- On Thursday, Rivian announced a major software update.
- It includes Universal Hands-Free, Rivian’s new driver assistance feature.
- The update also brings a new phone key and off-road features.
last week, Rivian announces “global hands-free” The most advanced driver assistance feature to date – the startup claims – is a major milestone on the road towards highly automated features.
On Thursday, the electric vehicle manufacturer began rolling out the Universal Hands-Free system to its second-generation R1S and R1T drivers via software update 2025.46. The edition also offers a host of other upgrades, mostly for second-generation owners.
Universal hands-free
This feature takes Enhanced Highway Assist, Rivian’s existing highway driving feature, and expands it to more roads. Previously, Rivian invited owners to take their hands off the wheel (and keep their eyes on everything) over 135,000 miles of certified North American highways.
Now that number has grown to more than 3.5 million roads of all types — highways, country roads, city streets and anything else. “If the path lines are clearly defined, you can work with it,” Rivian said in a blog post on Thursday.
Rivian hands-free universal
Image by: Rivian
Assuming the system works well, this capability blows features like GM’s Super Cruise (750,000 divided highway miles) and Ford’s Blue Cruze (130,000 miles) out of the water. To make this possible, Rivian says it has stopped relying on high-definition maps for its automated features. This feature relies more on what the car actually senses about its environment.
Since Universal Hands-Free doesn’t stop at traffic lights or stop signs — it drives within a lane while responding to speeding traffic — there are likely to be many roads where this feature isn’t useful, such as busy city streets with a lot of traffic. But it seems to be useful for routes that take you from the city to and from the highway. I’m excited to try it out and see how it performs in the real world.
Rivian R1T and R1S drivers get a free 60-day trial of Universal Hands-Free to get started. After that, they’ll have to pay $49 per month or $2,500 upfront to continue access through the new Rivian app. Autonomy + display.
This is perhaps the biggest update in Rivian’s latest software release. But there are some other upgrades worth mentioning.
New features related to autonomy
We learned all about Universal Hands-Free at Rivian’s Autonomy and AI Day event earlier this month. Rivian’s blog post revealed some additional autonomy-related features that we haven’t heard about yet.
Rivian is launching “self-driving modes” via driver assistance features, similar to what Tesla offers for full (supervised) self-driving.
Here’s how Rivian describes the three options:
- Moderate: A relaxed style with greater distance and gradual changes in trajectory.
- Medium: A balanced approach to managing interruptions and speeding up traffic flow.
- HOT: More dynamic style with a tight gap distance and faster steering during lane changes.
You can now use the right scroll wheel to adjust the speed of the cruise control. (Before this was handled by buttons.) There’s an update to the perception of the surrounding environment inside the car, which Rivian calls “Autonomous Display.”
“With this update, the autonomous display is now zoomed out to show more of the area behind your car, so you have more context for maneuvers like lane changes and turns,” Rivian says.
Turn kick
The R1 four-wheel drive vehicles now get two interesting new features. The Kick Turn system sweeps the rear end to assist in sharp turns when driving off-road. RAD Tuner provides drivers with an interface to customize things like acceleration, stability, and torque balance. Mac Hogan indeed Experience these features when you sample the upgraded four-wheel drive Rivians this summer.
New key based on phone
The new Rivian Digital Key replaces the Bluetooth-based phone keys that phone key owners have been able to use for years. Now owners of Gen 2 R1 vehicles can add a Rivian Key to the Wallet on compatible Apple, Google, and Samsung phones, allowing them to access and drive their vehicles via Ultra Wideband (for passive entry) or NFC (for tapping).
Rivian’s new Digital Key can be added to the smartwatch.
Image by: Rivian
Rivian says this will make access to its cars smoother than before. Additionally, owners can share up to eight digital keys with friends or family members, which seems really useful.
Another bonus: Drivers can lock and unlock their cars using a smartwatch — when they’re out surfing, or similar — which sounds very rustic indeed.
If you encounter any of these features and have ideas, drop us a line in the comments, or contact me at Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com
