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Rivian launches hands-off driving assist in latest software update
Rivian is finally making its way into the world of automated driving.
Electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian debuted a new software update this week, and as part of it, the company has started rolling out a hands-off driving assistance system.
Rivian announced the software update in a press release on Tuesday, featuring the newly launched Enhanced Highway Assist for its Gen 2 R1T and R1S, as well as a performance upgrade and a few other improvements. In a separate release, Rivian has also detailed some of the gears behind its approach to autonomy, highlighting that the Enhanced Highway Assist is available for use on as many as 135,000 miles of highway in North America.
Below is a video from CEO RJ Scaringe and VP of Autonomy and AI James Philbin, along with a few more details about the software update and some information from the automaker about the in-house Rivian Autonomy Platform.
Credit: Rivian
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Enhanced Highway Assist for Gen 2 vehicles
The company’s latest software update is deploying the new Enhanced Highway Assist to Gen 2 vehicles, which will let drivers take their hands off the wheel for extended periods of time, not unlike Tesla’s Supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD). For the time being, the feature is being offered to owners for free, though it’s not clear if Rivian plans to eventually start charging for the suite.
Enhanced Highway Assist is able to control the vehicles’ steering, acceleration, and braking, and Rivian also uses an infrared cabin camera embedded in the interior rearview mirror to monitor driver attention.
Rivian Autonomy Platform
In the press release dedicated to its autonomy program, Rivian notes that its vehicles include a multimodal suite of 11 cameras and five radars, offering sensor redundancy and a 360-degree view. The company also says that its internally developed cameras have the highest resolution of any vehicle in North America, while its radar systems are intended to help detect objects over longer distances and in low-visibility conditions.
“We are excited to continue releasing new updates and dramatically expanding our autonomy features,” Philbin said. “Everything on our Gen 2 roadmap is capable with the hardware on our vehicles today.”
Rivian says its vehicles also include an on-board compute module that’s capable of more than 200 trillion operations per second, while the company’s machine learning models are trained on the latest ML research and transformer architectures.
Performance Upgrade for Dual-Motor (Gen 1 and Gen 2)
Rivian has also debuted a $5,000 Performance Upgrade for Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles with the Standard+, Large and Max battery packs, unlocking 665 horsepower and 829 lb.-ft. of torque. The upgrade also adds three new drive modes, dubbed Sport, Rally, and Soft Sand, to the currently available All-Purpose, All-Terrain, and Snow modes.
Owners can purchase the upgrade from the Rivian mobile app or account page, and it will be downloaded to the vehicle through an over-the-air (OTA) software update.
Credit: Rivian
Rally Mode comes to Performance Dual-Motor vehicles
The update also adds Rally Mode to Performance Dual-Motor vehicles, offering heightened throttle response, crisper steering on just about any terrain. To use the feature, drivers will simply need to switch into Off-Road mode, which will let them select Rally Mode.
Wheel Swap
Owners will now be able to change the vehicles’ wheel type in the settings menu, offering improved range estimates.
Credit: Rivian
Go Chime
Rivian has added an audible chime for when a stopped vehicle ahead starts moving, signaling to the driver that they can start driving too. The chime will first be added to the EV maker’s Gen 2 models, before later rolling out to Gen 1.
Side Mirror Auto-Tilt on Reverse
When drivers shift into reverse, Rivian’s sideview mirrors will now automatically tilt downward to show the curb and road, making parallel parking easier. This feature will also go out to both Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles.
Control Chargeport Door from Mobile App
Drivers will now be able to control their charging port door remotely using the mobile app, adding an extra layer of protection for those who walk away without closing it manually.
Tire Puncture Detection
Rivian has added proactive detection for tire punctures and slow leaks, set to notify drivers of a potential flat tire before it happens.
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The Tesla Semi is entering a new Pilot Program with Paper Transport, LLC (PTI), a Wisconsin-based transportation provider. The company will test the Semi’s Long Range configuration through “dedicated operations within the Chicago market.”
Chicago presents an interesting challenge for the Semi, as it will be a colder-weather climate that will test the Semi’s ability to operate in lower temperatures and in potentially large accumulations of snow. This is something Tesla has been testing with the Semi in Alaska and even in Northern California during the colder months, but Chicago will present a truly tough midwestern winter.
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PTI says it is using the Semi to evaluate its strategy of reducing transportation emissions while maintaining performance, reliability, and cost efficiency. These are major arguments for the Semi being introduced into new fleets.
CEO of PTI Tyler Ellison said:
“PTI has been a leader in sustainable transportation solutions for over 15 years. We take a consultative approach to helping customers identify and implement the right transportation solution for their network. Our partnership with Tesla expands our portfolio alongside renewable natural gas and intermodal, giving customers more ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions without compromising service or economics.”
PTI is far from the first company to adopt the Semi within a fleet, as Tesla entered strategic agreements with PepsiCo. and its subsidiary Frito-Lay for a Pilot Program that extended throughout the California region.
Tesla has let companies like those utilize the Semi to determine whether it would be suitable for their operations. Additionally, Tesla gets valuable information regarding the Semi’s performance, knowing what to improve and what is ideal for companies that will utilize the all-electric truck for regional and nationwide logistics.
PTI plans to utilize the Long Range configuration, which is priced at $290,000 and features a range of approximately 500 miles, a three-motor powertrain, up to 800 kW of drive power, and consumption of just 1.7 kWh per mile.
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VP of Maintenance at PTI, Bryan Ellen, added:
“We are excited to partner with Tesla, leveraging their ever-evolving technology. We are bullish in our estimation of the parallels available between our dedicated model and the efficiency of their fully electric Class 8 tractor. We anticipate a growing synergy between our businesses as we work to facilitate this sustainable solution for our customers.”
PTI has logged more than 87 million miles using sources like compressed and renewable gas, but now is looking to take it a step further with fully electric operations.
Tesla revealed on Monday that it is building a new autonomous vehicle at Gigafactory Texas, its plant just outside of the City of Austin. This particular vehicle will be geared toward those who are in need of a wheelchair-accessible car that would require no human driver for operation.
According to a new report from Wired, Tesla’s Senior Policy Advisor, India Herdman, told members of the Washington D.C. City Council on Monday:
“We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. We know that paratransit can be very difficult, and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas.”
This builds upon what CEO Elon Musk said last year on X, which confirmed the company was working on accessible rides within its Robotaxi platform, which currently is confined to the Model Y.
Absolutely
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2025
Tesla is also developing the Cybercab, which started employee rides last week. However, this vehicle is not necessarily geared toward wheelchair accessibility.
That leaves a major gap in the autonomous ride-sharing program that Tesla is attempting to build; the company has been pretty clear that it does not want to complicate its manufacturing lines by bringing in a wide array of body styles.
However, it seems necessary to have something larger that could help transport people to appointments when they cannot drive. For wheelchair accessibility, the Robovan, which was unveiled at the “We, Robot” event in October 2024, seems to be the most ideal solution:
Herdman did not indicate whether she was referring to the Robovan or if Tesla is building yet another body style that is geared toward full autonomy but also caters to the handicapped.
Tesla might need to develop something specifically for the handicapped in order to align with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prevents discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation services. Uber was hit with a lawsuit late last year for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities.”
Tesla would obviously like to avoid this.
It will be interesting to see what Tesla will do with this project, and whether it will introduce something new to the market or just continue with the Robovan.
Tesla weirdly confirmed that its steering wheel-less and pedal-less Cybercab vehicle is now in the process of giving employees rides, a huge milestone for the vehicle program.
But the entire thing was super strange. On Friday, Tesla released a video stating that there was “Cool news from Giga Texas” and that employees were now taking rides in Cybercabs that have no manual controls. The units seen on public roads are engineering vehicles that have manual controls inside, a necessity as Tesla moved through the testing phase.
However, Tesla removed the video and reposted it shortly after with a more vague title. It seems like the employee rides are still going, but the video was adjusted slightly. The initial upload showed employees doing things like watching movies and adjusting the climate, but these snippets were removed in the second upload.
Cool news from Giga Texas pic.twitter.com/gvbG456Tzw
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) July 11, 2026
Both images below were uploaded with the first video, but were removed after Tesla re-uploaded the announcement. These are not available in the second upload
Credit: Tesla
Credit: Tesla
Nevertheless, the announcement from Tesla is that the Cybercab is operating with employees inside who can control the vehicle’s audio, video, climate, and destination settings through their smartphone app.
Tesla has already been testing Cybercab engineering units, but last month, it was able to self-certify for SAE Level 4, which would enable unsupervised self-driving in Texas. The company is moving toward that, and the plans have always been to launch Cybercab rides this year.
The Cybercab is potentially looked at as the next generation of Tesla’s mobility leg. For the past 15 years, the company has been known as somewhat of an automaker, among many other things. However, these passenger vehicles that Tesla has manufactured are now moving into a new realm, as they will eventually drive themselves with no supervision thanks to the Full Self-Driving suite.
The Cybercab is just the next step of that: a true vehicle developed for the sole purpose of ride-hailing. It has no human controls, it has only two seats, and it will get passengers from Point A to Point B with no awkward driver, no need for manual inputs, and with no stress.
Tesla is moving forward with other developments related to the Cybercab project as well. However, the big announcement will come when Tesla finally announces that it is launching Cybercab rides to the general public, something that it plans to launch either late this year or early 2027.
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Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible Robotaxi
