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Video shows how easily a Rivian R1T can pull a stuck semi truck out of a ditch

The helpful driver of a Rivian R1T in Illinois had no issues pulling a heavy semi truck back on the road (Image: NotNearlyNormal)
The helpful driver of a Rivian R1T in Illinois had no issues pulling a heavy semi truck back on the road (Image: NotNearlyNormal)
The suspiciously opportune incident perfectly illustrates the remarkable towing capabilities of Rivian's popular electric truck named the R1T, which is why some observers claim that the video could have been staged for marketing purposes.

Electric trucks are in high demand these days, at least on the North American market. As the established automakers like Ford and GMC already project extremely long waiting times for the delivery of a newly ordered F-150 Lightning or Hummer EV, the competing electric truck made by the relatively young California-based company Rivian has now made headlines which conveniently highlight the towing capabilities of the R1T.

A rather short and blurry 22-second video posted on Reddit shows a semi truck that appears to be stuck in a ditch on the side of a road in the town of Normal, Illinois. Fortunately enough, a good samaritan in a Rivian R1T electric truck comes to the rescue and manages to resolve the precarious situation by pulling the heavy 17,000 lbs semi truck back on the road. Officially, the electric pickup truck can tow a maximum of 11,000 pounds, but the Rivian R1T's copious amount of instant torque apparently came in quite handy during this operation.

The electric truck's dual motors produce over 900 ft-lb of torque, which also means that it is not exactly surprising that the Rivian R1T had no issues with pulling an unloaded semi truck out of a ditch. While many other non-electric pickup trucks with traditional internal combustion engines could have done the same, the video surely promotes the respectable towing capabilities of the Rivian R1T, which is why some commenters have already argued that this incident may have been staged as a marketing stunt.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2022 04 > Video shows how easily a Rivian R1T can pull a stuck semi truck out of a ditch
Enrico Frahn, 2022-04-14 (Update: 2022-04-14)