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Jose Castillo Founder and Editor
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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 Ghostbusters Ecto-R1

Tesla vs Rivian Halloween Mode 2026: Which Goes Deeper?

Tesla rolled out its first Halloween mode this month, and it's a solid start with a ghost avatar, spooky sounds and a new light show. Rivian answered with a Ghostbusters update that goes much deeper, from a scavenger hunt to full Ecto-R1 builds in its stores.

Rivian Service Center - Rocklin, CA

Rivian Gets $1B Volkswagen Loan, No Payments Until 2028

Rivian closed its $1 billion loan from Volkswagen today at a 6.03% rate fixed for 10 years, with no payment due until October 2028. The loan is backed only by Rivian's half of the joint venture, and Volkswagen has now delivered $5.3 billion of the $5.8 billion it committed.