Rivian News and Rumors

Video – Rivian Unlocks Hands Free Driving and Digital Key in 2025.46 Update

12/18/2025 at 9:51am
Autonomy, Rivian, Software
12
Jose Castillo

Rivian just rolled out a huge December software update, and if you own a Gen 2 vehicle, this one is packed with good stuff. The headline feature is Universal Hands-Free, which enables hands-free driving across more than 3.5 million miles of roads in North America. You also get Digital Key with Ultra-Wideband support, plus new Driver Display customization options including a full map view and a dedicated Autonomy view. I was able to get early access to 2025.46 and spent…

Clearing Up the Confusion Around Rivian R2 and LiDAR

12/17/2025 at 12:20pm
Autonomy, Rivian, Rivian R2
24
Jose Castillo

There’s been a lot of mixed messaging and confusion around how Rivian plans to launch R2, so I want to clearly lay out what we know today and how this rollout is actually going to work. Rivian will launch R2 in early 2026 with Gen 2 autonomy hardware. This is the same autonomy stack that’s currently shipping in today’s Gen 2 R1T and R1S. That means cameras and radar only, no LiDAR, and no next-generation Rivian silicon at launch. Early…

Why Rivian’s Ground Truth Fleet Matters More Than Any Single Feature

12/16/2025 at 11:59am
Autonomy, Rivian
1
Jose Castillo

During Rivian’s Autonomy & AI Day, James Philbin dropped one of the most important lines of the entire event, and it was easy to miss. When the Rivian R2 launches with LiDAR, every vehicle on the road becomes a ground truth vehicle. That one statement quietly explains how Rivian plans to scale autonomy far beyond a small internal test fleet. Ground truth is how autonomy systems learn what actually happened in the real world. It is the reference data that…

Rivian Confirms Launch Mode and Apple Watch Support Coming to Gen 1 Vehicles Early Next Year

12/15/2025 at 12:16pm
Rivian, Rivian R1S, Rivian R1T, Software
13
Jose Castillo

Update: Also confirmed that Launch Mode will come to Gen 2 Dual Performance vehicles. Wassym just shared a quick but pretty meaningful update on Reddit, and there’s some good news for Gen 1 owners. Launch Mode is officially coming to Gen 1 Quad and Dual Performance vehicles early next year. That’s a nice performance win for owners who thought some of these newer tricks might stay locked to Gen 2. He also confirmed that messaging support will roll out through…

Rivian Includes All-Terrain Package for Free on Select 2025 R1 Models in December

12/14/2025 at 10:00am
Rivian, Rivian R1S, Rivian R1T
Jose Castillo

Rivian has a nice December perk if you’re shopping a new 2025 R1. For a limited time, the All-Terrain Package is included at no extra cost on select 2025 R1S and R1T models. That means 20″ all-terrain wheels with 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake tires, a reinforced underbody shield, and a spare tire, full size on R1T and compact on R1S. You can also upgrade to the 20″ All-Terrain Dark wheels for $1,000. Dual Motor R1 with Large or Max batteries also…