Rivian Recap: 08/21/2026

Hey there,

Here's your weekly Rivian Recap for August 21st, 2026.

Rivian OS 2.0 is coming for R1S and R1T sooner than expected, I have my first R2 hardware issues, and R2 production is scaling quickly.

Let's dive in!

Software

As a software guy, I've been really keen on the changes Rivian has made in what they're calling "Rivian OS 2.0" that shipped first on R2.

In my first few weeks of ownership, I've found myself fairly smitten with the fundamental changes they've done here despite 2026.26.41 being feature incomplete (missing camp mode, assistant, video support, and a few bugs).

We knew that Rivian was planning to unify the R1 software with R2 later this year, but it seems they are pushing for 2026.31 to be BIG.

Rivian's head of software, Wassym Bensaid, announced that "2.0" is coming to R1 in the next major over the air update.

He mentions that 2.0 should be faster on R1, which I will be very interested in trying out on our Gen2 R1S, as I had attributed much of the input latency improvements on R2, to the vastly improved in-car computer hardware.

The foundation of the Rivian in-car stack continues to run on Android Automotive, but this new user experience feels more polished and cohesive than the past iterations of their software design.

Here are a few of my favorite things so far that R1 users can expect from the new update, and soon-to-be R2 owners can look for:

1. "iPad OS" Style Design

While I'm more of a Mac than an iPad guy, I can very much appreciate that many of the interactions feel like windows or modals with layers so users can keep context about where you are in the software.

This is true for things like settings, the media mini player, HVAC controls, etc.

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In the current R1 paradigm, almost every experience is full screen or near full screen, and I've seen less technology confident users get a bit lost about where they are at. I think both novice and advanced users will find this layered approach more intuitive.

The one area that is likely to trip people up is the combined modal that pulls triple duty between vehicle controls, quick settings (like Pet Comfort), as well as the media screen.

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I do think this is a small thing, but the fact that swiping from either the right or the left to bring this pane closest to the front user who needs access is great.

However, there will still be a few people who have a hard time knowing that this central command modal is where most of your daily actions will take place.

2. Contextual Settings (And Search!)

The use of vehicle and application settings sees the biggest improvement.

In 2.0 we get contextual settings in many instances, where tapping the same settings icon will bring you right to what you're looking for.

A great example of this is if you have the full Music experience up, tapping settings goes to the EQ settings pane.

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I hope we see a continued effort for this contextual use of the same habit forming button taps to make getting where you want to go, easier.

In the same spirit, we finally get settings search so you don't have to rummage around the "junk drawer" to find the setting you know is there but can't remember what category it might be hiding under.

I've already used the search multiple times to quickly get to the "show and tell" feature both for content and for when people want to check out the vehicle without it doing the lock/unlock dance.

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3. More Playful (In a Good Way)

If you are in the tech world at all, you may have heard many long time Apple users complain that Apple lost their sense of "whimsy" once the design language went to a more sterile user interface design.

Rivian prides themselves on their colors, textures, and branded ethos that they bring to designs for their products, spaces, and events.

In the prior version of Rivian software, we were starting to skew towards utility, and even then it was not consistent as it crossed several years of updates and we saw different schools of thought for different apps that were older vs newer.

In 2.0, we get a bit of a reset on that front and if you were looking for "whimsy" in the design direction, it's definitely there.

We get consistently rounded corners, easy to read typography, thick lines, and the little play bar "bump" on the music player is particularly nice.

A visible bump that shows the progress of a song and clearly indicates the progress and just makes the interface more friendly to use.

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I'm sure there will be people who complain about such a big change (such as moving the top bar items to the "fish stick" vertical bar), but anytime an often used interface changes there will be those who wanted it to stay frozen in time.

Now that I'm a few weeks in, I can say that overall I'm smitten with what Rivian is doing here from a design perspective, and I can't wait to get a unified experience on our R1 vehicles as well.

Here's to hoping we don't get any new software bugs introduced into R1 during this unification effort, and we get a few of the R2 bugs squashed along the way.

I also found this fun little highlight reel from someone on the Rivian software team that showcases a lot of the design elements:

Quick software PSA for people taking delivery of R2; it seems that Gear Guard is pretty wonky and fairly broken.

My go-to drive that worked great in my R1T can't successfully format for use with Gear Guard. Many other users with multiple other bands are having consistency issues with their drives as well.

I really hope 2026.31 patches this up for users, because I would really like to get my road cam back and be able to rely on it for moving videos off device.

Hardware

Last week we finally got the 2027 update for R1 vehicles.

I've been working on tweaking my various tools to better reflect the updated naming schemes, and more importantly the updated wheels available on R1T.

Interestingly, Rivian seems to be playing some games again on the higher trim levels by reducing the visibility of conserve mode, so the range calculator will be more important than ever.

At two weeks since delivery of R2, a few minor hardware things have cropped up (one I knew at delivery, 2 only presented after driving around).

With the clamshell hood design, I think Rivian is going to find it problematic to get the alignment looking right on a consistent basis.

Unlike more traditional hood designs, the seam is visible from the side, making any differences in alignment painfully obvious to even the most casual eye.

However, my bigger concerns are with the two noises that have shown up post-delivery; being a front passenger door squeak and an HVAC rattle.

The HVAC one in particular is interesting (video of the noise), because it's not always present and seems isolated to the front defrost fan area vs the normal passenger vents. Having the air set to "auto" for recirculation highlights the issue from time to time and sounds like something is loose or perhaps a rough ball bearing on one of the fans.

I've already set a service appointment to address the 3 issues, and I have no doubt my local service center will take great care of them.

Anything else I've found on the vehicle is extremely minor, and in fact I would say overall the impression I get is a far "tighter" package than R1 despite being about half the price of the flagship vehicles.

My father-in-law who daily drives a Gen1 Quad R1T commented immediately that the simplification of R2 felt more premium to him as a first impression, vs a cost down.

While I don't fully agree with that, as areas such as in the rear cargo space, you can feel the lower cost impact, I can see where he's coming from overall.

Through thoughtful design choices, R2 still finds a way to punch above it's price category in all the right ways.

Forest Green and Coastal Cloud interior orders have begun!

I know there were many reservation holders holding out for the expanded paint and interior option, and it looks like that has started on a limited basis.

Hopefully those wanting Borealis don't have to wait much longer and then the full slate of Launch Package eligible configurations will be coming off the line.

Based on the last earnings call, it still sounds like the Premium and Standard trims won't be coming until 2027, but having the full array of launch eligible configurations is a step in the right direction.

Thanks to a heads up from Zak Winnick, it looks like we have an updated iKamper 4.0 series collaboration with Rivian.

The new design is offered in a 2 or 3 person size (with 2 person being ideal for the R1T, and 3 person for R2 / R1S).

I originally took a look at the first collaboration last year since iKapmer has an HQ in the Seattle area, and it was nice but demanded a hefty premium over the regular non-Rivian version along with a few trade offs.

This time around, it seems like they have a few nice additions to the setup, although I still have concerns over the light colored material showing wear and dirt more easily than the traditional iKamper black designs.

Is this something you'd like to see more on? Given how close I am proximity wise to the HQ, I would be able to create a video or at least get some more detailed pictures if this was interesting to the community at large.

Hit reply and let me know if you'd like to see more on this new iKamper x Rivian collaboration for the Skycamp 4.0 series.

Community

R2 production seems to be really ramping up!

I've had reports from readers about getting invited to order, matched with a VIN, and delivery in as quick as 48 hours.

Community member Zach got his drone up in the air near the factory and we're seeing rows of R2 being queued for shipping.

Additionally, some family friends of ours were just invited to order this week and were assigned a VIN in the mid 7,000 range. A full 5,000+ builds newer than the R2 I just took delivery of 2 weeks ago.

There are many reasons for that, not the least of which was the extensive pre-delivery that my vehicle went through, but seeing such a big jump in VINs clearly means they are making great progress.

Once they get another shift added in the fall, and going into 2027 we should see a nice bump in total throughput with quick deliveries becoming the norm.

Thanks for getting the drone up, Zach!

The e-bike startup that spun out of Rivian, ALSO., finally started taking customer orders this week while also confirming an additional $150m Series D investment for their planned autonomous micro mobility products.

I don't think this is going to be "just another bike company", and will be an interesting space to watch as the full roadmap comes into focus.

Worth Checking Out - Rivian Roamer

With so many getting into a Rivian for the first time, it's worth knowing that these are heavily software defined vehicles.

That means that software updates are going to be a common occurrence, and there is a lot you can learn about your vehicle along the way.

My favorite way to know if any of our vehicles are flagged for an update, even before Rivian let's me know, is an email from Rivian Roamer.

It tracks update eligibility, vehicle status, and with the premium service it also tracks efficiency, battery health, charge sessions and more.

Check out Rivian Roamer and get a free month of Rivian Roamer+.

My thanks to Rivian Roamer for helping make this newsletter possible.

Latest Deals

Given how minimal the changes are for 2027, unless you have been specifically waiting for captains chairs (or maybe even prefer Slate Sky with a bench seat), it makes the most sense to scoop up a discount on 2026 models.

As a result, we've seen price reduction on many remaining inventory vehicles.

Check out the price reduction on R1S.

Check out the price reduction on R1T.

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

Dual Large (3.99% + Price Reduction) [Lease vs Buy Example]

2026 R1S Dual-Large (Premium Audio)

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

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

2026 R1S Tri-Motor

2026 R1T Tri-Motor

All R1 referrals also get 3 months of free charging on the Rivian Adventure Network, as well as some shop credits (varies by trim).

I hope enjoyed this week's edition of the Rivian Recap. Let me know what you'd like to see more of in future editions!