Experience Rivian’s Electric Joyride at SXSW 2025
Check out Rivian, offering an off-road experience in downtown Austin, Texas.
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- Rivian is offering a $5,000 lease bonus on select new R1S and R1T electric vehicles.
- The proposal comes as rival Ford plans to transition its F-150 Lightning to a hybrid model.
- Rivian’s R1T sales declined in 2025, lagging behind competitors such as the Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck.
Buyers could save $5,000 on the lease of a new electric pickup Rivian R1T or R1S SUV, as the Irving, Calif.-based plug-in car maker looks to take advantage of changes in the electric pickup market segment.
Rivian said in a post on its website that car buyers can apply $5,000 toward the amount owed at signing for “new 2026 R1S and R1T Dual vehicles with Larger Battery or Maximum Battery and Performance Upgrades if you receive an approved lease offer by March 3 and take delivery by March 31.”
The deal comes as Ford, one of Rivian’s main competitors in the electric pickup segment, announced plans to transition its F-150 Lightning pickup from a fully electric vehicle to a type of hybrid vehicle known as an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV).
It also comes as Rivian is positioning itself to become a mainstream EV maker with the introduction of a new $45,000 plug-in SUV.
How many R1Ts does Rivian sell?
Rivian sold 7,416 R1T electric pickups in 2025, according to Cox Automotive. This figure was a 33.1% decrease from the 11,085 vehicles Rivian sold in 2024. For comparison, Ford sold 27,307 F-150 Lightning electric pickups last year, and General Motors sold 11,275 Chevrolet Silverados.
Here are the sales figures for other popular models in the electric pickup segment last year:
- Tesla Cybertruck: 20,237
- GMC Hummer EV: 15,788 units
What is an Elev vehicle?
EREV is a type of plug-in hybrid vehicle with a gasoline engine. These engines are used solely to power larger-than-normal batteries intended to increase range. This differs from most hybrids, which use both the gasoline engine and battery to power the vehicle at various times while the car is being driven.
EREV was developed to address consumer concerns about the battery life of fully electric vehicles and the fact that most hybrid vehicles still use gasoline engines that cause air pollution. Concerns about the lifespan of EV batteries have become so common that they are sometimes referred to as “range anxiety.”
A poll released in January by the EV-friendly advocacy group EVs for All America found that 20% of 600 potential EV buyers in 2025 said their biggest concern about plug-in models was unreliable charger networks.
Why would Ford change the F-150 Lightning from an EV to a hybrid?
In a December 2025 news release, Ford said it was transitioning the F-150 Lighting from an all-electric powertrain to an EREV format to “offer the best of both worlds: the seamless, immediate power of an electric powertrain and the freedom of an estimated generator range of more than 700 miles.”
“Unlike traditional hybrids, the F-150 Lightning EREV is 100% propelled by electric motors,” the Dearborn, Michigan-based company said. “This ensures owners get their preferred pure EV driving experience, including rapid acceleration and quiet operation, without the need to stop and charge during long-distance towing.”
In a 2024 news release announcing the second-generation R1 vehicle, Rivian said the R1T will be offered in “tri-motor and quad-motor configurations.” “The 1,025-horsepower quad-motor R1T delivers 0-60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds when using Launch Mode and delivers an impressive 1,198 pound-feet of torque,” the company said.
Will Ford customers consider Rivian electric pickups?
Stephanie Valdez Streety, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said in a statement provided to USA TODAY that Ford’s move to electrify the F-150 Lightning will not open the door to further sales of electric pickups from Rivian.
“EV trucks will account for only 6.8% of total EV sales in 2025, and the segment shrank by 12.9% in the same year,” he said. “This is a category that is struggling to scale, and Ford’s decision reflects that reality.”
Valdez Streeti added that “there is also no buyer overlap” between Rivian and Ford.
“Lightning was sold in traditional truck states like Michigan, Texas and Florida,” she says. “The R1T is sold in outdoor adventure and coastal markets like Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Hawaii. These are fundamentally different buyers and have different motivations.”
“Ford’s move to EREVs is an acknowledgment that converting traditional truck buyers to full BEVs is a difficult challenge,” Valdez Streeti said.
“Traditional truck buyers are not Rivian’s customers,” she says. “Rivian buyers were already keen on electrification.”
