2025 R1T - Buy, Lease, or Wait?

[1civilengr]

Hi All!
After many, many years following Rivian (including a pre-order that I ended up cancelling), it looks like I am finally in a position to afford a Rivian!
In November I leased a Honda Prologue EV and that has strengthened my resolve to go all EV, but it isn't a vehicle I can use to tow my camper (23' Airstream). My current tow vehicle is a 2016 VW Touareg TDI, which has been a great car and tows very well (and is paid for), but I have a Rivian test drive set up for this Friday.
My question for those currently using R1Ts for towing is:
Would you buy another Rivian for this, knowing what you know now?
If not, is there another EV pickup recommended?
Does leasing vs purchasing make sense?
Apart from going for the MAX battery pack, are there any options recommended for towing (little or no interest in offroad camping)?

Thanks so much! I look forward to hearing back from the group!!

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[Donald Stanfield]

The best EV truck for towing is probably the Chevy or GMC, which are on the same platform. You get more range if you're towing over longer distances. If you're towing on shorter trips, the R1 is an excellent tow vehicle. Range isn't that far, depending on what you're towing.

 

[Woo]

Hi All!
After many, many years following Rivian (including a pre-order that I ended up cancelling), it looks like I am finally in a position to afford a Rivian!
In November I leased a Honda Prologue EV and that has strengthened my resolve to go all EV, but it isn't a vehicle I can use to tow my camper (23' Airstream). My current tow vehicle is a 2016 VW Touareg TDI, which has been a great car and tows very well (and is paid for), but I have a Rivian test drive set up for this Friday.
My question for those currently using R1Ts for towing is:
Would you buy another Rivian for this, knowing what you know now?
If not, is there another EV pickup recommended?
Does leasing vs purchasing make sense?
Apart from going for the MAX battery pack, are there any options recommended for towing (little or no interest in offroad camping)?

Thanks so much! I look forward to hearing back from the group!!

We leased. I basically decided on the Rivian without a test drive or looking at one in person. Feature set alone. I had seen enough good stories (and some bad) to feel confident enough that I was going to get one to replace a car that really shouldn't have lasted as long as it did.

We leased because :

• we are realistically on the edge of battery tech, software improvements and overall kind of a new era of EVs.
• If I decided I hated it, I could live with it for three years.
• If I really loved it and nothing better was out, I could buy it out. (That cost delta is my cost for the convince of being able to bail out in three years).
• If there was something way better or a new gen or even a new "special release" I could look at those.
• Lease allowed me to take advantage of the EV incentive.
• If there was a new tonneau cover we could get that.

That last bullet is a bit of comedy but in all seriousness, had I purchased, I would not have felt bad about anything that has been released or happened. I might have liked to have waited 4 months to have grabbed the Dune but still I love the truck.

I regret not knowing that the referral code cannot be entered after the order/deposit. I missed out on the referral bonus.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[rlmich]

100% get the Sierra EV with max battery. It’s the best EV truck from a domestic mfg and will have the power/range needed to tow a 23’ airstream. Lease it to get the EV credit and you will easily get a payment of around $1k/mo with almost nothing down up front. I expect the next iteration of the Sierra EV to be really special- it came in second place to my new Rivian but would have been first if I had to tow or do more truck stuff.

 

[flybone89]

I have a 2023 R1T dual performance with the max pack and I tow a 2024 Airstream 23FBT that we purchased last August. I also leased our Rivian just in case, but I am considering buying it when the lease ends because I am extremely happy with how well it tows - you won’t even know your Airstream is behind you! - and how awesome it is to drive when I am not towing.

Towing range is not bad - as long as I don’t have an incredible head wind I can get 150 miles or more. And my range is better towing my 6000 pound trailer with my Rivian than it was with a Tesla Model Y towing a 2000 pound teardrop. And I get to drive a much better vehicle in the process! Keep in mind it’s not just the time you’re towing, but all the other moments you will drive without the trailer and hands down the Rivian is the best all around option for me!

The bigger issue I have had with towing is finding trailer friendly charging spots. And you will have to deal with that issue regardless of EV truck you choose. I haven’t had to unhitch yet but I have had to get real creative on how to pull in sometimes! I have no problem stopping and waiting - and I have a nice trailer to wait in! - I just wish there was more pull through charging.

So my recommendation is lease a Rivian and when you pass one towing an Airstream with BRN 13692 wave hello!

Kevin

 

[my-pet-snake-reggie]

As a first-time EV owner, I went with a lease. Some reasons...
–Wanted to "test" the EV world and do it with no money down other than taxes, which I would have to pay no matter what kind of car I got
–Tech changes so fast that in 3 years my truck could be outdated in terms of software capabilities & battery efficiency - wanted the out option
-$7500 EV incentive available for the lease
-Option to buy if I want - did the math on this and it was cheaper to lease and buy it out later then it was to purchase outright

I can't speak to towing but there are times when I wish I had a larger battery (went with standard LFP) but that's another discussion.

My build was custom so I couldn't use a referral code when I signed. A month later they changed that to allow codes for shop & custom builds. Frustrating to miss out on that but the truck is a blast to own. Been very happy so far.

 

[1civilengr]

Thanks all!

I test drove a new Silverado EV on the same day I tried out the Rivian. It drove very well, but decided against it for a few reasons.
1. It is too big to fit in the parking space behind our house
2. Updates only available by visiting dealer service
3. Some of the cool self driving features are only available with a subscription after the initial period
4. I personally like the look and feel of the Rivian much more
5. Did I mention that it's really, really big?!

I placed a custom order for an R1T Max Pack, but an inventory model with the features I want just became available, so I'll be picking up the truck later this month (May 2025)!

 

[VandalSibs]

I tow with a Gen1 R1T Large Pack, but the battery in it is bigger than the Gen2 Large. If my wife and I were buying now, we would go for the Max pack like you are.

We don't tow anything as big as you are (2.7k lb., 16-foot camper), but even in some crazy head & crosswinds we got 140 miles. Big improvement from the Model Y before.

Enjoy the new truck - it's more capable than it might seem. The bed looks small, but it's perfect for small yard landscaping material runs & other runs.

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