Rivian’s Halloween Update Is Coming Early This Year

Wassym confirmed it on X this morning. “Halloween will be epic this year… and early.”

Halloween has become the unofficial Rivian holiday, so every September owners start asking whether it’s coming back and when. Now we know it is.

The window has been shrinking. The 2024 Car Costumes ran October 18 through November 4. Last year’s Spooky Swamp ran October 21 through November 1. Eighteen days down to eleven, before the rollout wave even reaches your vehicle.

My comments were full of that last year. One reader wanted all of October. Another said his kid missed the zombies and witches, and that the costume only works parked.

2022 was small. 2023 hid it behind a riddle in the release notes and didn’t unlock until October 21. 2024 was the peak, with Knight Rider, Back to the Future, and Haunted Rivian plus owl and crow chirps and the Foggy Bog and Crimson Moon interior colors. 2025 went to the bayou.

I miss the driver display zombies. Those worked while you were driving. I looked all last Halloween and never spotted one.

The open question is R2 and what it’ll include. I fully expect the software aspect to remain the same across Gen 1 R1, Gen 2 R1, and R2, but R2 doesn’t feature an RGB lightbar so don’t expect fun colors out there like on Gen 2 R1.

As soon as I get release notes for the next software update, I’ll share them with you all.

Jose Castillo Founder and Editor

Jose Castillo is the founder of RivianTrackr and has owned and driven Rivians since early in the brand's consumer history. He currently drives an R1S and an R2 in Florida and uses Universal Hands-Free every day. As a credentialed Rivian journalist, he has covered the R2 First Drive in Park City and SXSW firsthand and has spoken directly with Rivian's software and autonomy leadership.

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