- The Rivian R1S is The Car Connection Best Luxury Car To Buy 2025
- The Rivian R1S comes with a luxury price tag of $71,700
- Its broad range of capabilities includes hauling seven passengers, towing boats, and going off-road
Rivian has returned to the winner’s circle for the third year in a row.
The R1S has been named The Car Connection Best Luxury Car To Buy 2025. With a heavy update, mostly to the bits you can’t see, Rivian improved the R1S over last year’s model, making it more fun, efficient, powerful, and agile, all without losing an ounce of capability or poise. It’s a solid piece of engineering that has luxury rivals benchmarking a startup.
Our editorial team likens the R1S to an electric Land Rover built with an understated West Coast flair. It’s not flashy like a Mercedes, or garish like a modern BMW, and it feels well integrated like an Audi. It’s the Patagonia of cars, with a built-in flashlight, an optional built-in Bluetooth camp speaker, and a standard Camping Mode that auto levels the entire vehicle on uneven terrain to aid sleeping soundly under the stars.
With a TCC Rating of 9.0 out of 10, the R1S handily bested competitors including the Porsche Taycan with its shock-inducing speed and handling abilities, the Audi Q8 E-Tron with its impeccable fit and finish, and the flashy Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV. It even bettered the well-executed Cadillac Lyriq.
The R1S (and R1T) was named The Car Connection Best Luxury Car To Buy 2024 and its R1T pickup sibling took home the top luxury award honors in 2023, all for similar reasons.
2025 Rivian R1S
2025 Rivian R1S
2025 Rivian R1S
The recent update, known internally as G2 or Gen 2, gets only minor exterior changes. The front LED daytime running light bar, headlights, wheel designs, and taillights have all been tweaked ever so slightly. Rivian has kept the split tailgate design, which is clutch both in a garage and at a soccer game when lacing up.
2025 Rivian R1S
Inside, the R1S still features an elegant, understated, minimalistic design with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 15.6-inch touchscreen encompassing all of the controls and interfaces. The software is easy to use and pretty to look at, but we wish there were a volume knob.
Three rows of seats come standard with seating for up to seven passengers, though the third row isn’t as spacious as the Kia EV9’s. That’s due to the frame-supported design capable of off-road adventures. The cargo area also isn’t completely flat due to the shape of the battery.
Air springs and hydraulic-linked adaptive dampers that replace anti-roll bars provide an advanced suspension. The R1S amazes with its ability to tackle corners while remaining relatively flat and composed, yet it can trudge through the woods off the beaten path or ford through streams.
2025 Rivian R1S
Battery options now include a 92.5-kwh, 109.4-kwh, and 141.5-kwh packs known as Standard, Large, and Max. Range ratings are 270-420 miles based on battery size, number of motors, and wheel/tire size.
Rivian offers Dual-, Tri-, and Quad-motor powertrains offer outputs ranging from 533-1,025 hp. Zero to 60 mph times check in at just 4.5 to 2.5 seconds despite curb weight ranging up to roughly 7,000 pounds. The motors are now made in-house and hook to a new in-house developed zonal electrical architecture made more efficient with just seven ECUs.
The R1S starts at $71,700 and can easily top $100,000. It’s worth it, and we find it a better value than its rivals. Every R1S comes standard with all-wheel drive, a panoramic sunroof, a rechargeable flashlight, heated seats in all three rows, a heated steering wheel, and surround-view camera system. Noteworthy options range from a built-in air compressor and a rooftop tent with crossbars to various off-road upgrades. It’s a solid luxury SUV that happens to be electric and dynamically capable both on- and off-road.