I’ll be at Rivian’s Autonomy & AI Day in Palo Alto on December 9, and before I go I want to know what you’d ask Rivian if you had the room.
The event kicks off at 10 AM PT and Rivian is livestreaming it, so anyone can watch the presentation. After the stage is where I can help, because that’s when there’s time to talk with the people building this stuff and get answers that don’t make it into a keynote.
Point to Point is the feature most of us expect to hear about, and I’d guess that’s where most of your questions will land. It’s coming to R2 and Gen 2 R1 only, so think about when it ships, what it’ll cost once any trial ends, or how it’ll handle the roads around you. If you’re a Gen 1 R1 owner with questions about what’s next for your vehicle, send those too.
It doesn’t have to be about Point to Point either. Rivian’s in-house chip is already headed into Mind Robotics’ factory robots, and the software keeps moving with updates like 2026.41’s navigation upgrades, so questions about hardware, Rivian Assistant, or the software roadmap are fair game.
Drop your questions in the comments below. I’ll go through all of them, group the ones that come up most, and bring as many as I can to Rivian on the day. Afterward I’ll put together a follow-up video going through every question with the answers I got.
When is gen 3 hardware going into R1 vehicles?
Same.
+1
Will it be explicit when we place an order for a R2 that is coming with lidar/rap1?
Also what trims of R2 will see lidar/rap1, will there be any extra cost, what are the expected extra capabilities of each, and what is the estimated timeline for roll-out to the public at large?
What are the current capability limits of the model
What are they going to do for gen 1 R1s
How does Rivian plan to expand service to include self performed maintenance such as 12V battery changes, 3rd party maintenance, and to handle the increased demand on existing 1st party service as R2 Premium and Standard hit the market?
Can we get a free, “lite” version of Rivian Assistant that doesn’t send queries to the cloud? Charging a subscription for basic voice commands is no good given that this has been a standard feature of cars for decades at this point.
– Will the pricing of Autonomy change with the roll out of Lidar and RAP1?
– Beyond Eyes Off “Level 4”, are there other anticipated differences between next gen and current?
– Feature parity timeline between Gen 2 and R2 (e.g. Camp mode; Google Cast; native YouTube)
– If you’re feeling saucy, ask about the back seat fan and whether they will never retrofit or if options are still being discussed 🙂
I’d love an official answer on whether the Launch Edition R2 will be able to achieve L3 / eyes off autonomy. And, will the LIDAR/RAP1 configuration be capable of Level 4, or if that will be limited to a future hardware stack?
+1
+1
(It may be impossible for Rivian to predict the capabilities they will eventually squeeze into Gen 2 hardware, but it would be nice to know at least where they are aiming.)
What is the estimated timeline for rap1/2/3 autonomy parity with current Tesla FSD performance.
How far away can the second Point be in Point-to-Point? In other words, if it requires on-ramp off-ramp on an interstate, will it do that? And, will it navigate to a charger if it’s required in order to make it to the destination?
+1
What are they currently doing to fix the suspension issues and other common issues with rivians?
Will Rivian allow custom widgets to be used on interface? I would like to decide which features I use the most to be displayed. How about a large clock instead of small digital one on a sidebar.
Is it in their road map to utilize AI for more real-time updates to remaining range based on live driving conditions, or based on my route and typical driving style and patterns? E.g., if my route is a 150 mile drive into a 20 mile an hour headwind could they leverage ai to determine the impact of the headwind on my efficiency over that drive and update my remaining range and arrival range accordingly.
Any plans to utilize AI to allow more individual customization of vehicle functionality. Like being able to change the speed of the rear window wiper which currently only has one speed on the r1s
I’d love to get an ETA on the rooftop tent shown off for R2.
And of course, more word on the future of back ventilation in R2 first row seats.