The Sunday Drive, Rivian Week in Review, May 18 to May 24, 2026

Most of this week ran through Thursday’s R2 software AMA with Wassym. We got an autonomy roadmap, RivianOS 2.0 confirmed for R2 at launch, a heat pump across the whole lineup, and a bunch of smaller answers along the way. Let’s dig in.

Start with the AMA since a lot of the week flowed out of it. Wassym Bensaid sat down Thursday and covered autonomy, audio, the heat pump, and a bunch more in one go. The full rundown is in Rivian R2 AMA, Autonomy, Audio, Heat Pump, and More, and if you want the setup ahead of it, that’s in Rivian R2 Software AMA With Wassym Bensaid Set for Thursday, May 21.

The biggest thing to come out of the week, at least for me, is that Rivian quietly dropped the R2 self-driving roadmap we’ve been waiting for. It clears up a lot of the autonomy questions that have been floating around since the reveal. Breakdown in Rivian Just Quietly Dropped the R2 Self-Driving Roadmap We’ve Been Waiting For.

RivianOS 2.0 also got confirmed, coming to R2 at launch and rolling out to R1 later this year. This is a bigger deal than it sounds since it’s the software foundation everything else is going to build on. More in RivianOS 2.0 Coming to R2 at Launch, R1 Later This Year.

The heat pump news made me happy. The entire R2 lineup gets one, no trim gatekeeping, which is great for cold weather efficiency and honestly should be standard on every EV at this point. Quick read in R2 Gets a Heat Pump Across the Entire Lineup.

On the bigger picture side, I wrote a piece on why Rivian’s AI-defined vehicle push actually matters, because it’s easy to wave off as buzzwords but there’s real substance underneath it. Full take in Why Rivian’s AI-Defined Vehicle Push Actually Matters.

Now for the configurator catch. It’s live, but you can’t actually build the cheap one yet. The entry pricing everyone’s waiting on isn’t configurable at the moment, which is worth knowing before you go in expecting to spec the base trim. Details in Rivian R2 Configurator Is Live, but You Cannot Build the Cheap One Yet.

Good news on the Assistant front too. Rivian Connect is getting a free 60-day trial that brings Rivian Assistant to all owners, so you don’t need to commit to anything to try it out. More in Rivian Connect Free 60-Day Trial Brings Rivian Assistant to All Owners.

And on the less fun side, the stock keeps sliding despite the R2 launch and a Q1 earnings beat, which is one of those disconnects between the business and the market that’s worth trying to make sense of. My read in Why Rivian Stock Keeps Falling Despite R2 Launch and Q1 Earnings Beat.

That’s the week. RivianOS 2.0 confirmed, an autonomy roadmap finally on paper, and a heat pump for everyone. Catch you on the next Sunday Drive.