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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 Adventure Network

Rivian Adventure Network Ranks Third in JD Power 2026 Study

Rivian's Adventure Network placed third in JD Power's 2026 public charging study, behind IONNA and Mercedes-Benz, in a year where automaker-backed networks pulled ahead by nailing the basics. Here's how the scores landed, plus my own take after charging all three on the R1 and R2.

Rivian R1T Headlights Gen 2

Rivian Recalls 2025 and 2026 R1S and R1T Turn Signals

Rivian has expanded its front turn signal recall to cover an additional 3,829 R1S and R1T vehicles from the 2025 and 2026 model years. The campaign is listed as NHTSA 26V-508 and Rivian FSAM-1833, with the remedy already available.

Detailer Gives the Rivian R2 a 9 Out of 10 on Fit and Finish

Detailer Gives the Rivian R2 a 9 Out of 10 on Fit and Finish

Coleton from Out of Spec Detailing measured a customer delivered R2 Performance panel by panel and came away giving it a nine out of ten on exterior fit and finish. The lower interior plastics did not fare as well, and neither did the haptic buttons. Here is how his findings line up with what I have seen on my own R2.