(Credit: Rivian)
Rivian has revamped its flagship vehicles for the first time, opting to preserve the exterior design while reengineering performance and software capabilities.
"Our revamped R1S and R1T push the technical boundaries further, creating our most capable products to date,” says RJ Scaringe, Rivian CEO and founder.
The upgrade features a new autonomous driving system, dubbed the Rivian Autonomy Platform, and a more advanced, in-house software stack—two things that may make Rivian an enticing EV partner for Apple, Scaringe suggested on the company's last earnings call. (Apple hasn't made any announcements and has reportedly axed its long-rumored car project, though next week's WWDC could be a good time to discuss any software partnerships.)
The next-gen R1 platform also offers a noticeable increase in Apple integrations. Drivers can now open the vehicle with digital keys in their Apple Wallet or Apple Watch, as well as select Google Pixel devices. Rivian also "worked closely with the Apple Music team to deeply integrate" Apple's song catalog, it says.
Rumors aside, the upgrades will help Rivian compete with Tesla and other tech-heavy EVs. "My impression is the software is such a big jump from generation one that it put Rivian ahead of other automakers," says journalist Doug Newcomb, who has reviewed dozens of EVs for PCMag, including the R1S and R1T.
The Rivian Autonomy Platform comes standard on all next-gen R1/R2 vehicles and includes "a suite of over a dozen safety and driver assistance features," such as blind spot monitoring and highway assist. Later this year, the more premium Rivian Autonomy Platform+ will offer advanced capabilities, such as on-command lane changes and enhanced highway assists. Platform+ will cost more, though Rivian did not specify the price and noted that it is free "to start."
The system runs on an "entirely new electrical architecture and compute platform" and has 11 cameras. Rivian boosted the megapixels on each camera and upgraded the vehicles' headlights and taillights. The result is an uninterrupted, 360-degree view even in dark tunnels or other low-visibility areas.
The camera feed streams into the Autonomy Compute Module, which is 10 times more powerful than the previous version thanks to the Nvidia Drive Orin processors, Rivian says. It also runs more efficiently. The previous system required 17 electrical control units (ECU), and the new one runs on just seven. This also helped Rivian remove 1.6 miles of wiring from each vehicle, one of the many manufacturing efficiencies contributing to a 15% reduction in "lifetime carbon footprint" compared with the first-generation R1 platform.
Performance and range are also improved. The vehicles now offer up to 420 miles of range on the larger battery packs, breaking its previous industry record of a 410-mile range. But the standard pack offers the same range as today, up to 270 miles and a low-cost LFP battery, which can lose energy faster in cold temperatures. However, Rivian added a new heat pump to the second-generation vehicles, which should help preserve range in cold weather.
The upgrades come with only a minor price increase for the R1S ($74,900 to $75,900), while the second-gen R1T's starting price remains at $69,900. The dual-motor configurations are "available immediately," with tri-motor coming later this summer and quad-motor "to follow."
The upgraded vehicles may help Rivian keep bringing in new customers until the more affordable R2 debuts in 2026.