Rivian achieves major milestone by producing its first R1T electric truck

American automotive company Rivian has rolled its debut vehicle off the production line, creating the country's first fully-electric pick-up truck.

Produced in Normal, Illinois, the Rivian R1T's birth was delayed due to a parts shortage, but finally came together yesterday – just under three years after the R1T and R1S prototypes were revealed in 2018.

CEO RJ Scaringe was on hand to drive the first customer-bound R1T off the production line – surrounded by his team at the former Mitsubishi facility, which Rivian purchased in 2017.

By completing production of the first R1T, Rivian has beaten all other manufacturers to building the world's first fully-electric pick-up truck, ahead of the controversial Tesla Cybertruck, Ford's F-150 Lightning and the Chevrolet Silverado Electric, all of which won't be ready until next year at the earliest.

Among its wide range of investors, Rivian received a major funding boost in 2019 from an Amazon-led consortium, which poured in US$700 million (AU$954m) in February, and Ford subsequently taking a US$500m (AU$681m) stake in the company in April of the same year.

Earlier this month, the manufacturer confirmed it had sent two prototype EVs to Australia for climate testing, planning to eventually roll out in right-hand drive markets down the track, potentially becoming the only fully-electric pick-up available locally after Ford, Chevrolet and Tesla denied their respective offerings would come to Australia.