The growling sound and menace of the American pickup pack that is iconic in that part of the world is due to fade away over coming years with the arrival of electrically-powered 'trucks' from all the major manufacturers, writes Brian Byrne.
But a start-up company that only launched itself three years ago has beaten all the big boys out of the starting gate with its first customers getting their $73,000 vehicles in the last couple of weeks. The Rivian R1T four-door pickup is already proving itself as an off-road performer without parallel, and a silent on-roader with a range of up to 500kms.
Rivian also plans an SUV version shortly which will target the other side of the biggest market on the US continent. And US journalists who recently got the chance to rock-crawl and canyon-drive in Colorado have come out of the wilderness with strange silly smiles on their faces. The four electric motors driving the Rivian make controlling drive in the most difficult situations a doddle, it seems.
And if you figure on staying wild overnight, there's a $5,000 option of a fold-out kitchen set-up that certainly beats rubbing sticks together to make a campfire.
