Rivian has started rolling out one of its largest software updates of 2025 as the year comes to a close, introducing a significant expansion of its hands-free driving assist feature.
Previously available on roads covering 135,000 miles, the feature can now be used on over 3.5 million miles across the US and Canada, both on and off highways, “if the lane lines are clearly marked.”
The staggering increase was mentioned by the company last week, during its ‘Autonomy & AI Day’ event, after Scaringe first revealed that ‘Universal Hands-Free’ was coming in an interview last month.
“So that’s hands-free everywhere, then moving hands-free, eyes-off in certain environments,” Scaringe explained, highlighting highways, which are “really important for getting your time back.”
Rivian‘s autonomy software currently offers ‘Universal Hands-Free,’ ‘Highway Assist,’ ‘Adaptive Cruise Control’ and ‘Lane Change on Command’ features.
The functions are only available for second-generation R1 vehicles, which support the Autonomy platform.
Driver assistance features are more limited in the Gen 1 models, as the company completely cut ties with the previous approach to autonomy.
Gen 2 models have different hardware, different software, and, according to founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, “much, much higher levels of compute.”
Earlier this year, Rivian extended the free-trial of the ‘Autonomy Platform+‘ until “late 2025,” an upgrade from the standard (free) Autonomy Platform for Gen 2 vehicles.
Autonomy View
Rivian‘s latest software update brings an ‘Enhanced Autonomy View’ with 360-degree awareness for Gen 2 vehicles as well.
“With this update, the Autonomy View now zooms out to show more of the area behind your vehicle, so you have more context for maneuvers such as lane changes and turns,” the company stated.
The changes in the autonomy view anticipate Rivian’s announced LiDAR adoption. The sensors will be included in the upcoming R2 model, set to launch in the first half of 2026.
Drive Styles and Driving Functions
With the new update, the company is also introducing Autonomy Drive Styles, which lets customers select the way the vehicle operates when these features are engaged.
The styles range from ‘Mild,’ which the brand describes as “a relaxed style with more gap distance and more gradual lane changes,” to the balanced ‘Medium’ and then ‘Spicy.’
The latter is referred to as “a more dynamic style with a tighter gap distance and quicker steering during lane changes.”
Additionally, the Quad-motor Gen 2 vehicles now get the ‘Kick Turn’ feature, which had been first teased in July, when the 2026 iteration was launched, and the ‘RAD Tuner’ function.
According to the Rivian Adventure Department (RAD), it allows owners to “use intuitive touch sliders to build and save custom drive modes by adjusting independent settings like acceleration, torque balance, stability and more.”
Infotainment Changes
As previously revealed, the new update brings a ‘Customizable Driver Display,’ available for both generation models.
Rivian lets owners “customize which view they see at-a-glance on their Driver Display while driving.”
Gen 2 vehicle owners now have access to a digital key through Apple, Google or Samsung phones (and Apple Smart Watch), which supports a total of eight keys across multiple devices.
Charging Bug Fix
While the release notes have not mentioned it, Rivian announced on Wednesday that it will fix a cold-weather-related charging issue in an upcoming over-the-air update “next week.”
According to a new e-mail sent by the EV maker to customers, the issue “prevents certain R1 vehicles from AC charging at home or with Level 2 chargers when in colder weather.”
It is expected to be released as a follow-up to the 2025.46 update, in the form of a patch or hotfix.
As of press time, Rivian shares were rising over 5% on Thursday’s market session, trading at $18.62.
The stock also jumped in the pre-market trading session, as investors anticipated the new software update and as Baird nearly doubled its price target on the company.
