even the pandemic didnt stop automakers from unveiling cars in 2020 from the achingly beautiful ferrari roma to the electric polestar 2 and from the mercedesmaybach gls to three trackworthy wagons the new products provided some optimism about the future of driving while many other diversions concerts shopping travel stalledbut thats old newswhat im really looking forward to driving in 2021 is not a car at all its a truck the rivian r1tthe company announced it in 2018 long before tesla incs cybertruck and general motors cos hummer ev so its about time last year i wrote about wanting to drive the cybertruck and im still waiting for that test drivewith a 754 horsepower and allwheel drive the r1t is not the most practical constructionsite hauler though potential buyers will certainly include a few hardworking ranchers builders and outdoor types the truck bed alone is dwarfed by that of the cybertruck which is 6 feet long and 57 inches wide the r1ts bed is reportedly just 4 feet by 50 inches it will however go from zero to 60 mph in the same time as a porsche 911but more than the 75000 trucks considerable capabilitiesit promises up to 400 miles of driving rangeim also fascinated by the company behind itfounded in 2009 and now headquartered in plymouth mich rivian automotive inc has garnered wide praise for bringing to market what myriad others bollinger fisker lordstown motors atlis and nikola among others have yet to produce an actual forsale roadlegal liveinlivingcolor electric truckif rivian executives hold true to their promise that the r1t will hit customers driveways in june it will beat the cybertruck slated for the end of 2021 ford motor cos electric f150 on sale by 2022 and the hummer to become americas first batterypowered pickup the full range will premiere in 2023 whichever company gets its out first and does it well will land a huge coup from a branding perspective as well as immense profits the electrified truck represents an astoundingly lucrative market last year 25 million americans bought a pickup truck theyre on track to outpace the sales of suvs which when combined with truck sales constitute 70 of the us market for new vehicleswere seeing customers come out of just about everything rj scaringe rivians founder and chief executive officer told bloomberg on dec 10 of course theyre coming out of pickups but oftenmore likelycoming out of suvs out of other electric vehiclesthe big question is what makes or will make rivian exceptional among its set plenty of people do believe its special t rowe price blackrock fidelity soros fund management and cox automotive among others have invested a cumulative total of more than 6 billion into the company last year ford paid 500 million for access to rivians electric skateboard truck platform a few months before amazoncom incs jeff bezos ordered 100000 rivianmade delivery vanslast week former aston martin president laura schwab announced she had left the legacy british auto brand to become