British motoring journalist James May picked Rivian Automotive Inc.’s (NASDAQ:RIVN) R1T over Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Cybertruck, saying he would choose the Rivian if forced to decide between the two electric pickups.
May Praises Rivian’s Interior And Design
May, best known for "Top Gear" and Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Video series "The Grand Tour", took a Rivian R1T Quad on a road trip across Virginia with co-hosts Lucy Brown and Eve Rawlings.
During the trip, May praised the truck’s interior styling, design mood and "gear tunnel," a storage compartment that runs across the vehicle behind the rear seats. He said that if Rivian made a smaller vehicle, roughly the size of a Tesla Model Y, with the same interior and overall character, he would "be up to that" back home in the U.K.
While demonstrating the tailgate and tonneau cover, May noted, "The tonneau on the load bay opens with that button there, rather like it does on the Cybertruck, in fact. And there is our luggage." He added that the R1T "would only hold roughly half as much" luggage as the Cybertruck.
Rivian Wins Over May And Co-Hosts
Near the end of the episode, Brown asked May, "Do you think this is the pickup Tesla should have made?" May replied, "If it was between this and a Cybertruck, I would have this." Brown and Rawlings also agreed that they would prefer the Rivian over the Tesla. May, who claims to be a pickup skeptic, doesn’t mention it in the video but admits in the video’s thumbnail that he’s “converted.”
The R1T reviewed in the video was supplied by Rivian, not purchased by May.
May’s preference is notable because he had already driven the Cybertruck in 2024 and called it "very ballsy" and "quite humorous." He compared its sharp, science-fiction styling to cars from his youth, including the Lamborghini Countach and DeLorean.
May Still Wants Smaller Cybertruck Idea
But he also said he did not want to own one. May found the Cybertruck too large, especially for British roads, and criticized glare from its flat stainless-steel body, the huge A-pillar blocking visibility at junctions and Tesla’s heavy reliance on the center touchscreen instead of physical controls.
Even then, May appealed to Elon Musk to build a smaller Cybertruck-style vehicle, around the size of a Model Y. His latest Rivian comments suggest he may have found something closer to that idea, just not from Tesla.
May, more recently, reviewed the widely discussed Tesla Diner at 7001 Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, heavily criticizing it as an overpriced “Disneyland-like” gimmick.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that RIVN stock offers a poor price trend performance metric over the short, medium and long terms, with a poor Momentum score.
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