Rivian Recap: 12/19/2025
Hey there,
Here's your weekly Rivian Recap for December 19th, 2025.
This week, Rivian finally launches 2025.46 as what is arguably the biggest single Rivian update in company history. Plus, we learn more about the R2 rollout, and the community continues being awesome.
Let's dive in!
R1 & Software
A huge win for Gen2 on the 2025.46, and a few little surprises for Gen1... especially those rocking the in-house Rivian audio.
Here are the biggest takeaways from this update worth noting:
🙌 Universal Hands Free
While exclusive to Gen2, the new Universal Hands Free boosts hands-free lane centering from ~135,000 miles of pre-mapped roads to >3,500,000 miles.
It works anywhere that the system can see well marked lane lines, but will only execute lane changes on divided highways.
After Autonomy & AI day in Palo Alto, it's pretty clear this is the first big step towards point-to-point autonomy coming next year, and this expanded coverage is wrapped up in their "Autonomy+" package.
All new deliveries get Autonomy+ for 60-days from delivery. Afterwards it's currently available for $49.99/month or onetime fee of $2,500.
My biggest critique of the free level is that I think the hands-on lane centering should also work everywhere it has lane lines, but it seems Rivian is too worried about a lack of differentiation. I hope they reconsider in the future.
I *just* got 2025.46 on my R1T earlier today, so I'll have more complete thoughts for you in next weeks newsletter.
(As a reminder, if you want update alerts, Rivian Roamer is your best bet.)
Until then, here are some posts and videos to see what it's like:
Long form 2025.46 review from RivianTrackr
UHF Stoplight Alerts from @Hilbe
How UHF handles sharp bends & roundabout alerts
🔑 Digital Key (Gen1 support coming... kinda)
The several times delayed Digital Key is here for Gen2.
After going through the setup process, the key can be added to your iPhone, flagship Android or Apple Watch.
I can say that this was the first thing I setup and once it's configured, it works great, including from my Apple Watch. Solid!
The card in your wallet reflects the motor configuration, so silver/white for duals, yellow for tri, or a beautiful laguna blue for quads.
If you have any issues during setup, I found that deleting your bluetooth based phone key and restarting both the vehicle and phone resolves this for a quick and successful initial setup.
Fear not if you are a Gen1 owner, Wassym has publicly stated that a more limited (non-UWB version) of Digital Key is coming for Gen1 owners. Along with launch control for Gen1 Quad and Dual-Performance.
Plus, a full blown Rivian mobile watch app is slated to come out in January, which may be tied to the Gen1 support.
🔊 Rivian Audio Improvements
A sneaky part of this update that didn't seem to make the release notes was indeed further updates to the in-house audio system.
Both for Gen1 and Gen2, in-house systems seem to have improved. This was something I was hearing whispers of, but it bubbled to the surface this week with the official launch.
As soon as the update installed, I kicked on a few songs and we do have another notable step forward in audio quality, especially the low end.
What do you think? Do you notice any difference?
🦵Kick Turn & RAD Tuner
Customers of the top trim Gen2 Quad-Motor finally get the anticipated Kick Turn and RAD Tuner feature that had been promised for September.
I tried out the Kick Turn feature in Joshua Tree earlier this year and its the kind of feature that puts a stupid grin on your face you can't wipe off.
Here's Rivian showing off a new kind of "snow angel":
It's good to see the highest end customers finally get delivered more than just a quicker 0-60, but we may see RAD Tuner come to other performance models in the future.
However, Kick Turn is exclusive to Gen2 Quad only.
❄️ Cold Weather Level 2 Improvements
There has been a bug in 2025.38 in both Gen1 and Gen2.
I know those of you out there who have been impacted are really looking forward to this. It looked like we were bitten by this bug with our setup, but it may be an actual hardware issue with an adapter.
After more investigation, I'll provide a full update.
R2 & Beyond
While there is still so much to talk about with Rivian's autonomy strategy, both hardware and software, there are near-term impacts for R2 timing.
With a pretty significant compute and sensor change coming less than a year after the R2 launches, does this impact when you plan to buy?
I'd love to hear from you in the comments.
To further add to that point, Rivian has confirmed that there will NOT be an option for Gen3 and LiDAR retrofits for early R2 buyers.
On one hand, I can see where they are coming from. Since so many people right now claim they don't care about autonomy, let them jump to the front of the line and get an early R2 to satisfy their form factor needs.
But on the other hand, I mentioned to the Rivian sensor team in-person that I wish they'd offer a more modular upgrade path in support of a sustainable future so these platforms have extended usable lifecycles.
Unfortunately, the response was muted at best.
Community
As I've said many times before, the Rivian community is the best part about owning a Rivian, as good as the products often are.
Good work to the Mid-Atlantic Rivian Club for making kids holiday season a lot more special and celebrated than they would've had otherwise.
This is what it's all about.
Worth Checking Out - Sponsor
A long standing nitpick of both Gen1 and Gen2 Rivians is that their "wireless charger" in the center console doesn't work very well (or at all).
Thankfully, the fine folks over at SoonishEV have come up with what I consider to be the cleanest and best looking retrofit, adding dual high-power magsafe pucks to your Rivian for secure, fast, wireless charging.
I mean, just look how beautiful this is👇
Check out the SoonishEV charging solutions below and save 10% for being a member of the Rivian Recap Newsletter:
My thanks to SoonishEV for helping make this newsletter possible.
Latest Deals
The December deals are coming to a close, so you have just a few more days this holiday season to lock-in the current promotions.
That means the best deals are the same with $5k in lease cash towards any 2026 dual-standard configuration.
You can still stack this with up to $3k in additional savings for purchasing the same day as a trade-in quote or demo drive ($1k) and accepting a trade-in offer ($2k bonus).
That's $8k in lease cash bonus value on top of the already improved money factor leasing available on the dual-standard.
BUT! Rivian has made a few changes to how they package a number of trims, now properly including what I think are some of the best features anyway and outsized customer delight compared to price (like the tonneau and utility panel).
The price and component change should just be for new builds so still tread carefully and use the shop filters (linked below) for the best configurations of pre-built vehicles in the R1 shop.
Here's the bottom line for offers overall..
All 2025's are 1.99% financing, but their lease rates are often worse than the newer model year (dumb).
For 2026's, you can get 1.99% financing for the performance upgraded duals (large and max), or the upper-end tri and quad motors.
Must place your order by December 31st.
My suggestion remain the same as it was during recent 1-year review.
I'd go with a 2026 model year, and lease either a dual-standard (with premium audio upgrade) with $5k lease cash:
2026 R1S dual-standard (with premium audio)
2026 R1T dual-standard (with premium audio, tonneau, utility panel)
OR, I'd go up to a 2026 tri-motor for the improved driving dynamics.
Grab either of those on a lease, and snag the extra $2k when you trade-in, plus another $1k for doing it the same day as a demo drive or trade-in quote.
Plus get either 100 gear shop credits for dual-standard, 250 for dual-large/max or 500 points with a tri/quad-motor variants when you use a referral.
All referrals also get 3 months of free charging on the Rivian Adventure Network, which would be handy with holiday travel.
I hope enjoyed this weeks edition of the Rivian Recap. Let me know what you'd like to see more of in future editions!
Even if you just want to say hi, hit reply – I'd love to get to know you 👋
Stay curious ✌️,
Travis Ketchum
P.S. Thinking about buying a new Rivian?
Make sure you use a referral code. A friend, a neighbor, or someone who has helped you along the way.
Here's mine: TRAVIS4699411