Remember when rumors surfaced a few days before the Cybertruck’s launch that it would be able to turn 360-degrees like a tank? Although Tesla didn’t bring the feature, it sure sowed the seeds into the minds of the competition. It became a hot topic and Rivian decided to capitalize on it. The American startup recently revealed a video wherein its R1T pickup truck can be seen turning on a dime! This is a hell lot more than just a marketing ploy or a gimmick. Point – Rivian.

Tank Turn Is Going To Blow The Traditional Way Of Doing Donuts To Smithereens

Rivian posted a video to its YouTube channel where it can be seen doing a tank turn effortlessly. The video description reads - “Tank Turn. Available on the R1T and R1S :)” So, it’s official. Although it became official now, a leaked video from July this year showed the same features. The company’s PR team took it off instantly, but it sparked a controversy and people we’re stoked. In fact, the CEO, RJ Scaringe, spoke about the zero-turning radius feature before that. As it turns out, Rivian had even filed trademarks for “Tank Steer” and “Tank Turn” long back. This awesome technology will be very useful in a lot of cases, with the most popular one being when parking in or out of a tight space. And, can you imagine the donuts you can do with this thing? This is game-changing technology right here.

The Rivian R1T and R1S have the same powertrain. The four-motor all-wheel-drive setup makes it feasible to do a zero-radius turn. Now, this may not be entirely possible on the tarmac and we will need to wait to get more information on that, but you can expect it do the tank turns quite easily on sand, mud, and snow. This will be the vehicle that will see the highest number of toggles between the traction on and off. Perhaps, Rivian should record how many times the traction control switch is flipped on the R1T and R1S.

What We Know About The R1T so far

-* Rivian is marketing the R1T as an off-road, lifestyle adventure pickup, and is targeting it as a family camper.

-* Tank Turn feature.

-* The R1T churns out 788 ponies that make it sprint to the 60 mph mark in three seconds flat.

-* Four electric motors - one connected to each wheel - make 197 horsepower each.

-* The R1T will be offered with three battery pack options: 105 kWh, 135 kWh, and 180 kWh.

-* The R1T will offer up to 400 miles of range.

-* 0-60 mph achieved in 4.9 seconds with the smallest battery pack and in 3.2 seconds with the largest battery pack.

-* Adjustable air suspension that can raise the R1T from 7.9 inches to 14.2 inches by the press of a button

-* A 15.6-inch touchscreen system on the dashboard

-* 12.3-inch instrument cluster

-* Level 3 autonomy (which could become Level 5 depending on how Rivian proceeds with its new project).

Final Thoughts

This technology is going to create some much-needed hype for Rivian products. Tesla Cybertruck stole all the thunder and despite giving a cut-throat competition to Muk’s wunderkind, Rivian was seen as the number two option. The “Tank Turn” feature should help Rivian come back into the spotlight again.

On a different note, I wonder how the “Turning Radius” section will be filled on the Rivian products’ brochures. Share your ideas of where you think a tank-turn would be immensely useful in day-to-day use, in the comments section below.