Rivian has officially launched its Rivian Adventure Department (RAD) — a formal performance-focused division of the company — at the 2026 FAT Ice Race, where it competed with a 2026 R1S Quad‑Motor vehicle.
The name of the team, now formally unveiled, was first mentioned in the company’s December 2025 software update, when it introduced the ‘RAD Tuner’ feature to all Gen 2 Quad-motor vehicles.
The Rivian Adventure Department includes designers, engineers, and adventure enthusiasts, “who spend their days and nights exploring the limits of what a Rivian can do,” the company stated in a blog post.
According to Chief Design Officer Jeff Hammoud, “the Rivian Adventure Department simply gives an official name and a powerful focus to the transparent, open spirit that drives every vehicle we design and every mile we seek out.”
In the past three years, the team has set multiple records in vehicle competitions, yet they consider these events a byproduct rather than the core of their work.
According to R1’s Chief Engineer Luky Lynch, “RAD is where we maximize the capability of our vehicles. For us, the competition is only one element. Vigorously validating every system, component and algorithm is the other.”
To the engineer, “the cherry on top is translating those hard-won lessons into features, like the new RAD Tuner, that deliver next-level fun to our owners.”
Competition
At the 2023 Rebelle Rally, the Rivian R1T became the first electric vehicle to win the longest off-road rally in the United States.
The team leveraged its experience with early developments of the ‘Soft Sand’ mode (released in 2022) to navigate the desert challenges, according to Lilly Macaruso, a Rivian engineer and Rebelle Rally winner.
The vehicle was competing against a Jeep Wrangler 4xe and a Ford Bronco Raptor.
Their next challenge was the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a time‑trial ascent of 12.4 miles (20 km) up to 14,115 feet (4,302 m) with 156 turns.
There, the Irvine-based automaker set the production electric truck record in 2023, scoring even higher in the next year.
“Pikes Peak has no margin for error, and at 14,115 feet, the air gets thin, every bump and switchback was a test of our vehicle’s capability,” Senior Performance Test Engineer Gardner Nichols, who set the record at the event, stated.
After competing in the desert and the hills, the company has now tackled snow.
RAD’s latest assignment took place in Big Sky, Montana, where the FAT Ice Race was held over the weekend.
The company’s founder and CEO RJ Scaringe posted pictures on Instagram over the weekend of him and his children at the event.
This year’s edition marked the first time the event was held in the US; it is usually held in Zell am See, Austria, where it originated.
RAD Tuner
With the last software update of 2025, rolled out in mid-to-late December, Rivian introduced the ‘Kick Turn’ feature and the ‘RAD Tuner’ function, available in Quad-motor Gen 2 vehicles.
According to the Rivian Adventure Department (RAD), it allows owners to “use intuitive touch sliders to build and save custom drive modes by adjusting independent settings like acceleration, torque balance, stability and more.”
These drive mode functions started “as a way for our engineers to fine-tune driving dynamics” during competitions.
Additionally, ‘RAD Tuner’ includes two presets — ‘Desert Rally’ and ‘Hill Climb’ — based on the two competitions it previously participated in.
