- GoFastCampers, one of many largest identify in overlanding circles, lastly has a camper possibility for the Rivian R1T.
- It sleeps two in a pop-up tent above the R1T’s mattress, and you’ll rise up within the mattress of the truck.
- However the {custom}, Montana-built camper is not low cost. It begins at $9,450.
The Rivian R1 is the final word electrical off-roader, no less than for now. Whereas we await the Scout Traveler, Jeep Recon and eventual electrical Bronco to reach, you possibly can’t do a lot better than the flagship Rivian R1T and R1S. They each boast stable floor clearance, trick hydraulic suspensions, underbody armor and loads of torque. However if you wish to overland, fairly than simply wheel, the R1T has an enormous downside. You possibly can’t sleep in it. Properly, you could not, till GoFastCampers launched the Rivian model of its Platform Camper.
Those that needed to sleep in a Rivian needed to go along with the R1S. However when you’re hauling soiled, muddy, snowy gear round, it is actually good to have a separate mattress, fairly than having to scuff up the inside of your $90,000 SUV. The identical logic is why pickup-bed campers have lengthy been a favourite for overlanders. You possibly can haul heavy, messy gear in a correct truck mattress, then climb into an connected, enclosed sleeping platform. Not like with a rooftop tent, you can also rise up within the mattress along with your head within the camper portion, and you do not want a ladder to get out and in. It is the final word resolution, until you will have the house, group and rig for sleeping contained in the SUV itself.
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The camper can also be constructed to assist mounting and carrying bigger objects on the roof. If it is advisable haul lumber or surf boards, as an illustration, you’ll buy cross bars that will let you carry as much as 500 lbs on the roof, even on a path. You will additionally nonetheless have entry to the total mattress, together with room to sleep two adults of any top. GFC has additionally upgraded its included mattress lately, so your sleep needs to be fairly comfy. The camper weighs 270 lbs, which—relying in your R1T’s battery dimension—ought to nonetheless provide you with 1,500 to 1,750 lbs of further payload capability for gear and passengers. GFC says it has a low-drag design that ought to solely cut back vary by 7 to 10%.
I attempted out GFC’s Platform Camper for the Ford Maverick again in 2022 and cherished it. Seeing them round San Diego on the backs of Rangers and Tacomas has me much more jealous. However for these of us who love EVs, there hasn’t been a fantastic possibility but. A part of why GFC campers work so nicely is that they are constructed particularly for the truck and mattress configuration you will have. Since Rivian is not promoting R1Ts as fleet-oriented work vans, they seem to be a bit trickier to upfit than a Tacoma or Colorado.
Picture by: GoFastCampers
GFC notes that the corporate needed to reduce across the Rivian’s mission-critical rooftop antenna to make it work. (Aspect word: For those who’ve ever questioned why pickup vans nonetheless have conventional, flexible antennas mounted on the prime of the hood, this is the reason). The corporate additionally needed to work across the truck’s curved rear glass and management buttons mounted on the rail of the mattress. There are many hidden sensors, too. All of this stuff contribute to Rivian’s comparatively excessive restore prices, and in addition present why the simplicity of conventional truck beds is such a bonus. Most ICE vans are designed to be upfitted. So is the F-150 Lightning, as a result of it has the identical mattress, and the Silverado EV makes use of a number of these rules too.
So it took some time for this camper to return out. In the meantime, F-150 Lightning house owners might simply use the GFC camper constructed for the usual F-150. Now, although, GFC says it has a camper that retains the entire automobile’s practical bits in working order. It is also constructed by hand in Montana, by a crew of full-time staff who earn a residing wage. I have been to that Bozeman facility, and I have been a GFC imagine ever since. It is good to see an organization make a {custom}, aggressive product for a passionate viewers whereas treating its individuals pretty.
However custom-designed, artisan-built campers aren’t low cost. The usual GFC Platform begins at $8,450 earlier than equipment. However the Rivian model is a little more costly: $9,450. For those who need not sleep in it, and simply desire a well-built mattress cap to your R1T with a stable suite of equipment, the Platform itself is $4,999. Each can be found right this moment and could be ship to and put in at any of GFC’s eight retail areas, that are in Bozeman, MT; Vista, CA; Sacramento, CA; Scappoose, OR; Denver, CO; Grandview, MO; New Braunfels, TX and Reidsville, NC.
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