The only three electric pickups currently on sale in the US, the Ford F-150, the Rivian R1T and the GMC Hummer EV are also the quickest trucks on the market too. We haven’t experienced the Hummer accelerating, although its performance specs are really impressive, especially given its weight, but we have experienced the other two and they pull so much stronger than any previous ICE truck.
The Fast Lane Truck wanted to see just how big a performance difference there is by lining up a Ford F-150 Lightning and a hybrid variant, the 702 horsepower Ram TRX and a Rivian R1T. They decided to first race the two Ford models against one another, and even though the F-150 hybrid is very strong with its 430 horsepower, the nearly 1,100 pounds heavier Lightning (which was the Extended Range 580 horsepower model) made the hybrid look like it was standing still.
Then they raced the winner, the electric F-150, against the Ram TRX and this was a much more interesting and closer run. Based on the slow motion start replay, it looks like they both set off at exactly the same time, with very similar reaction times, and the really rapid TRX launches pretty much as well as the Lightning.
However, even though it is more powerful and lighter, the Ford still beats it thanks to superior torque and seamless power delivery with no gear changes. Had the race been longer than a quarter-mile, maybe the TRX (which is better at the top end and has a slightly higher electronically limited top speed) would have won. This is the closest race of this entire video, because for the final run, they race the Lightning against the quad-motor R1T and it makes the Ford, which is not slow at all, seem leisurely by comparison.
Originally published at https://insideevs.com/news/592987/rivian-r1t-ford-f150-lightning-drag-race/
