Rivian Recap: 07/10/2026

Hey there,

Here's your weekly Rivian Recap for July 10th, 2026.

R2 launch mode gets tested, 3 major issues with Digital Key, the real LiDAR story, 2027 R1 models are near, and exploring some popular R2 accessories.

Let's dive in!

Software

It looks like the next software for R2 is going to be jam packed with many of the things that were missing at launch.

In addition to Pet Mode, we now have confirmation that Launch Mode is also going to be included and it looks to overdeliver.

In the video clip from Wassym, we see the R2 hit 0-60 in 3.45s which outperforms the stated 3.6s 0-60 in marketing materials.

We can see the 1/4 mile stats, which are:

0-60 in 3.45s
0-100 in 6.99s
1/4 mile in 11.31s

Compare this to the Model Y Performance, which has a more violent snap off the line with the accelerator but a different power curve at speed.

Model Y Performance 1/4 mile stats:

0-60 in 3.2s
0-100 in 7.8s
1/4 mile in 11.5s

This matches up with my driving impressions where you really feel a 2nd wave of power come on above 40mph, which should make R2 feel extremely responsive in passing scenarios.

Nearly all electric vehicles are quick these days, but I'm still amazed at just how much bang you get for your buck in this form factor.

Note: Wassym has previously stated the full power and top speed are available in R2 even outside of launch mode, which differs from how R1 works.

Recently, Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained dropped his video from the same Utah media access event others went to, but a few things stuck out to me.

One of which, was his excitement over the use of Ultra Wideband (UWB) for digital key in Rivian R2, and his hope that this should make for precise and consistent lock/unlock as well as profile selection.

Readers here likely know, Jason is in for a let down.

As someone who has run software teams for roughly 15 years now, I am more understanding than most when it comes to bug or rough edges.

However, this particular issue of how proximity key and profile selection is so poor and has been so irritating for so long it makes you wonder how this hasn't bothered a product manager enough to truly fix it yet.

While there are multiple digital key related issues, they are all rooted in the software calibration and design.

And clearly, I'm not alone:

The fact that we have native integration into Apple Wallet and true Apple Watch key support for Gen2 vehicles, and a proper Rivian watch app that also supports Gen1 is terrific.

However, here are the rough edges that have persisted for months (and in some cases, years). How these haven't been improved is beyond confusing.

Issue #1: Profile Selection

When approaching the vehicle, the selection failure rate across both of our vehicles is well north of 50% of the time.

This means, approximately 6 or 7 times out of 10, if both my wife and I are anywhere near the vehicle, it will select her profile over mine.

Our experience here is repeated across both Gen2 R1S and Gen2 R1T, and with a 14" height difference it is absolutely maddening.

Even in the remaining 30-40% "success" rate, if the vehicle has previously been on her profile, it will show my name but the seat won't move for some reason approximately 5-10% of the "successful" selections.

We almost never had this issue with multi-profile selection in our Tesla, and when I've been added to a family members Model X (we owned a Model Y), my cloud profile even moved the seat and mirrors for me immediately.

How is Rivian not properly leveraging Ultrawideband to select the key that is closest proximity to the driver door handle when it opens to pick a profile?

This seems like extremely low hanging fruit.

Issue #2: Hyper Active Lock/Unlock

Ever since Gen1 launched, owners have been complaining about the proximity of lock/unlock being too far from the vehicle.

This carried over to Gen2 when it used the bluetooth key method, and would sometimes lead to erratic lock/unlock.

When Rivian launched Digital Key, a few things changed for Gen2.

To their credit, lock/unlock reliability went to essentially 100%. This was a welcome improvement and peace of mind (but Gen1 still suffers).

However, the range actually increased with Digital Key, meaning the distance that would trigger the unlock behavior was even more annoying.

For example, if I walk anywhere in the front half of our house, our vehicle in the driveway is locking and unlocking on repeat.

Taking the dog out in the morning? Chirp, Chirp, Chirp (lock/unlock).

Rivian's solution to this? Options for remaining unlocked, or set to lock only when at home. Which forces you to either use the app or the "press/touch" to unlock on the driver side door.

Which sound fine (not great) in theory, until we get to...

Issue #3: Slow Manual Wakeup

The trade off for making the hyper active lock/unlock behavior and setting the vehicle to lock only when at home, is painfully slow manual wake ups.

No matter if you're using the press/touch on the driver side door handle to wake the vehicle up or request an unlock by using the app.

This can take literally multiple minutes, or even forcing you to kill the Rivian app and relaunch to get the vehicle to unlock.

I know I've beaten the drum for profiles and digital key performance issues before, but it's frustrating that such a software centric company that makes an otherwise very compelling vehicle continues to let this languish.

If my team shipped the primary customer access point with this level of erratic behavior and it wasn't fixed by the very next release, I'd be embarrassed.

How we've gone months and/or years without resolution here is to be frank, unacceptable, for a company selling vehicles in this class.

I will continue advocating about this issue until we see a resolution, because it really holds back an otherwise great product.

Hardware

We have a few hardware stories this week worth taking a look at.

First, I did a deep dive into the top questions I keep getting directly, as well as seeing on Facebook and Reddit from reservation holders.

Those are essentially, "What's the deal with LiDAR, when will it be here, and how much will it cost?".

As you might expect, those are good questions but slightly missing the real point that I think people should be thinking about when considering LiDAR or not.

I hope this video finally brings clarity to the murky timelines and messaging that Rivian themselves have made harder to follow.

Next up, we have a follow-up from Tom Moloughney where he was able to thoroughly test the 10-80% charge curve on Rivian R2.

It looks like similar to the 0-60 times above, Rivian is beating their own marketing numbers here yet again (yay!).

Not only does this charge curve seem improved, but the vastly upgraded thermal design should mean a curve like this is far more consistent.

Is it going to be a world beater? No, of course not.

But it should deliver a consistent 400v based charging experience within the bounds of what most people will find themselves needing on a road trip.

The added efficiency and smaller pack should also mean fewer stops where you're really thinking about the time like we have in R1.

I suspect we're still a number of years off from a mid size 900v solution from Rivian, but for cost and other reasons this isn't a bad place to start.

Continuing some of our early R2 access from the very first deliveries, we also have a peek into how the cargo cover integrates into R2.

Thanks to Tyrone (on X and YouTube), we can see the cargo cover appears to be much higher quality than I would've guessed.

However, not having a place to stow the cover in the sub trunk like other auto makers is a miss. Cargo covers are really useful, but can also get in the way depending on your haul.

Tyrone also showed us why the R1 cross bars won't fit your R2.

The end result is that R1 cross bars are simply too wide in their narrowest collapsed position to fit within the far smaller R2 footprint.

How we had executives and spokespeople at SXSW from Rivian saying that crossbars were going to be compatible is a real mystery.

The next thing I want to see is if R2 cross bars will work on R1, but no one has seemed to have had them delivered yet.

In addition to the cargo cover and cross bars, I've seen a few short clips crop up showing the compact spare tire.

While even thinner than it looks in the photo above, I'm glad that there is an option for any kind of spare instead of the normal "fix a flat" goo.

Each R2 should come with an included portable inflator tucked up under the sub trunk space, so that should be helpful for replacements or even if you aired down for going off road.

Lastly, we seem to be closing in on 2027 model year R1S and R1T.

Months ago, I did a prediction video about what I expect to be included.

(One of those, the improved charging pad, is already shipping on R1).

Chief among those though? I think captains chairs would be one of the biggest needle movers for Rivian to sell more R1S vehicles to families.

There's an above average chance that 2027 R1 models are already on the line, probably also including the new Esker Silver paint as we've seen LA Silver inventory dry up in the R1 shop.

If you have a family or are considering an R1S, what would make you upgrade or finally jump in? Hit reply and let me know.

Community

For community this week we have a mixed bag.

First, I want to give a shout out to supporter Michael Rauch who changes cars more often than most of us change phones.

The fact that Michael has owned, or currently owns almost all the current best EVs on the market and still thinks the Quad R1T is one of the best things he's ever bought speaks volumes.

It seems Edmunds also agrees with the conclusion for R1T.

PS: The $2 discount for Stay Curious stickers with code "R2LAUNCH" is still active but will be retired at the end of the month.

The second thing I wanted to highlight is just how thankful I am that the Rivian community has so far chosen to be filled with rational people.

I try to repeatedly give Tesla (and other manufacturers) their due when they execute at a high level. Tesla software is a prime example.

Unfortunately, there is a vocal subset of Tesla owners who treat the brand as a religion on top of dangerously misusing their products.

After highlighting one such use case, it went about as well as you'd imagine.

Considering we will be entering a period of rapid improvement for Rivian's driver assistance systems, please be mindful that these are just assistance tools at least until Rivian is willing to take legal liability for them being more.

Thank you for being an awesome part of the Rivian community and choosing to "Stay Curious" along the way.

Worth Checking Out - CCAN Action Fund Raffle

This week I partnered with CCAN Action Fund on their annual raffle, which gives you the chance to win some pretty awesome prizes.

1st Place (up to $115k):

- Rivian R1S, R1T
- Lucid Gravity, Air
- Porsche Taycan, Cayenne, Macan

2nd Place:

- Rivian R2
- VW ID.Buzz
- Any Hyundai Ioniq

3rd Place:

- 2027 Chevy Bolt

The raffle closes in just 20 days, has a maximum of 10k tickets, with thousands of them being unsold so your odds are better than expected.

Check out the CCAN Action Fund raffle here.

My thanks to CCAN Action Fund for helping make this newsletter possible.

Latest Deals

July deals are a touch worse than June, which is a bit surprising because we're at the end of 2026 R1 production, with 2027 models just around the corner.

The delivery numbers were just released and there were thousand of vehicles beyond the consensus estimate, so perhaps demand is stronger than we all expected, even with worse incentives.

(There are also a few "reduced price" vehicles in inventory.)

Dual Performance and Tri-Motor models get $3k lease cash, or 1.99% APR for 60 months. Non-performance get 2.99% APR for 60 months.

Here's what's sticking out for deals this week:

Dual Large w/Performance [Lease vs Buy Example]

2026 R1S Dual-Large w/Performance (Premium Audio)

2026 R1T Dual-Large w/Performance (Premium Audio, Utility V2 Tonneau)

Dual Max w/Performance [Lease vs Buy Example]

2026 R1S Dual-Max w/Performance (Premium Audio)

2026 R1T Dual-Max w/Performance (Premium Audio, Utility, V2 Tonneau)

Tri Max ($3k Lease or 1.99% for 60 months) [Lease vs Buy Example]

2026 R1S Tri-Motor