Rivian Recap: 12/26/2025
Hey there,
Here's your weekly Rivian Recap for December 26th, 2025.
I just want to start off by saying how much I appreciate you being here.
Hopefully this holiday season has treated you well with great food and excellent company. Allowing me into your world is not taken for granted.
This week, I got more seat time with 2025.46 that came as one of the most significant updates in Rivian's history (at least for Gen2). Holiday schedules gave me more time with Universal Hands Free, Digital Key, and a markedly altered sound system for Premium Audio.
Let's dive in!
Quick Note: Rivian Recap is available as an Audio Edition!
Based on audience feedback, I'm testing a new audio version of this Rivian Recap for paid supporters of the channel on YouTube as a perk.
The same content, just a new convenient format.
R1 & Software
Now that I finally got some decent time with 2025.46, I have to say I'm impressed with this as a big step for Rivian's software direction.
But, it's not all roses.
While on the level, 2025.46 is the most impressive update for Gen2 since they were first introduced in June 2024, there are some notable regressions.
🙌 Universal Hands Free
The hands-free update anywhere the vehicle can see lane lines is getting the most attention from this update, and rightfully so.
No longer being gated to pre-mapped highways is a massive quality of life improvement overall, and something I desperately wanted during my 5,230 mile road trip 6 months ago.
Even though the vehicle won't stop for things like stop signs, traffic lights etc, it's a much needed initial step laying the groundwork for point-to-point autonomy.
However, in the most applicable use case of highway driving I've encountered several very notable regressions compared to previous builds. This is more Tesla-like territory to have 2 steps forward, 1 step back. Rivian avoiding this was something I praised during my 1-year review, so this change is noteworthy.
Regression #1
The first big notable regression of the new lane centering anywhere behavior has to do with how the vehicle handles on and off-ramps.
When in your more standard right lane scenario and a joining on-ramp is merging with you, if there is no dashed line, the car will unpredictably try to center the gap compared to staying the course along the lane divider.
Additionally, in multiple instances when in the far left lane with carpool off ramps, if the primary lane has a bend to it, I've experienced the vehicle attempt to either take the off-ramp or get confused mid-way and fail.
These are in well traveled areas where previous builds did not struggle either at all, or to a far more minor degree compared to 2025.46.
Regression #2
The second regression I've noticed with lane centering is that the vehicle is more keen to alert you to put your hands on the wheel or take control based on an expected "sharp curve" ahead.
We saw this in some of the earliest builds of lane centering on Gen2, but this quickly went away in the first build or two, long before hands free anything was an option. Seeing it return here is an indication that Rivian is being more cautious with where they want to enable the car full latitudinal control given the more free-ranging domain it can be enabled.
This kind of regression takes a lot out of the experience, so it doesn't take many instances of weird behavior or the vehicle complaining about confidence to make drivers abandon the assistance altogether.
Driver Profiles vs Follow Distance
An aspect tightly bundled with the change to Universal Hands Free, but not exclusively used with it, is the new "Driver Profile" settings of Mild, Medium, or Spicy 🌶️ that impact lane change behavior, follow-distance, and aggressiveness to speed up or slow down.
Even with more standard traffic aware cruise control, these settings impact the way the vehicle responds.
Generally, I like this approach more than the previous explicit follow distance, and I vastly prefer the roller being used for speed adjustments.
Similar to previous builds though, most of the Rivian driver assistance settings seem to be based on confidence ratings, so in less ideal conditions the vehicle may complain it can't stay in Spicy 🌶️ and reverts to Medium.
I noticed this in my own experience, and Mike Kantorski also quickly encountered with his experience on the East Coast.
🔑 Digital Key
Next up I wanted to touch on the new Digital Key for Gen2 which utilized Ultra Wide Band compared to the previous Bluetooth based phone keys.
I can confidently say this is a HUGE improvement in reliability over the bluetooth phone keys we had previous to this update.
Even if you look beyond the iPhone 17 specific improvements they've made, this is a truly quantum leap improvement. While it's still early, this feels like it will be at least as reliable as my daily experience in the past with Tesla phone keys, if not even a cut above.
The Digital Key is truly an example of great work by the Rivian software team, and they deserve kudos here for a job well done.
As noted last week, Wassym has stated that Gen1 owners will be an improved experience as well as a dedicated watch app for those using smart watches (possibly limited to Apple watch only).
Hopefully this means the team has an improved solution even for regular bluetooth performance, even if it doesn't quite match the UWB based key.
Given the recent mobile app updates, it's likely that Rivian is deep into testing for an expected January release of the watch app.
🔊 Rivian Audio Improvements
Probably the most unexpected improvement that was extremely noticeable was the audio improvements to Gen2 premium audio.
To my ear, this improvement felt even more substantial than the .34 update that was heralded as the big audio improvement. While .34 brought more control over EQ and the ability to save multiple custom EQ's, with .46 the Gen2 premium system has finally moved into the "pretty good" category.
There are still some specific songs, or some louder volume levels where things can fall apart, but there is a very clear trajectory of improvement overtime where no MOST songs at MOST volumes, sound quite enjoyable.
Is this the best this system is going to get?
If so, I think this is at least satisfactory for the majority of buyers out there as the more premium system. I do still wish they would re-engineer the hardware in a future model year and partner with a name brand in the audio industry.
But I can safely say, listening to music in my Gen2 is something I can reasonably look forward to now.
❄️ Cold Weather Level 2 Update
While I had an issue with my Level 2 charging, it turned out to be a failure with my A2Z adapter, not the truck or my Gen3 Tesla Wall Connector.
A quick delivery from an adapter on Amazon proved this to be true, but I have to hand it to A2Z for rapidly reaching out about the issue and providing a full replacement of the hardware in question, even out of warranty.
I was worried this may have been special treatment based on the reach of the YouTube channel and social, but after chatting with a few people who have more limited reach, this sounds like A2Z has a culture of doing the right thing.
R2 & Beyond
RJ Scaringe posted some content in the past week showing off progress of R2 production and validation.
Starting with a quick behind the scenes video of the R2 body shop, it looks like things are progressing and we are still on track for a first half of 2026 for production of sellable units.
There were also some social stories of the R2 ripping it during the validation testing, which sounds like a really fun job if I'm being honest 😅.
It sure seems like R2 deliveries in 2026 are going to suck the oxygen out of the room for big meaningful updates to the R1 line, and it's likely that we've already seen R1 sales peak as lower cost models become available.
Rivian & RJ also shared a highly produced video that serves as a feel good ad about kids imagination and the Rivian adventure branding.
This video feels exactly like the kind of thing you'd see in a polished Apple keynote. I know Rivian is fairly romantic about the way they want the brand to be perceived, but this is one of the cleanest expressions yet.
Community
One amazing thing about the current set of Rivian owners is that they have seemingly attracted self-starting problem solvers to the brand.
A great example of this was when a recent R1S owner unfortunately had their dog get injured when his paw was stuck in the rear gear rail.
The extremely active @Hilbe had already come up with a solution to avoid this by 3D printing covers for the rails, which saw a spike in demand after the Reddit post about the pet injury.
Seemingly many 2026 model years have the rail deleted, which makes a new cargo accessory that depends on it a curious Gear Shop addition.
However, if you have pets and are worried about this happening, you can grab a set of these rail covers from Chris on his website.
Worth Checking Out - Sponsor
Speaking of pets in your Rivian, one of my favorite purchases for our Rivian is also one of the least expensive from all the gear we've picked up.
The simple "URPOWER" seat cover has worked beautifully, fits well, and held up to a 62 lb Black Lab with steady use for over a year.
Check out the URPOWER waterproof dog hammock:
Seat cover dog hammock w/hard bottom.
My thanks to URPOWER for helping make this newsletter possible.
Latest Deals
Well that's pretty much a wrap on 2025 deals. I hope a few of you are squeaking in some of those lease deals for the Dual-Standard configurations.
The current language says you have to order by December 31st, but December was essentially a copy/paste of November. Will January be the same?
There's no way to know for sure, and Rivian could easily discontinue these offers completely by January 1st, so if you're eyeing a good lease now may be the time to snag one while you wait for R2 or R3X to become available.
It's no question that 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 remains 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