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Jose Castillo Founder and Editor
Rivian Rivian R2 Rivian R1T Rivian R1S
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Jose Castillo is the founder and editor of RivianTrackr, an independent publication he started to cover Rivian from an owner's point of view. He has followed the company since early in its consumer history and has owned and leased several Rivians over the years, including multiple R1T and R1S vehicles. Today he drives an R1S and an R2 in Florida and uses Universal Hands-Free for his daily driving.

Most of his coverage comes from firsthand access rather than press releases. He was at the R2 First Drive in Park City for hands-on time with the production R2 and RivianOS 2.0, and he reported from SXSW when Rivian revealed the full R2 lineup. He has spoken directly with Rivian leaders like Wassym Bensaid and James Philbin about where the company is taking its software and autonomy work.

Before RivianTrackr, Jose worked at Apple as a software developer, which is part of why he follows Rivian's software and autonomy side as closely as he does. He has also helped more than 400 people order their own Rivians through the site. The whole thing stays independent, written by an owner for other owners.

Rivian R2 First Drive

After Two Years of Waiting I Finally Drove the Rivian R2 and It Delivered

Rivian flew me out to Park City to drive the production R2 on road and off road, and after two days with it I'm convinced the only thing that can slow this car down is how fast Rivian can build them. Demand is not the problem. The R2 Performance is genuinely quick, the cabin stays quiet even on the all terrains, and the rear legroom is almost absurd for the size. The R2 Standard surprised me more than I expected too, and RivianOS 2.0 makes my R1 feel slow. Here's the full rundown on the drive, the new pricing, the software, and where the autonomy roadmap is actually headed.

Rivian R2

Rivian R2 Warranty Coverage Explained and How It Compares to R1

Rivian has shared R2 warranty terms ahead of demo drives, and every trim gets the same coverage, 4 years or 50,000 miles comprehensive and 8 years or 120,000 miles on the battery and drive system. That matches the entry R1 rather than the higher trims. Here is how it compares across both R1 generations.

R2 Catalina Cove NACS Port

If You Are Getting a Rivian R2, Plan on Carrying Charging Adapters

The R2 goes on sale tomorrow as Rivian's first real volume seller, and a lot of new owners are about to learn that their NACS port cannot plug into much of the public charging world without help. Here is why you will want a CCS1 and a J1772 adapter in the frunk, and how the A2Z options compare to Rivian's official pair on price.

Rivian R1T Gen 2

NHTSA Reopens the Rivian Toe Link Issue and Now It Covers 114,922 Vehicles

NHTSA reopened the Rivian rear toe link issue in late May, and the new investigation covers 114,922 R1T and R1S vehicles, far more than the roughly 20,000 caught up in January's recall. An investigation is not a recall and it may close with nothing, but the jump from a few thousand serviced cars to nearly the entire modern R1 fleet is the part worth watching, especially landing weeks before R2 deliveries start.