Rivian will add a Smart Charging feature to its vehicles in the next over-the-air update, the company’s chief software officer Wassym Bensaid said on Friday.
The new feature will allow owners to schedule charging sessions during off-peak hours, helping reduce electricity costs.
“80%+ of EV charging occurs at home, and 70%+ of those charging sessions are not aligned with the lowest utility rates,” Bensaid wrote on X.
“We are launching the new Smart Charging feature with the next Rivian OTA update,” he added.
Bensaid said the Rivian mobile app will analyze utility plans and create optimized charging schedules. Mockups shared on X showed how the feature will appear both in the Rivian app and on the vehicle’s main display.
The announcement follows Rivian’s June partnership with WeaveGrid, a startup specializing in smart charging, aimed at enabling customer participation in utility-managed charging programs.
These programs offer financial incentives to EV drivers who shift charging to times when energy is cheaper and cleaner, while also improving grid reliability.
Responding to a user comment on X, Bensaid also pledged refinements to charging controls.
The user wrote, “I just wanna set my amps and leave it. I dont always need to quick charge at 48 – Id rather set it for 12 or 20amps and let it use my excess solar. But it always defaults to 48 and makes me change it every time.”
Bensaid replied: “Good point. We’ll get it addressed.”
The Smart Charging rollout comes a week after Bensaid announced Rivian’s new digital key, which will support Apple, Google and Samsung devices.
The next-generation key uses native wireless technology and OS-level security to provide access to Rivian’s Gen 2 vehicles and enables key sharing via Apple or Android wallets.
The company has recently rolled out the 2025.26 software update to both its Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 models, with customers reporting major improvements in the infotainment system.
Bensaid reacted to one of the feedback posts on X, saying “more improvements are coming” to the infotainment system.
