They made sure they were ready for this.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has completed its first crash tests of the Rivian R1T electric pickup, but not before testing its equipment.
The organization wanted to make sure its equipment could handle the weight of the 7,000-pound pickup and the future heavy electric trucks and SUVs it expects to be evaluating in the coming years.
To do that, it loaded up a couple of old SUVs with enough ballast to get them to 9,500 pounds, which is 1,000 pounds above the weight limit for a light-duty vehicle.
TEST DRIVE: THE 2022 RIVIAN R1T ELECTRIC PICKUP IS A GAME-CHANGING TRUCK
The IIHS tested its equipment with a Ford F-150 filled with enough ballast to bring the total weight to 9,500 pounds. (IIHS)
The pulley system that gets the vehicles up to the required 40 mph speed proved to be stout enough, so it went ahead and strapped the R1T to it to find out how it would fare.
Quite well, it turns out.
The Rivian R1T received the highest Top Safety Pick+ rating. (IIHS)
The midsize crew cab received the highest Top Safety Pick+ rating by scoring the required Good ratings in all six crash, roof-test and head restraint tests, being available with automatic emergency braking of Superior ranking, and having Good headlights standard across the model line.
The Rivian R1T weighs approximately 7,000 pounds. (IIHS)
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The R1T is both the heaviest vehicle IIHS has tested to date and the first electric pickup, with the Ford F-150 Lightning yet to be put through the regime.
The R1T showed minimal intrusion into its passenger cabin. (IIHS)
Despite being larger than the R1T, the lightest version of the F-150 Lightning weighs about 1,000 pounds less, thanks in part to its smaller, lower-range battery pack.
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The R1T received a Good rating on the driver-side small overlap front test, which is one of the toughest in the evaluation. (IIHS)
IIHS has not announced when it expects to test the F-150 Lightning or the GMC Hummer EV pickup, which is currently offered only in a 9,000-pound model that is technically a heavy-duty vehicle.