Why You Should Wait for the Rivian R2 With LiDAR and Gen 3 Hardware Instead of Buying the Launch Edition

Rivian R2-D2

Earlier this week I made the case for why the R2 Performance Launch Edition is the best bang for your buck in the entire R2 lineup. And I stand by that. Dollar for dollar, when you factor in lifetime Autonomy+, the tow package, semi-active suspension, and 656 hp at $57,990, it is genuinely hard to beat. But a lot of you pushed back in the comments and asked me to write the other side of this argument. So here it is.

The R2 Performance Launch Edition is a great vehicle on paper. But there is a version of the R2 coming that will be a fundamentally different machine under the skin, and if autonomy matters to you at all, the case for waiting is stronger than a lot of people realize.

Starting in early 2027, Rivian plans to begin shipping R2 units equipped with Gen 3 autonomy hardware. That means the custom RAP1 processor powering the new Autonomy Compute Module 3 (ACM3), a front-facing long-range LiDAR sensor, and a nearly 4x increase in compute power over what the Launch Edition ships with. The Launch Edition runs on Gen 2 hardware, the same autonomy stack currently in today’s R1T and R1S. Cameras and radar only, no LiDAR, and no next-gen Rivian silicon.

Here is the part that matters most. Rivian has confirmed there is no retrofit path. Early R2 buyers cannot upgrade from Gen 2 to Gen 3 hardware. No LiDAR add-on, no processor swap, nothing. The vehicle you buy this spring is the vehicle you keep, and within roughly six to eight months of your delivery, Rivian will be building a meaningfully more capable version on the same assembly line.

The Gen 3 hardware is not a minor refresh. The ACM3 delivers 1,600 sparse INT8 TOPS and can process 5 billion pixels per second. That is a massive leap over Gen 2. Rivian designed the RAP1 chip in-house on a 5nm process with 14 Arm Cortex-A720AE cores, and it features RivLink, a proprietary interconnect that lets Rivian scale compute by linking additional chips. This is the hardware that Rivian’s entire Level 4 autonomy roadmap is built around.

R2 Prototype with LiDAR

LiDAR is the other big piece. It provides detailed three-dimensional spatial data that cameras and radar simply cannot replicate on their own. Rivian has been clear that LiDAR is the safety net that enables eyes-off, hands-off driving and eventually what they call “Personal Level 4,” where the car drives itself with no human intervention in defined conditions. Gen 2 hardware will likely never support eyes-off features because it lacks that redundant sensing layer.

That does not mean the Launch Edition is useless for autonomy. Gen 2 R2s will still get Autonomy+ with Universal Hands-Free driving across 3.5 million miles of roads. Rivian engineers have confirmed that the same software stack runs on both Gen 2 and Gen 3 hardware thanks to a hardware abstraction layer, and Gen 2 still has headroom. Point-to-point autonomy features are expected to work on Gen 2 as well. But there is a ceiling, and that ceiling is exactly where the most exciting capabilities live.

There is a silver lining here worth calling out though. Once thousands of LiDAR-equipped R2s hit the road, they effectively become rolling data collection machines feeding extremely precise “ground truth” information back into Rivian’s Large Driving Model. That richer training data does not just benefit Gen 3 vehicles. It improves the driving models that run across the entire fleet, including Gen 2 R2s without LiDAR and Gen 2 R1T and R1S vehicles. So even if you buy the Launch Edition or already own an R1, the arrival of LiDAR-equipped R2s should accelerate autonomy improvements for everyone through Rivian’s data flywheel. Your vehicle may not have the hardware for eyes-off driving, but the software that powers your hands-free experience will get better because of the vehicles that do.

The counterargument is timing. If you need a vehicle now and you are not particularly invested in the autonomy roadmap, the Launch Edition still delivers 656 hp, 330 miles of range, semi-active suspension, and all the R2 goodness at $57,990. That is a legitimately great vehicle for the money. And if Rivian offers strong lease terms on the Launch Edition, the math could work out where you lease the Gen 2 equipped R2, enjoy it for two years, and move into a Gen 3 equipped R2 when the time is right.

But if you are buying, not leasing, and you care about future-proofing your investment, waiting for the Gen 3 equipped R2 with LiDAR and the RAP1 chip is probably the smarter play. The hardware gap between what ships this spring and what ships six to eight months later is not small. It is generational. And unlike a software update, you cannot download a LiDAR sensor.

56 Comments

  1. Is it confirmed that Rivian will only build the launch edition with Gen 2 hardware? If they have over 100K reservations and most of those people want launch editions, wouldn’t that run into 2027 and therefore include the Gen 3 hardware?

      • I just wanted to emphasize that I haven’t seen any Rivian statements about how many LE R2s will be produced … or for how long. So it is a guess (perhaps educated, but still a guess) to say whether or not there may be any Performance LE’s with Gen 3 produced nearer to the end of the LE timeframe. Wouldn’t that be kinda neat?

        I am not saying anything other than “we don’t know”. We know when Performance LE production starts (spring ’26). We have an indication of when production of Premiums is scheduled to begin (late ’26). And we have an indication of the timeframe for Gen3 (early ’27). I don’t think we know when Performance LE production **ends** … and I haven’t seen official confirmation from Rivian that Gen3 coincides (precisely) with either the production of Premium … or the stopping of Performance LE’s, for that matter.

      • Respectfully, I hope you are wrong. Mostly because I reserved far too late, and I will be heartbroken if they stop building launch editions before my number gets called.

        Great write-up by the way, I appreciate the time you put into these articles!

        • I also reserved too late (hilarious to think over 2 years ago is too late), but my reservation one week after announcement (reserved Mar 13, 2024) means I’m probably in the 100k area. Rivian reported 60K reservations in the first 24 hours! So no, Launch Edition is not happening.

          • If you log in at Rivian.com, you will likely see a message inquiring whether you are interested in the Launch Edition. They’re fully aware that many will choose to wait for the Gen 3 rig, which will draw people into the Launch pool who would otherwise be out of reach. but i suspect April will remain out of reach.

            they’re only expecting to produce 25,000 max this year. Had 60,000 signups in first 24 hours. if HALF defected all 2026 chassis would still go to first day reservations. I seriously doubt THIS launch will persist until next Spring, but maybe the Lidar car will get an opening day special of its own.

  2. You could also get the launch edition and sell/trade it later on for gen 3. With limited supply resale should stay high before the lease vehicles come back.

    • Except that unless the gen 3 is substantially more expensive then the gen 2, the gen 2 values will tank. who would want the older product if the cost is close.

      • I will be interested (surprised?) to hear if ultimately, R2 with gen3 HW pricing will change from what was announced last week (simply due to the inclusion of gen3 HW).

        I say that because:

        1) last week’s announcment had timings and pricing for all three specs: Performance, Premium, and Standard … and I wonder whether Rivian might prefer to avoid taking another public outcry on the R2 pricing. They have already received a fair bit of criticism over their *not* offering the $45K unicorn they “promised” in 2024 immediately. I personally think those criticisms are not warranted becuase I don’t think it unreasonable for Rivian to build other-spec’d (higher $$$) versions first. And to my knowledge, they never committed to the $45K being available on day 1 of R2 production … despite how much people seem to want to *think* they did. And just as an aside: it is a *completely* different economic world we live in in 2026 (R2 launch) than we did in 2024 (R2 announced) … it might not be very fair-minded of us to get “mad” at prices not ultimately being what was advertised a couple years ago.

        2) My impression is that gen3 HW won’t be a customer-selected “option” per se … it will basically be a manufacturing-line cutover (i.e., after a certain date, all R2 will be gen3) … but I cannot remember what my source is for that impression.

        So I personally suspect that we won’t necessarily see a price bump simply for gen3 HW inclusion alone. If Rivian needs to recoup more for the gen3 HW vehicle production, then my guess is that they might slightly tweak the vehicle specs at the same moment to give a an impression of more *immediate* customer value for the price differential. E.g., add semi-active suspension to the Premium tier at the same time as rolling on to gen3 hw (I just made that up, please don’t go around the internet acting like that is a thing).

        But I am really out in the speculative weeds now. So don’t put an ounce of stock in it, for sure! But given 1 & 2 above, I am guessing we may not necessarily see a pricing change just because of gen3 hw.

      • This statement seems to forget that 95% of people just want to drive their car and don’t give 2 craps about what self-driving hardware it has.

        • I concur, remember when everyone wanted gen 2 R1s.

          Well you now get it, and eyes off driving is like driving with a blindfold.

          I dare you to trust a car with your kids in tow to not miss a squirrel or a cone in the road.

        • I remember the same reaction when I got Bluetooth in a car, then Android Auto/CarPlay…features become necessities VERY quickly.

      • I’m not interested in autonomy, but i believe this the is key economic point. I’d have to decide how impatient and how willing to take that hit I am. Fortunately I’ve defected to Team iX3. Some of y’all just moved up another spot!

  3. Appreciate the detailed info on Gen 3. For me, the price point of the R2 LE is still too hard to pass up. $57K for a rocket ship with Autonomy+ and tow package? Yes, plz

  4. Tesla’s FSD has no Lidar. It is far more capable than Rivian’s A+. That suggests Rivian can make big improvements without Lidar.

    Tesla FSD costs far more than Rivian’s A+. Do you think Rivian will charge more for A++, or what ever they plan to call Autonomy on the Lidar-equipped models?

  5. Good write up!

    I believe RJ mentioned L3 should be achievable with launch editions in time. Which should be eyes off. Nothing guaranteed though.

    • I agree that I have heard RJ *hint* at something like this. I would love to hear it stated definitively. I hope it is true. Honestly if it *was* true he should come out and yell it from the hilltops … then I suspect that would prevent a chunk of otherwise-LE-ready buyers from sitting on the fence awaiting Gen3.

      But, given the 2026 production capacity for R2 (~20-25K), maybe having fewer people clamoring at the gates for their R2 is a *good* thing for Rivian? *shrug*

  6. Hi Jose

    What are the benefits of the Gen3 architecture BEYOND autonomous driving/Lidar? Any at all?

  7. How much do you think a Lidar-equipped R2 similarly optioned to the LE will cost? I would guess 65k plus A+ extra. If I’m right, to some, ~8k extra is not worth it.

    • I don’t think Rivian will charge $8,000 for hardware they admit costs hundreds of dollars. Rivian is installing Lidar in all new vehicle generations. Its even more beneficial to them for data collection, so I don’t see there being much of a price difference, if any at all.

      • RJ’s trying to stick to the base trim MSRP promise. but won’t have base trims to sell until after the conversion. either he will eat the cost or base won’t have Lidar? I think he’ll eat it.

  8. I think that because the Rivian R2 without lidar is going to be bought only out of long waited excitement, I think that when the R2 with lidar when it comes out the R2 without will go down dramatically in retail price as well as used price. I also think that if people don’t act now on the current model Rivan as we know it could end up going extinct without sales growing. I do agree that we should wait for Lidar but without any sales soon Rivian could be in trouble.

    • there will be no new Lidar-less R2s left, but you’re right that the 1st year’s used values will suffer when Lidar cars start competing in the used market.. They’ll be installing the new goodies this time next year. they will be in an all presold, no inventory state until the big factory opens in ’28.

    • I wish we knew the answer but sadly Rivian has kept quiet. Based on the timeline for R2 Premium which is Late 2026, I would imagine that it would not have LiDAR/Gen 3 hardware since that is not expected until Early 2027.

  10. Jose
    Where does the Rivian Assistant fit In all this?
    Has anyone with Rivian stated that the Assistant would be available at launch or would LEs upgradeable?

    • From the media event for R2 I went to, Wassym shared that R2 would launch with Rivian Assistant so I expect that to come any update here for R1 owners.

      • Are we getting a new software update any time soon or they going to skip over a month like the last update?

  11. Thanks for the needed article. It supports what many of us have read in the past. Rivian needs to get the Generation 3 software out as soon as possible. I am waiting for such.

  12. Perhaps I’m a luddite but not a fan of the whole data collection scheme. Me and my tin hat would rather remain private and keep my data to myself (which, understandably is becoming increasingly more difficult)!

  13. I am still skeptical Gen3 hardware launches in early 2027. Scaling production of R2 will continue to be a challenge for Rivian, and developing/building out RAP1 is far from trivial. My bet is Gen3 R2’s will ship at least a full year from when Launch Edition R2’s leave the factory. Full Autonomy is still a long way out, and until that point LIDAR + RAP1 is little more than a ride-along sensor. The bigger question I have, how quickly will the Infotainment roadmap diverge between LE R2’s and Gen3 R2’s. This became a challenge for R1’s and likely will be the larger pain point among R2 customers.

    • log in at rivian.com. based on another’s tip i did, and found a message asking if i was interested in the launch edition. not promising one, but apparently sorting out how many are likely to wait, and perhaps just who is still interested enough to check in. and fwiw i’m a few days tardier than you. don’t know if they’re asking EVERYBODY, like this month’s bubble of reservations sparked by the rollout show.

  15. Jose what makes you think that Gen 2’s won’t get Level 3 eyes off? I believe they will get Level 3 but won’t be capable of Level 4 autonomy.

  16. Jose, thanks for following through on the counterargument, glad the comments pushed you to write it. The Gen 3 hardware breakdown was solid, and the data flywheel angle for Gen 2 owners is an underrated point that doesn’t get talked about enough. Appreciated.

  17. It was confirmed that with or without the Lidar autonomous driving will be fully available in both versions. It’s just that with lidar , the learning curve increases and it becomes efficient in corner cases and bad weather.

  18. I may be a skeptic after owning Tesla’s since 2015 and hearing autonomous driving for so long, yet look at where we are still at today. So I wouldn’t worry about lidar yet at this stage since I feel by the time you upgrade to a new car 3-4 yrs down the line, Rivian will be coming out with Gen4 which will do ‘even better’ but yet the goal posts of L4 autonomy still in the future. lol

  19. I may have the ultimate hack. Canadiens aren’t getting R2 until 2027 so we may get the launch edition deal but end up on Gen3 architecture. One can hope….

  21. What I want to know is, will I be able to upgrade a Premium to Performance via software unlock at a reasonable price?

    Because if so, I’m waiting. As much as I love the Launch Ed. this is going to be a long term car for me. It would be stupid not to wait for the capabilities of the Gen 3 models.

    • Rivian has not said if they’ll sell the Performance Upgrade like they do with R1 but I can’t imagine they’ll leave money on the table and not offer it.

  22. Any info on the new infotainment computer? Is it completely separate from the “gen3” nomenclature?

    I’m surprised there hasn’t been any coverage or details about their new infotainment computer (XMMR3 I think is the name?). I’m guessing that the new snappiness of the touch screen is primarily from this (more so that the OS update they’re showing)?

    So ultimately my question is – does the R2 launch edition have the entirely new infotainment computer? Or are there additional upgrades coming for gen3 (meaning gen3 isnt just autonomy hardware)? If the launch R2 has the new XMMR3 in its entirety then I’m good to go on R2 launch edition.

  24. As an early reservation holder (put a deposit down minutes after the reservations opened) and an early R1T owner (which was unfortunately totaled) I think I have a good shot at getting the Launch Edition…Rivian even emailed to have me update my shipping address and confirm my preference for a Launch Edition.

    I appreciate the line of thinking that went into this article and have had similar thoughts but, as others have said…hard to pass up the LE with the performance pkg, Autonomy+, tow pkg, etc., and that Launch Green color! Plus, if everyone skips out on the launch and early R2s there may not be a Gen 3 R2 or R3…so, I’m perfectly fine supporting Rivian as an early adopter to keep the momentum moving forward.

    • log in at Rivian. they want to know if you want the LE. and maybe checking us for signs of life.

  25. Well, if you get a launch edition, at least it won’t look like an Uber in a few years’ time 🙂

    I really don’t care that much about hands-free driving, so I’ll be happy with the launch edition, but I would probably also lease it to keep my options open if we decide to upgrade in two or three years. Even then, it will likely be another year or two before they have enough training data to benefit from LiDAR and reach a true inflection point where the original launch editions start getting behind.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *