One vehicle I’m most excited to experience someday is the Rivian R1T (and the R1S SUV). This electric upstart is making big promises about the capability of its machines. It’s also not going out and making ridiculous displays, outlandish remarks, manipulating stocks, and generally doing anything it can to turn you off from its wares. Instead, Rivian appears to, as a company, have its head down with eyes focused on the prize of bringing a truly capable electric machine to market. And to prove what it has going on, the automaker let a pre-production truck loose on the tough Rebelle Rally with Emme Hall and Rebecca Donaghe putting it through its paces.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Rebelle Rally is a navigation focused event that covers more than 1,200 miles of desert and mountainous terrain between California and Nevada. It’s run solely by women in teams of two. Over the course of seven days, these teams have to hit various checkpoints and push themselves and their vehicles to the test. To run an electric truck in an event like this, especially one previously untested by the team is a crazy endeavor. But Rivian is equally crazy for lending its vehicle out. Yet the truck and team performed wonderfully.

Emme has a great write up on the experience and how the truck handled it all. You need to head to Roadshow to read it, and I recommend you do just that. This is one hell of a “First Drive Experience” for any vehicle.

[Images snagged with permission from Roadshow]