Rivian has officially launched the next-generation R1S and R1T, new versions of the company’s flagship electric vehicles.
“We continue to evolve our flagship R1 vehicles,” CEO RJ Scaringe said, “offering quality and performance without compromise. Our revamped R1S and R1T push the technical boundaries further, creating our most capable products to date.”
Rivian aimed to refine and improve performance, design, range, and overall ownership experience with the new R1T and R1S, bringing everything from new drivetrains to new interior aesthetics to the EVs without compromising any of the features that owners loved about the first generation.
Additionally, Rivian is rolling out its new Autonomy Platform, which was developed in-house and utilizes eleven internally developed cameras along with five radars that perform over 250 trillion operations per second.
“For most owners, their R1 Gen 2 will be the most powerful computer that they own,” VP of Autonomy and AI for Rivian, James Philbin, said.
Let’s dive into some of the improvements Rivian has employed:
Performance
Rivian’s next-gen R1 platform now features more power, performance, and range, all stemming from a new drive unit offered in its Tri and Quad-Motor configurations. Dual-Motor has not gone anywhere either, and still offers great performance metrics:
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- Dual-Motor Our Dual-Motor delivers incredible all-wheel drive capability along with 665 horsepower and 0–60 mph in as quick as 3.4 seconds for the Performance variant
- Tri-Motor Our all-new 850 horsepower Tri-Motor packs two motors in the rear and one in front for a blend of exceptional power and range. The Tri-Motor R1T delivers 0–60 mph in 2.9 seconds while offering an estimated range of 380 miles. In Conserve Mode, the estimated range is up to 410 miles.
- Quad-Motor For peak adventure, our new 1,025 horsepower Quad-Motor delivers 0–60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds in R1T — and ¼ mile in 10.5 seconds — with a staggering 1,198 lb-ft of torque when using Launch Mode. 60–80 mph acceleration is 1.5 seconds, with incredible torque control at each wheel for superior on-road performance and off-road capability.
Ride and Handling
Rivian also focused on the ride and handling experience in the R1 lineup for this second-generation vehicle launch. The suspension system has been fully re-engineered, improving on what customers called a “sport-tuned feel” in the first-generation EVs. Rivian decided to go with a “smoother” ride for the new R1T and R1S, which is adjustable to ensure comfortable on and off-road capabilities.
Vehicle equipment has also been refined. Rivian developed new wheels and fitted them with new tires, including a redesigned 22″ aerodynamic wheel design and Pirelli-developed tires to increase range.
For Performance, Rivian is going with an Ultra-High-Performance Michelin tire that will be available on the Quad-Motor configurations. Additionally, for a “well-rounded” experience, Goodyear has a 20″ ADV tire that offers “balanced all-around capability with the rolling-resistance of an all-season,” and comes standard.
Range and Batteries
Three battery pack sizes will still be offered by Rivian, but the Max and Large batteries have been completely re-engineered and offer ranges of 420 and 330 miles, respectively, based on estimations. They will continue to use 2170 cylindrical cells, and the pack enclosure features a “large high-pressure de-casting” system to simplify manufacturing and reduce mass.
The new Standard Pack will feature lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry and provide an EPA-estimated 270-mile range.
140 miles of range can be regained in as little as 20 minutes and are compatible with all major public high-speed charging networks. This includes the Rivian Adventure Network and the Tesla Supercharger Network.
Design and Experience
Rivian honed in on new features with the R1T and R1S and also added two new premium interiors, new exterior paint options, and new darkout trim options.
These are in addition to the new wheel and tire choices, and now vehicles come with a new electronically tinted glass roof, new in-cabin storage, interior lighting themes, new digital interfaces, and new cell shading designs for the different drive modes. It has also improved on the wireless charger.
Surround Sound Audio with Dolby Atmos is available with Rivian Premium Audio.
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Refined Electrical Architecture and Compute Platform
The second-gen R1 features new electrical architecture and a new compute platform that was developed in-house by the Rivian hardware and software teams.
“While the exterior of the R1 looks similar, the electrical system is completely redone, providing a significant increase in features as well as a dramatic increase in sensing and compute capability,” Rivian’s SVP of Electrical Hardware, Vidya Rajagopalan, said.
Trimming the ECU count from 17 in the first-gen to just 7 in the second-gen, the “massive simplification” was part of a shift in zonal architecture. Infotainment, autonomy, and vehicle access, as well as battery management, all have their own ECUs. Every other vehicle function is controlled by the remaining three.
Rivian Autonomy Platform
The Rivian Autonomy Platform utilizes “11 internally developed cameras and five radars performing over 250 trillion operations per second, an industry-leading level of compute power.”
The cameras are high-resolution and now include 4K HDR units, which have 360-degree visibility and can see three-times farther than the previous system, as well as 10 seconds ahead at highway speeds.
These are the most camera megapixels of any EV in North America and enable improved dynamic range and clear vision in high-contrast scenarios, like tunnel entrances and exits.
Rivian is also utilizing a cabin-facing camera in the rearview mirror to detect both driver fatigue and distraction when operating in Enhance Highway Assist mode, which will roll out later this year.
The Autonomy Compute Module is backed up by dual NVIDIA DRIVE Orin processors, delivering 10 times more compute performance than the previous system.
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Pricing
The new R1S will start at $75,900 and the R1T at $69,900. Dual-Motor configurations can be ordered today and are available immediately. Tri-Max is expected to be launched in the late Summer, while Quad Max will come shortly after.
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Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
Tesla briefly offered this Robotaxi part for your personal car
