Clearing Up the Confusion Around Rivian R2 and LiDAR

42 Comments

1. Here’s my very uninformed and lightly read on this. Lidar is for ground truth tracking at greater distances at 900 ft. RJ has said that the cameras will do the work that the eye can see, but lidar will be doing the work the eye / cameras / radars cant. This seems 1) great for training purposes and obvs adds an additional more complete picture of whats happening but my expectation is that training from the later released R2s with Lidar will help inform / train the Gen 2 / early R2s so all benefit from the platform Gen 2 and above. Im not reading Lidar is being a deal breaker – tho I want the latest and greatest… It doesnt seem like at least for the next few years, this makes a massive difference in ability.

   Is that accurate? Im going to keep researching and reading the details – But this is what Im picking up so far. Unfortunately, I wont be able to wait til the later release with Lidar, so this could just be me trying to connect the dots to being ok with not waiting. Curious what others are seeing and how far off I am on this read.

   • Will all Late 2026 R2s include Gen 3 Hardware on all trim levels? Or will this only be available on mid and high level trims?

     • Sadly no information on that yet but if I had to guess, all models would have it.

   • All true.

     Except Gen 1 owners now have an obsolete vehicle. They will still have the crap Adaptive Cruise and the ancient “Driver Assist!”

   • I signed up right away for the R2.. The same for my 2022 R1T quad. Love my quad.. a bit heavy.. but love it. I will “build” or take delivery of my R2 as soon as they are built with 3 motors.. Just cannot step down from a quad to a single or a dual. If they make an R2 quad then I will order / buy that one. the tech on my 2022 is fine.. Nice to have more.. but power is more important to me.

2. It might be helpful to point out ALL of the differences between Gen 2 and Gen 3 hardware. For example, I saw somewhere that Gen 3 will include higher resolution cameras and improved radar sensors.

   • I am slowly working on a whole post about this but want to ensure I have all the data correct since it’s kind of all over the place!

     • Jose – did you ever put this together? I think the biggest confusion point is what’s the capabilities difference between And Gen 2 R1, an initial R2 without RAP1 and LIDAR, and an R2 with RAP1 and LIDAR? Three cars, all three with slightly different autonomy hardware packages, and everyone just wants to know what they can and can’t do versus the others. For instance, if Personal Point to Point is desired, which of the three will have this ability? (If you’ve already answered this, sorry I missed it.)

       • My understanding is that “personal point-to-point (hands free)” will be possible with the HW on all of the vehicles you mentioned, including the Gen 2 R1’s. But enabling the capability depends on software that is not yet ready.

3. I’d encourage people to watch the Autonomy & AI Day presentation if they have the time. I thought that made everything pretty clear. I’m going from recollection now, but on the spectrum from Universal Hands Free to Point-to-Point to Eyes-Off to Personal L4, I’d say LiDAR/Gen 3 is required for everything Eyes-Off and above. Unless RJ said otherwise maybe there’s a small chance for Eyes-Off on Gen 2 hardware but likely based on their confidence level. Other than that, LiDAR/Gen 3 hardware is for them to ramp as fast as possible to these capabilities.

   • I don’t know if this is going to be reality. If you buy an R2, and a year later, or less, they tell you that you had to have LiDAR for all eyes-off and for personal L4, I think they would risk sales of the R2, and run into alienation users like they did with Gen1.

     However, if LiDAR provides BETTEr of all that, plus it becomes their ground truth fleet, they get the best of both worlds. I just think it’s unlikely, seeing the frustration from those with a Gen1 they would be unlikely to risk alienating people again.

     • It’s worked for other notable EV companies…

4. so lets put out a vehicle that won’t be the latest and greatest …
   I wonder how many r2s they are going to sell initially….

   • It’s technology. “Latest & greatest” lasts about 24 hours until the next upgrade. Unless you bought a phone in the last couple of months you don’t have the latest and greatest. Same for laptops, tablets. Even household appliances. Pick a point that you can be happy with . . . for a while . . . and jump in. Or stay out waiting for the ever looming next upgrade.

     • Agreed.. I want the max motors. 3 should be available on the R2. The rest .. to me ..is ok however it is built. Love my 2022 R1T quad. RJ Scaringe speaks of his line up and the future. Even an R5 and claims the R6 will blow your mind. Figuring that I will just need to buy a third Rivian some day.

   • They are including a lot of incentives to sell the R2 at launch including:
     * Lifetime Autonomy+ subscription (Rivian’s advanced driver assistance package)
     * Tow package
     * Exclusive Launch Green paint
     * Launch key fob

     I’m waiting for LiDAR, but wonder how much more it will cost. They’re already charging 1,000-3,000 for paint colors, which many find ridiculous.

5. Boy, it sure seems like a headache for the software development team to have a handful of early R2s with totally different hardware and sensors. So basically there will be a gen 1 R2 followed by a gen 2 R2 in roughly 6-9 months. I’m not sure who would want one knowing that a vastly superior model will make the early ones obsolete in just a few months.

   • Probably about 20k people

6. Also, I wonder if the early reservation holders will be able to pass on the gen 1 R2 and put their reservation on “hold” for 6-9 months waiting for the gen 2 R2. Or will they be forced to take it or give up their reservation and get in line again for the gen 2.

   • Interested to see if they will honor early reservation holders for R2 Gen3.

7. While watching the Automation Day event, I had to wonder why launching R2 in early 2026 is so important to Rivian that they’re willing to immediately obsolete it by the end of the year. Unless there are amazing 24-month lease terms when R2 launches, I would be unwilling to purchase one due to the insane depreciation that will happen within the first 12 -18 months. We’ve already seen how Gen 1 R1 vehicles have been pushed to the side by Rivian in favor of Gen 2. All the Gen 2 hardware (R1.2 and R2.1) equipped vehicles will almost certainly experience the same by 2027.

   • There are a lot of people that won’t care about nor be willing to pay or subscribe to what will come with Gen 3 autonomy so it make sense from that perspective and it allows Rivian to burn through their remaining Gen 2 supply chain.

   • I am very interested in the R2 and all of these things are true for me:

     – I don’t really care to use driving features beyond adaptive cruise control and maybe lane centering
     – I don’t and will never pay monthly fees for my vehicles; this includes cellular data plans or any Rivian packages
     – The worst part of the R2 is the lack of CarPlay, because I don’t plan on the car having connectivity beyond WiFi at home
     – I keep my cars for at least 8 years and don’t really care if the hardware gen hurts the resale value

     • Launch Edition is going to be just right for you!

8. Unless you are an impulse buyer, let Rivian work out the manufacturing defects on the early R2 vins that roll off. There will always be really frustrating NVH issues like rattles and noises that are part of early VINs like on Gen 1s. Patience is a virtue… might get a refined product with better technology suite? So for me and my impulse control, it’s good … will help me wait until they get all the kinks worked out with few thousand early VINs. A valuable lesson learned from g1 R1T.

   • Will there be a Launch Edition for the refresh’ late 2016 R2 model? Or only for the early 2026 R2 model.

     • We don’t know how long the LE will be produced for (or how many vehicles) … or whether there will be any overlap between LE production and the point in time they start producing Gen3 HW R2’s.

9. Excellent recap. Thank you. Rivian should realize they should have provided this level of clarity. And we should look towards clarifying the “Gen” usage. Gen 1 and Gen 2 were R1S/R1T specific and referred to entirely different builds of the same vehicle. Now “Gen 3” is creeping into the conversation and it’s being used with a car (R2) that hasn’t even landed a “Gen 1” yet. Gen 3 seems to be the way we’re referring to the sensor package only, not the overall generation of a specific vehicle. This is going to get confusing quickly if we don’t set some definitions down.

10. I’ll just wait for R3🤣

11. Thanks for the clarification. Wish Rivian would have been clearer on autonomy day.

    I, too, am disappointed that I won’t be able to get the Gen 3 R2 in H1 of next year, but technological progress has its own pace.

    My guess is that Rivian is planning to sell the Gen 2 R2 for $45k price they initially described, and Gen 3 will cost more. As it should. The R2 price is already too low, as I don’t think they factored in three years of inflation when they announced initial pricing. There’ll be a lot of hype when the R2 comes out, and I suppose there’ll be enough early adopters to sell as many as they can make, especially if they signal that the $45k price will only be available for the first six months.

    Personally, I’ll wait for Gen 3. But there could be enough people who don’t want autonomy to buy the initial inventory. For early 2026, it’ll still be the best buy until Gen 3 comes out.

    Also, Rivian needs to get a better naming strategy. “R” + [1, 2, 3] + [“S”,”T”, “”, “x”] + Gen[1,2,3…n]. Easy for a computer, hard for a human. “1” means truck or SUV, so it also gets a modifying “S” or “T.” “2” doesn’t get a modifier, even though it’s visually and functionally similar to the 1S. “3” gets an optional “x.” And then they all get different “Generation” versions for the hardware. Rivian was being accurate by saying R2 comes out early 2026 and Gen 3 comes out in late 2026, but Gen 3 only applies to R2 for now. How could consumers not get confused by that!?

    • Sorry, what you’re saying is completely unnecessary. When you buy a base model car vs a “fully loaded” car, 99% of the time the model doesn’t change. If I have a Q60 with manual transmission and basic suspension and basic cruise, it’s a Q60. Let me add automatic transmission, sport suspension, rear active steer, adaptive cruise, etc. Guess what? It’s still a Q60.

12. I’m surprised there is no hardware upgrade path between generations. Most of us do not treat cars like phones and upgrade every generation for the newest tricks gadgets. Seems like the goal is to improve and iterate than create a platform that evolves. I couldn’t find any patents for their custom silicon and with memory prices as they are; I’d expect some bottlenecks to come out. How many different skus do they have at this point?

13. Tell me that the “launch edition” R2 is already obsolete without telling me that the “launch edition” R2 is already obsolete. I know there are deadlines to meet, but shy of announcing the R2 with the slogan “R2, don’t buy it yet” Rivian is doing themselves and their customers a great disservice by announcing that their next great product’s most talked about feature is its planned obsolescence. No interest in being left behind again. For context, I became a Gen 1 R1S owner in the same month Gen two started delivering. I got my Intel MacBook Pro a month before Apple switched to their own silicone chips. I consider myself fairly tech savvy and usually update my phone every year and a half or so, unfortunately I can’t afford to do that with my cars.

    • Absolutely agree with this! I’m puzzled at why Rivian would make such an announcement this close to the R2 launch. Most automakers are coy about future hardware enhancements and timelines but Rivian is shooting themselves in the foot here. Anyone out there saying differently is ignoring the facts. Big Rivian fan and Gen 1 R1 owner here and have slowly grown disappointed in Rivian’s approach on how they go about releasing hardware and software enhancements. They’re unnecessarily aging their products by not trying to think multiple steps ahead. They’re unnecessarily aging their vehicles by never thinking far enough ahead as it relates to hardware. It’s hurting them and it’ll be more impactful with the R2 and broader customer base.

      • Rivian is going to spend most of 2026 ramping up R2 production. The output for first half of 26 is going to be pretty limited. This is a good way of tempering demand while giving people something to drool over.
        They are betting there are enough buyers for these early build to take this limited production quantity.
        2027 R2 Gen 3 will be coming out just in time for the Normal factory to be at full capacity. This 2027 model switchover will be sometime in 2026.

        • They might as well start with the lower cost trims since those are most likely the people who won’t care about LiDAR or future proofing. This was an idiotic move by Rivian to announce it like this and as an investor, I’m just shaking my head at how they killed potential sales next year at a time they’re desperately needed. All for what? Claiming better enhancements are coming within months? We know LiDAR won’t make an appearance till 2027 most likely. I was excited about jumping to an R2 but now I’m entirely turned off of it till LiDAR actually makes it to the car and other Gen 3 hardware. I’ve learned my lesson with Rivian and being a Gen 1 owner…while it was exciting, I feel forgotten by them.

      • As an older person I will wait for the lidar because I want ADAS 3. Autonomy is going to keep us antiques much safer. Listen, Tesla promised autonomy for 15 years now and promised all their cars would have it. That’s a lie. Not only do they not have it perfect yet but the older cars aren’t getting it. Rivian is being up front and telling you that if this is important to you then wait. I’ll lease another car for two years while I wait. Also, Rivian is offering to let you buy a non subscription forever package for far less than Tesla did before going to just subscription. The only question no one asked was why did Rivian pass on the NVIDIA autonomy package which seems to already be ready for prime time. Maybe it’s just vertical integration, depending on only your company.

14. This is super helpful Jose thank you!!!!

15. I wonder if the timing aligns with the release of Gen3 R1 series?

16. not having LIDAR will not be important to a majority of early adopters. AAA did a big survey earlier this year and found that self-driving tech still freaks most of them out. https://newsroom.aaa.com/2025/02/aaa-fear-in-self-driving-vehicles-persists.

    I don’t think they will have any difficulty selling the pre-lidar cars. they just have to continue to be loud and forthright about the difference so nobody feels cheated later.

17. I’d just like to know how much more will the Gen 3 Lidar R2 will cost in the fall of 2026 over the Launch R2 from the spring. Are we talking 3-5K more?….or 10K more. I think that really matters.

    • Since they have already announced pricing for Performance LE, Premium, and Standard … and the timing for those last 2 versions overlaps the anticipated “late 26” timeline for Gen3, I am guessing Gen3 Lidar R2 will NOT represent, by itself, a price change.

      Perhaps overly optimistic. But I don’t see Rivian revising their pricing up in 8 months for models that they *just* annouced prices for in March ’26.