Rivian Aiming To Break Its Own Pikes Peak Record With 2025 R1T

A squad of Rivian employees and the 2025 R1T Quad-Motor have landed in the Rocky Mountains ahead of this weekend’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, where the carmaker will attempt to beat the production pickup truck record it set at last year’s event.

During the 2023 running of the world’s most famous hill climb, the R1T Quad-Motor stormed up the mountain in 11 minutes and 23.983 seconds. The R1T has since been updated for its second generation and now packs an extra 190 hp and 290 lb-ft (393 Nm), churning out an almighty 1,025 hp and 1,198 lb-ft (1,622 Nm) of torque. This allows the new pickup to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in less than 2.5 seconds. Rivian has also increased the top speed from 112 mph (180 km/h) to 130 mph (209 km/h).

Read: 2025 Rivian R1S And R1T Combine Tired Looks With New Tech And More Power

Piloting the R1T throughout the weekend will be Rivian Senior Performance Test Engineer Gardner Nichols, who also drove the truck last year.

“It’s a dream to come back to Pikes Peak in our new Quad R1T and have the full Rivian team behind me,” Nichols described. “Racing up a mountain road with no guardrails is very different than going fast on a racetrack. Power is one thing, but the torque control at each wheel with Quad-Motor helps maximize performance.”

Rivian has adorned its special Pikes Peak-prepped R1T with a multi-colored wrap. The interior has also been stripped out, and there’s now a full roll cage and a single racing seat.

The R1T isn’t the only fast electric pickup truck at Pikes Peak this weekend. Ford has brought along its latest EV demonstrator, the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck, which is powered by three Stard electric motors delivering 1,400 hp. Ford has also adorned the truck with bespoke bodywork and huge wings, meaning it can produce an insane 6,000 lbs of downforce at 150 mph. It’ll be driven by Romain Dumas, and as long as he can keep it on the road, it should easily break the 10-minute mark.