Comparison review: Tesla Cybertruck vs. Rivian R1T vs. Ford F-150 Lightning (specs, charging, driving experience)

In the electric pickup truck space, there are currently 3 main competitors — Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and the Tesla Cybertruck.

Kyle Conner from the YouTube channel Out of Spec Reviews arranged all of these 3 pickup trucks to give us a real-world usage comparison of their utility, comfort, range, and driving experience. For the record, Kyle owns a Rivian R1T, drove the Cybertruck for around 1,000 miles, and also tested the F-150 Lightning for thousands of miles.

Before jumping into the details and video of the reviewer, let’s compare the specs of these trucks against each other. The following specs comparison table gives us a better understanding of what Kyle is trying to tell us about these electric trucks (specs of the top-end variants of all three trucks are used for an apples-to-apples comparison).

Specs Comparison: Tesla Cybertruck vs Rivian R1T vs Ford F-150 Lightning

Specs/Features ↓	Tesla Cybertruck (Cyberbeast)	Rivian R1T (Performance)	Ford F-150 Lightning (Platinum)
Drivetrain	Tri-Motor AWD	Quad-Motor AWD	Dual-Motor AWD
Range (est.)	320 miles	300 miles	328 miles
Battery pack	123 kWh	105 kWh Standard 135 kWh Large	98 kWh Standard 131 kWh Extended Range
Peak Charging Rate	250 kW	200 kW	120 kW Standard 155 kW Extended Range
Acceleration (0-60 mph)	2.6 seconds	3.0 seconds	4.1 seconds
Top Speed	130 mph	110 mph	111.8 mph
Power	845 hp	835 hp	462 hp
Torque	10,296 lb-ft	908 lb-ft	775 lb-ft
Payload capacity	2,500 lbs	1,700 lbs	1,656 lbs
Towing capacity	11,000 lbs	11,000 lbs	8,500 lbs
Touchscreen size	18.5 in	15.6 in	15.5 in
Width (mirrors folded)	86.6 in (7.2 feet)	81.8 in (6.8 feet)	83.6 in (7.0 feet)
Width (mirrors extended)	95 in (7.9 feet)	87.1 in (7.25 feet)	96.0 in (8 feet)
Overall height	70.5″ (5.875 feet)	78.3 in (6.525 feet)
Overall length	223.7″ (18.6 feet)	217.1 in (18.0 feet)	232.7 in (19.4 feet)
Bed length	72.8 in (6 feet)	54 in (4.5 feet)	67.1 in (5.59 feet)
Bed width	51 in (4.25 feet)	51.1 in (4.258 feet)	50.6 in (4.2 feet)
Price (MSRP)	$99,990	$87,000	$91,995

Sources: Manufacturer specs, Car And Driver reports.

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From left to right: Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and the Cybertruck.

Size and Appearance

Kyle parked all 3 trucks side by side to visually compare size and appearance. He parked the Rivian R1T and F-150 Lightning on the sides and the Cybertruck in the middle.

Standing between the R1T and F-150, the Cybertruck looked smaller than it usually appears alone, besides cars and SUVs (see pic below).

F-150 and Rivian R1T both have a traditional look. They scream we are an All-American pickup truck — the only major difference is they run on electricity rather than fossil fuel (gasoline).

Cybertruck on the other hand has a totally groundbreaking angular design. Some car experts even believe that this is not even a proper pickup truck. It challenges the tradition in a big way.

From left to right: Rivian R1T, Tesla Cybertruck, and Ford F-150 Lightning EV pickup trucks. Credit: Kyle Conner / Out of Spec Reviews / YouTube.

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In the specs comparison table above, we saw that the Cybertruck is the widest of the three on paper. Visually, it does not look wider than the R1T and F-150 in the picture. Perhaps, this is a visual delusion created by the triangular shape of the Cybertruck.

Length-wise, the F-150 Lightning is the longest of the three. It’s 9 inches longer than the Cybertruck and 15.6 inches longer compared to the Rivian R1T. We recently saw the medium-length Tesla Cybertruck nicely fit into an owner’s garage; Rivian would surely fit there more easily with its smaller size overall.

But Kyle thinks that the Rivian R1T is a bit too small for a pickup truck. Since he shot this video in Texas, where everything should be big, it doesn’t fit the definition of a large American pickup truck.

Rivian R1T also has the smallest rear seat space of the 3 trucks. Kyle found the back seat of the Cybertruck comfortable with enough legroom for the rear passengers.

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Range and Charging

As you must have noted in the specs comparison above, the F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and the Cybertruck all have an electric range in the 300+ miles spectrum.

With different battery pack sizes, one of the main concerns of an EV owner is how fast the vehicle charges. So far, the Tesla Cybertruck is far ahead with a peak charging rate of 250 kW with V3 Superchargers. According to Tesla, the Cybertruck will be able to charge with a peak rate of 350 kW in the future.

In real-world testing, Kyle found that the Ford F-150 Lightning provides a consistent charging rate of 120 kW and charges to 80% in the same timeframe as the smaller Rivian R1T.

According to Kyle, Tesla Cybertruck charges fast to 25% but after that, the charging speed starts to fall. He experienced that after 53%, the Cybertrucks charging rate fell to 115 kW while at the same state-of-charge (SoC), Rivian was doing between 140 – 155 kW.

Kyle thinks that the Ford F-150 Lightning wins the charging comparison with its onboard 80 AMP charger and consistent charging speeds vs. the Cybertruck and Rivian R1T’s 48 AMP onboard chargers.

In real-world driving conditions, the Cybertruck delivered only 254 miles of range and lower peak charging rates at medium and upper SoC.

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Driving Experience

Rivian R1T

Kyle thinks that as a daily driver that gives a great driving experience, the Rivian R1T electric pickup truck will always be his 1st choice.

This is what he said about Rivian R1T:

In the driver seat of the Rivian, oh so good, so, driver focused. I can get right on the ground, great steering wheels, fantastic driving performance.

It’s comfortable daily driving. You can back the suspension off. You can go hardcore off-roading with infinitely-variable roll-stiffness control with that hydraulic sway bar.
Kyle Conner / Out of Spec Reviews

Tesla Cybertruck

Here’s Kyle’s Cybertruck driving experience review:

First of all, a massive windshield goes all the way straight. Squirkle (square yoke steering) — steer-by-wire. But I gotta tell you the seat in this thing — there’s more breathing room than the Rivian, there’s just really some space in this and it’s so cool.

Driving the Cybertruck is the most unique, one of the most unique experiences that I’ve ever had. And if I had to do a lot of urban driving, this is the one I would like to choose.

But the Cybertruck currently at the moment does not have differential lockers, which means it’s kind of a no-go for off-roading until they software update it. They’re physically in there, they’re just not working.
Kyle Conner / Out of Spec Reviews

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Ford F-150 Lightning

Here’s what Kyle said in his Ford F-150 Lightning driving experience:

I feel like I’m actually in a truck. Big steering wheel big room, big shifter. But here’s where Ford gets so right, I can retract the shifter, I can have a workspace here.

They start at what you need to do, which is write reports, do things, and then build a truck around it. You have outlets here on the dash, ready to go.

On this, on the street, if I want to slide it around a little bit I could, not that I recommend it because the suspension is the really soft and wallowy.

In terms of driver assistance in this, Blue Cruise rips, it’s so good. Does eye-tracking, lane-centering, automatic lane changes (Blue Cruise 1.2 does).
Kyle Conner / Out of Spec Reviews