’t help but be impressed.

After running through the sodden forests of Mississippi, the featureless Oklahoma prairie land offered no real challenge. However, the third leg through the heart of the Rocky Mountains was where the most severe challenge would lie. A major forest fire a couple of months before the expedition had closed some of the official trails, but there were dirt tracks that lead around them and a slight detour led the team near Moab, one of the most popular off-roading areas in the U.S.

The team couldn’t resist trying the Rivians on some of the famous trails. Fully loaded, they tackled Hell's Revenge and Wipeout Hill trails, which is where they had their only breakdown on the entire trip. Holly's left-front tie rod snapped on a particularly tough rock climbing section but in the R1T’s defence, it was a trail that many standard 4x4s wouldn’t have had a chance of succeeding.

It was an easy fix and once again the teams were impressed with the vehicle’s capabilities. The R1t’s design, with the centrally mounted direct-drive transaxles, allows long control arms and half shafts, which offers very impressive levels of articulation.

Then they went into the mountains. The highest pass, Skyline Drive, is at 3,100 m (10,170 ft), and the freakish weather caught them by surprise. Out of the birch forests, they were hit by the driving snow in a howling storm - despite it being mid-August. Inching down the other side, the snow turned into sleet, and then torrential rain.

Thankfully, the flash floods they were worried about didn’t happen, although the trail had turned into barely passable thick mud in places. Using kinetic recovery ropes, MaxTrax’s and co-drivers looking for alternative ways around this part of the trail was the order of the day. By pressing on and taking everything in their path one step at a time, they made it through. Once out onto the dusty plains of Utah, the mud was far behind and there was nothing but dirt roads across endless miles of desert.

The famous Bonneville Salt Flats were washed out after some more heavy rain and the fact that climate change is caused at least in part by combustion engines was not lost on the team. Wildfires are becoming ever more prevalent and on the final leg, there were no less than four active blazes, all of which needed constant monitoring and alternate routes around them.

After the muddy savannahs of northern Utah and through the last of sprawling farms, Idaho's Snake River Valley was empty prairie and ran roughly parallel with the Oregon Trail. One hundred and fifty years ago, some of the team’s ancestors had crawled through this barren landscape at walking pace in cart trains, hauling their belongings west on a journey that took months. Now they were blasting along at 130 km/h (80 mph) in near-silent luxury.

How times change.

The off-roading ended a little sooner than they’d expected. Two of the large wildfires they were monitoring had swept across their route to the coast and finding a safe detour proved too complicated. In addition to adding extra days to their journey, being subject to the sudden change of the winds and flames could be very dangerous. Even at a day’s drive away, the smoke was enough to make them cough. Sensibly, they decided to do the final stretch on the pavement until - in a fit of exuberance - they drove straight onto the beach and promptly got stuck in the soft sand.

Even if the very last metres were at the end of a tow rope, they have done the near-impossible and made it across the U.S off-road with only a couple of punctures and a kinked tie rod over the course of 8,000 km (5,000 mi) in 43 days. They didn't run out of power once nor did they have any issues finding chargers for the R1Ts. So, in one expedition the Rivian just disproved every single argument about how electrification is just a gimmick, that it’s unreliable, that you can’t go all that far, and that a battery-powered truck can’t be capable enough.

The future isn’t coming, it’s here.

Rivian currently has two models of the quad-motor R1T. There’s the Explore Package that starts at $67,500 USD, while the Adventure and Launch editions start at $73,000 USD.

For information and availability visit Rivian.com