TG Electric Awards 2022: Freddie Flintoff’s pick

I am not going to lie, the Rivian is the only electric car I’ve driven in the past 12 months... but it ticks so many of my boxes. It’s a pickup truck. It’s big. It’s got a load of gadgets. It’s also got 800bhp, goes from 0–60mph in three seconds, has a battery range of 300 miles with the small pack, 400 miles with the big one. And it looks the absolute nuts.

Some of the features on it I’ve never seen on a car before. It’s got a built-in air compressor that’ll pump your tyres up, plug sockets, it’s got a hole through the middle of it to put all your stuff in as well as the flatbed. But the one thing that really sold me? It’s got a detachable Bluetooth speaker. What more do you want?

On-road it’s an absolute dream, it just sets itself and eats up everything, but it came into its own on the sand. Off-road mode was fine, but rally mode is better. It’s even got a drift mode... in a three-tonne pickup. It’s got something for everyone – you can get the kids behind you, all your luggage in the back and the cubbyholes, and then it goes silly fast and you can have fun.

I took it on a drag strip against an 8.4-litre Viper. Every time – foot on the brake, accelerator, BANG. But every time I looked over at the bloke in the Viper, wrestling the car, trying to keep it straight, and I think he was having more fun than me. As electric cars go though, it’s the best I’ve driven and the first that’s made me think: “I want one of these.”