2025 Rivian R1S Reviewed on Road, Dirt and Snow

We finally got our hands on a new Rivian R1S all-electric SUV. Is it any good? We check out all the features and put it to the test!

#rivian #offroad #automobile

Get a VIP Pass for Driving Sports TV on YouTube:

Driving Sports produces exclusive automotive reviews, news and motor sports for broadcast, web, mobile and set-top boxes. Do not use our video content without permission. All rights are reserved.

Equipment used to make this video:

Follow us:

[drivingsports]

YouTube is now adding automatic dubbing for multiple languages on our Channel. Try one of the 9 in the video settings gear icon. Note these are automatically generated and we do not know how well they translated. If you are a native speaker for one of the alternates, give it a try and reply to this pinned post with how accurate they are!

[HONORYOUROATH]

Good thing that there’s room to sleep in the Rivian because for 100 thousand I would need to move into it. Love this channel.

[KeithSchwerin]

Rivian honestly is the only EV that i (cant afford) but am very interested in.

[heyzell_]

I'm excited for the release of the R2 and R3 (and R3X). I was able to sit in both at a Rivian dealer and the interiors are just unbelievable. Hope the brand sticks it out and delivers.

[handlehandleton]

Looks like an awesome vehicle. I'm also excited for the Scout because it has a bench seat in the front. I think it will also be 100k though. If we start getting 15 year loans for cars and 45 year mortgages for homes I can start making grown-up purchases like this!

[RriggerMortis]

Kudos on the cinematography and the editing during the slo-mo snow segment.

[psusteel]

Really great, thorough, and well-voiced overview of this vehicle! Seriously considering this to be my one and only after this! Have a Tesla Model Y and a 2014 ICE SUV, but do a lot of outdoor activities.

[andrey_climb_bike_ski]

Great review! You clearly took the time to learn about the vehicle (eg. Not riding in max height), and called out some legitimate negative points. I'm looking forward to the test of the all terrain version!

[rustlesee]

R2 is coming, and I’m really watching that one. If it’s as good as this, but smaller, I’m in.

[dirtandhappiness]

WOOOW! Great first review! I’ll definitely want to see it on the AT tires on the hard course!!!

[jmoranretana]

The video production was oustanding. Great job, looking forward to the next review.

[Motorheaddoc]

As a R1T owner and previous Tesla owner, this has been the best daily all arounder I have ever experienced

[kcrain]

Great video! I've been waiting for a few years now to see you behind the wheel of a Rivian. I'm nearly 2 yrs into owning my launch edition R1T (quad motor, large battery, 20" offroad wheels), and I love it. First off, I'm not surprised with all the things you like and enjoyed about the vehicle, and the few small complaints are mine as well. Yet overall, you get used to the minor quirks because everything else is so good.

As for the range, I only have 310 miles of max range in a conserve mode (quads get this to fully disconnect the back motors for highway cruising). For longer road trips, 310 miles is sufficient, but I've wanted more a few times. It's been challenging in certain regions that are not heavily populated with a variety of charger options. On one hiking trip, I had ~10% charge left when I pulled into a town that had a lone 50W charger and the rest were level 2. In cases like this, you have to wait potentially a long time (1-2 hrs) until you can even plug in to charge. That was also before Tesla Supercharger NACS adapters were available, so that issue has been mitigated to nearly zero now. But I would love to have 400 miles of range to not be stuck waiting for a backed up charging station. If I hit 25% with 100 miles left, I would have many more options to pick from. 300 miles of range doesn't give you as many.

I look forward to seeing you test a more offroad Rivian, because it only gets better!! I also hope they provide you a tri or quad motor version, not because you need all the extra power additional motors provide (with slightly less range), but you also get more drive modes to test than a dual motor version.

Been a fan, and happy you've finally had your first Rivian experience. It is a special vehicle.

[edcho]

I traded my Model Y for the Rivian R1S.

I have no regrets at all whatsoever.

[wavetraced]

Owner of 2025 R1S here. Phenomenal vehicle. I also own a 2021 Model Y. Presence, ride, performance, fit and finish, are all excellent. Very close to how good Teslas are. Two Achilles heels are cabin NVH, significant low frequencies from chassis flex or suspension, nearly as poor as the Teslas, and avoid "premium" audio at all costs. It's as if Rivian went to Walmart and got whatever outdated bargain basement speakers they had. It will ruin every song you play.

[RichardVac]

That is my favorite EV, it's worth the 100k. Great! Traction, great! Vehicle

[MrPalamarek]

I've never seen Ryan so speechless on acceleration. 😂

[jamtap]

Great review! Love the side by side comparison of the different modes!

[lukiw]

Off road driving was impressive. I don't like ev vehicles but this one has good off road abilities and pretty good finished interior. Great review. Greetings

[adamblakeley]

This perfectly illustrates the issue with EVs becoming a mass market widely purchased product. This is an awesome vehicle. 400-ish mile range, all wheel drive, loads of useful room etc….but it’s astronomically expensive even in base trim. Obviously moneyed types can afford it as it’s closely priced to a fully loaded Tahoe or Yukon, Suburban etc, and it’s a close competitor size wise also. But if EVs are going to allegedly replace petrol vehicles at some point, there needs to be this level of range and utility at a price that the masses can afford. If there was an EV that was a small to medium size crossover/ute with 400 mile-ish range at a digestible price, I would absolutely buy one. But that’s not a reality right now and probably won’t be for quite a while until battery tech changes. Also I agree with the “automation to the point of insanity “ comment. And I’m a guy who loves all the new tech and screens in cars now. I just find it hilarious that virtually every state has laws against cell phone use while driving and yet car companies are allowed to sell vehicles that require you to use basically a dash mounted cell phone to perform every function in the vehicle.