Rivian has replaced the 22-inch wheels that came standard on the R1T pickup truck with a 20-inch Goodyear Adventure All-Season setup for the 2027 model year, dropping the base range from 329 miles to 300 miles in exchange for off-road grip and winter traction.
The change, disclosed as part of the 2027 R1 lineup announcement on Thursday, makes the R1T the only vehicle in Rivian‘s current range to arrive on a tire designed for unpaved surfaces rather than highway efficiency.
Buyers who want last year’s range figure can add the 22-inch Sport wheels for $1,000.
A Rivian spokesperson defended the swap by pointing to owner behavior data, telling Kelley Blue Book that real-world customer data shows R1T owners routinely take the pickup off paved roads.
“Making the 20-inch Adventure All-Season standard gives most buyers the exact balance of utility, comfort, and multi-surface grip they want out of the box, while keeping 22-inch Sport and Range Wheels readily available for highway-range purists,” the statement read.
The Range Trade-Off
Rivian frames the new tire as a middle ground between the road-focused 22-inch wheel and the more aggressive 20-inch All-Terrain package.
On the R1T Premium Long Range — the dual-motor truck with the 140-kWh battery formerly known as Max — the 20-inch Adventure All-Season delivers 380 miles.
The 22-inch wheels on the same battery return 420 miles.
The All-Terrain package, which carries deeper tread and knobbier rubber, pulls the Long Range figure down further to 370 miles.
The new standard tire therefore sits 10 miles above the All-Terrain setup and 40 miles below the 22-inch wheels on the largest battery.
Rivian told Kelley Blue Book that the Adventure All-Season provides off-road utility and compliance without the heavy range penalty of a knobby AT tire.
For the base R1T Premium on the Large battery, the arithmetic is simpler: 300 miles on the new 20-inch standard or 329 miles with the $1,000 22-inch upgrade.
The All-Terrain package is not available on that configuration — Rivian now restricts the package to Long Range builds on the R1T Premium, where the option costs $4,950.
Winter Certification and Cost
Beyond off-road grip, the Goodyear tires carry Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMS) certification, a designation that requires 10% more traction in packed snow than a standard reference tire.
The certification effectively doubles the new standard fitment as a winter tire, eliminating the need for seasonal swaps or chains in most conditions.
Rivian also told Kelley Blue Book that the new All-Season tires are cheaper to replace than the Pirelli rubber on the 20-inch All-Terrain package, adding a running-cost argument to the capability pitch.
The company described the combination of everyday efficiency, winter traction and trail capability as what most drivers want from the factory.
The taller sidewalls on the 20-inch wheels also improve ride compliance on rough surfaces — a characteristic that matters for owners who regularly drive unpaved roads.
According to the EV maker, the deeper tread patterns and a more durable rubber compound make the new standard wheels more capable off-road than the outgoing 22-inch setup, at the cost of some on-road range.
Pricing Unchanged Despite the Swap
The wheel change does not affect the R1T’s entry price.
The 2027 R1T Premium starts at $79,990 before destination, matching the 2026 model, with the R1T Premium Long Range sitting at $86,990.
Buyers who opt for the 22-inch wheels on the base Premium pay $80,990 and gain 29 miles of range.
On the Premium Long Range, the 22-inch wheels are a no-cost option, preserving the full 420-mile figure.
The R1S SUV retains 22-inch wheels as standard equipment and is unaffected by the change.
Rivian has not published a single table covering both wheel configurations, and some of the range figures on its website remain preliminary estimates rather than official EPA values.
Range Under the Microscope
The decision to accept a lower headline range on the R1T arrives at a moment when Rivian‘s range claims are receiving unusual scrutiny across its lineup.
On the R2, independent tests have produced mixed results.
An Edmunds mixed-driving test returned 304 miles against a 330-mile EPA estimate, a 7.9% shortfall, while an Out of Spec Reviews constant 70-mph highway run recorded just 253 corrected miles — a 23.3% gap.
The divergence underscored how sensitive EV range figures are to driving conditions, a point that applies equally to the R1T’s wheel-dependent range spread.
Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee offered a counterpoint in July, calling Rivian‘s range estimates the most honest and accurate he has seen on any electric vehicle — praise echoed by JerryRigEverything’s Zack Nelson, who noted his Rivian‘s range estimates were within 10 miles of actual performance across a 1,600-mile road trip.
CEO RJ Scaringe has separately argued that consumers prioritize range over charging speed, a philosophy that drove the R2’s battery chemistry decisions.
Scaringe told Out of Spec in March that Rivian chose an energy-dense cell optimized for cost and range rather than fast-charge speed, saying the company’s fleet data showed R1 owners average roughly 10 DC fast-charge sessions per year.
That same data-driven approach now shapes the R1T’s default wheel configuration.
Rivian says its owners use the truck off-road more often than the highway-range figures assume, and the company has adjusted the standard equipment accordingly.
Demand Context
The change comes as R1T deliveries face pressure.
Second-quarter R1T sales fell an estimated 30.4% year over year to roughly 1,219 units, according to Cox Automotive figures, while the R1S held approximately flat at 6,183 units.
Full-year R1 deliveries dropped about 15.1% in 2025, a decline Rivian has attributed partly to buyers waiting for the lower-priced R2 — which began deliveries on June 9.
The 2027 R1T and R1S are available to order now, both built at the company’s Normal, Illinois plant.
