I never thought I’d say the most powerful and quickest vehicle I’ve driven wouldn’t be a sports car or have an internal combustion engine. The title to that goes to the 2026 Rivian R1T Quad truck.

On the outside, the R1T is unmistakable with Rivian’s signature lighting and front end design. The light bar section contains a series of lights to display the level of charge while charging. It’s such a simple thing that gets overlooked by brands, and often difficult to check the current charge level of an EV unless you start it up. The big 22-inch wheels on this Quad model were wrapped in sticky Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires to handle the power and weight. Rivian’s wheel offerings will probably be the hardest thing to choose as they offer some beautiful designs in both the summer and off-road tire packages.

Getting into the R1T, the optional Ocean Coast + Driftwood selection gave such a bright and airy feeling to the interior. My personal choice would be the Slate Sky + Walnut Wood, that offers soothing greys. Although the Rivian lineup doesn’t offer Apple CarPlay, after 2 days of using their interface, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Rivian user interface is superior. The responsiveness is incredible and the layout is intuitive. The screen was extremely sharp to showcase the 4K camera system while you’re trying to park.

Powering the R1T Quad, is a quad-motor AWD system offering 1,025 horsepower and 1,198 lb.-ft. of torque. This is the most powerful and quickest vehicle I have ever driven. What makes the Rivian R1T so great, is that even with all that power on tap, it can behave and be an incredible commuter in stop and go traffic. The autonomous driving in standstill highway driving was unbelievable with a smooth acceleration and braking. Of course when you decide to switch it over to sport mode, you’ll want to make sure you and your passengers are ready to pull over 1Gs of acceleration force with launch mode activated.

Although the 2026 Rivian R1T Quad starts at $115,990, I can tell you that if it was in my budget, it would be the vehicle that I’d get. This truck can do it all, and do it all very well.