The big test: Rivian R1T

At altitude in the Rockies, everything feels surreal, and a little bit dangerous. The views are stupendous; enormous, jagged mountain ranges layered one after another in every direction, the trees are wilder, the sunlight a little more pure, unfiltered by all that pesky oxygen. The air is so thin above 12,000 feet, I’m starting to think the clouds are all clown faces.

But really, what’s hardest for me to believe is the sheer existence of the truck I’m sitting in right now. In the US there have been announcements from pretty much every major carmaker for electric versions of their current trucks, but so far not a single fossilfree version has rolled off of an assembly line. Tesla’s Cybertruck? Still a concept fantasy.

But today, the wait is