I'd love to be able to use the R1T for 4-season camping with one of the new self-contained slide-ins such as a Kimbo 6 (
Home | Kimbo Campers) or Scout Yoho (
Scout Truck Campers). The ability to off-load the camper at your destination and have a standard pick-up to off-road or even just run out for supplies, is really appealing. Plus, in theory, with 11,000 lbs of tow capacity, you'd also be able to hitch a boat or dirt bike trailer. Unfortunately, the Rivian probably will not be able to accommodate any COTS slide-in camper. Here's how I see things.
For this thought exercise, I'll use the Scout Yoho, one of the smallest and lightest full-feature, slide-in campers with freestanding capability. It has a base weight of 913 lbs but with options (such as jacks, heater, refrigerator, etc) will come at about 1,250 lbs. Adding just two passengers and their gear and luggage will likely bring the total over the R1T's max payload of 1,760 lbs. While the R1T has substantial towing capacity, you'd need more payload capacity because of tongue weight. So towing anything with the camper in place is out of the question.
Even if you can live with the payload limit, the 55" R1T bed rules out something like the Yoho, which though among the shortest available, is still nearly 70" long. It's not so much the considerable overhang that makes things impossible, it's the center of gravity due to the short bed.
Am I wrong about this? The R1T appears to be an ideal truck in nearly every other way but it looks like it really can only be used with lightweight, soft-side pop-up campers or for trailer camping.