Rivian is officially putting hands-free driving behind a paywall. Universal Hands-Free is now part of the paid Autonomy+ package, with existing owners getting a limited free trial through April before subscriptions kick in. After that, drivers can choose between a $49.99 monthly fee or a $2,500 one-time purchase tied to the vehicle’s VIN, signaling a clear shift toward paid software features.
A short clip shared by Scot from Out of Spec shows a Rivian confidently handling lane centering and a lane change in snowy conditions. While Tesla has spent years refining its system with millions of vehicles on the road, Rivian has only been at this for months, making the steady, composed behavior especially notable.
Autonomy is one of the most overused words in the auto industry. Brands throw it around like it is a single feature you either have or you do not, but the reality is a responsibility ladder, and the higher you climb, the more the car takes on, and the less you do. The clean way to talk about it is…
Rivian made a big decision when it chose to build its own autonomy stack instead of buying something off the shelf from NVIDIA. On the surface, buying a proven platform like NVIDIA DRIVE or even Tesla Full Self-Driving might have looked faster or safer. Long term though, Rivian’s choice to own the full autonomy stack looks like exactly the right move.…
Universal Hands-Free is Rivian’s most advanced hands free driving system yet, and in this video, Mike (aka u/mpshizzle on Reddit) takes a close look at how it actually behaves in the real world. Instead of rehashing release notes, the focus is on what the system does when it encounters imperfect roads, odd situations, and edge cases. After extended testing, one…
