Tesla Pickup Trouble: Should Elon Musk Worry With Rivian's Voice Command?

Tesla pickup rival Rivian recently showcased an amazing feature of its pickup truck, the R1T, during a recent Amazon event.

While doing a product demo, the company showcased its electric pickup following an Alexa voice command on opening the Rivian R1T front trunk (frunk). Amazon and Rivian have already established a close business relationship which began when Jeff Besoz’s company invested a $700 million fund to the production of the new electric vehicle.

The two companies further strengthened the partnership when Amazon committed to purchasing 100,000 electric delivery vans for its own operations. This is a very promising deal, but Rivian said that it is actually more committed to focusing on its commercial cars.

With this development, can the Rivian overtake the Tesla pickup in terms of popularity and features? Perhaps not. Looking closely, the Rivian R1T has a lot of promising features but it still pails in comparison to Elon Musk’s mysterious utility vehicle which is being referred to as the Tesla Model B.

The Rivian R1T is described to have a towing capacity of around 11,000 pounds. Although impressive, this is still considered puny compared to the Tesla pickup’s claim of a 300,000-pound towing capacity.

When it comes to range, the Rivian truck is expected to cover around 400 miles on a full charge. The Tesla pickup, on the other hand, boasts of about 500 miles range. The Tesla semi is expected to run up to 650 miles.

For looks, the Rivian R1T is already quite eye-catching because of its modern and sleek design, however, Musk’s more appealing description of the Model B can actually be more exciting. Musk once described the new electric utility vehicle as “cyberpunk,” which pretty much got a lot of fans and designers excited enough to create a slew of concept designs.

Lastly, in terms of technological features, we’re pretty sure that Tesla won’t fall short of expectations. Tesla’s chief engineer once described it as “the coolest car I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s gonna be like a really futuristic-like cyberpunk, “Blade Runner” pickup truck. It’s gonna be awesome, it’s gonna be amazing. This will be heart-stopping. It stops my heart. It’s like, oh, it’s great,” Musk once said during an interview.