It seems that electric vehicle startup car manufactures are springing up everywhere. It's looking like the Tesla miracle will not be a one-off. Two more startups and up-start companies are looking to challenge Tesla and claim their part of the burgeoning electric vehicle market that traditional car manufacturers seem to have left vacant to their detriment.
Rivian and Lordstown are soon to release their new pickup trucks. They will not only challenge traditional combustion engine pickup trucks but will also be hitting the market at the same time as Tesla's Cybertruck and GMC's Hummer EV. Rivian is releasing their pickup in three editions, plus an SUV, while Lordstown seems to have just the one model for now. Here's why the Rivian R1T will be the best electric truck and why the Endurance could be even better - even jokingly.
9 Rivian R1T - Range
The R1T Rivian is coming in three editions the Launch Edition, Adventure, and Explore models. All three come with an EPA range on a single charge of over 300 miles. That is more than Lordstown's Endurance (that trails a little at 250 miles).
That 50 miles could be quite significant to its utility — especially seeing as these are utility trucks, and you will need all the power and charge you can get while off-roading and towing.
8 Lordstown Endurance - Moving Parts
Lordstown advertises its Endurance saying "The Endurance has the fewest moving parts of any motor vehicle. This advancement leads to fewer maintenance costs and a significantly lower cost of ownership than traditional commercial vehicles".
The more moving parts a machine has, the more things are likely to wear out and break down. Not only is that expensive to fix, but it's also inconvenient not being able to use your truck as it's parked up in the garage awaiting new parts.
7 Rivian R1T - Towing Capacity
The R1T Rivian beats the Endurance when it comes to towing capacity. All three R1T editions have a maximum towing capacity of up to 11,000lbs.
The Endurance, by contrast, is significantly less at 7,500lbs — 3,500lbs less. So you if you are planning on buying the Endurance, you may want to check the weight of your trailer and boat and ensure that it actually has the capacity to pull it!
6 Lordstown Endurance - Starting Price
The Endurance comes with a lower starting price than the R1T Rivian. The R1T Launch Edition and Adventure both start at $75,000, while the cheaper Explore edition starts at $67,500.
The Endurance is significantly cheaper with a base price of $52,500, plus by saying that it has even fewer moving parts it is implying it will have even less lifetime maintenance costs.
5 Rivian R1T - Acceleration
The R1T Rivian has the faster acceleration zooming from 0-60 miles per hour in just 3 seconds. While that is less than some of the other fully electric cars hitting the market now (like the upcoming Lucid Air), as far as electric pickup trucks go it is likely to be second only to the Cybertruck Tri Motor.
The Endurance lags considerably at a comparatively sluggish 5.5 seconds to get up to 60 miles per hour. Something they don't seem to mention on their website homepage.
4 Lordstown Endurance - Safety Rating
The Endurance has an excellent safety rating. It scores five of five stars in two of the three areas and four in the other. It gets 5 stars for the front, five stars for the side, and four for the more difficult rollover test.
That puts it up there with some of the safest vehicles on the market. The R1T Rivian still doesn't have a safety rating. So it may turn out to be just as good or even better, but that is an unknown. What is known is that the Endurance is very safe.
3 Rivian R1T - Level 3 Autonomous
The R1T Rivian comes with super-advanced computers and sensors — so much that it achieves Level 3 autonomous status. Autonomous driving comes in six levels of automation (levels 0 to 5).
Level 3 Autonomous is defined as "eyes off": The driver can safely turn their attention away from the driving tasks, e.g. the driver can text or watch a movie.
2 Lordstown Endurance - Top Speed (Jokes)
Perhaps one of the strangest characteristics of the Endurance is that its top speed is only 80 miles per hour. Lordstown has deliberately speed limited their trucks by fitting them with software to govern the top speed.
While this is arguably safer and that is most likely the reasoning behind this decision. They have taken enjoyment of autonomy away from the driver and seem to deliberately shoot themselves in the foot. Well, at least you are unlikely to get any highway speeding tickets.
1 Rivian R1T - Top Speed (For Real This Time)
Unlike the Endurance, the R1T is not speed limited with governing software. Instead, all editions have a top speed of 124.9 miles per hour (one wonders how hard they tried to get that last 0.1 mile per hour).
With a top speed that exceeds the Endurance by 45 miles per hour, you can certainly make the Endurance eat your dust.
In short, the R1T Rivian is a higher model pickup truck, but the Endurance provides an attractive cheaper option.