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Rivian partners with Meridian Audio for premium sound in its EVs
Electric vehicle company Rivian has chosen British audio pioneer Meridian Audio to provide branded audio systems for its electric vehicle platform. The two companies began their partnership more than a year ago, but it became public after the two companies announced the partnership on Tuesday, March 2nd.
Rivian is planning to launch its first vehicles in just a few months, with its first deliveries scheduled for June 2021. With its all-electric R1T pickup truck heading to customers in such a short period of time, Rivian has finally chosen a premium sound supplier for its vehicles in Meridian. Meridian has been around since 1977 and has a reputation for delivering premium quality sound systems in both residential, commercial, and automotive settings.
The two companies have been in collaboration for over a year, according to a press release from Meridian. Rivian and Meridian have been working on designing, engineering, and turning high-performance audio systems that will “embody Rivian’s ambitions to rethink mobility and shape the way people live, work, and play for the better.” Rivian is the first all-electric automaker to come forward that primarily focuses on the outdoor experience with its vehicles. While other automakers focus on the luxury segment, Rivian is delivering vehicles that will fit the bill for someone who plans to spend their time in the wilderness and in the great outdoors, where the company’s all-electric powertrains will thrive in nearly any setting thanks to its quad-motor powertrain.
The partnership is welcomed by John Buchanan, CEO of Meridian, who had high praise for Rivian’s mission to promote all-electric passenger transportation while keeping sustainability and environmental consciousness in mind.
Buchanan said:
“We were thrilled to have won the opportunity to work with such an exciting new company and to have been selected to engineer the in-car audio experiences for Rivian’s electric vehicles, Meridian is demonstrating itself to be the premium audio brand and technology partner of choice for automotive brands seeking market-leading sound solutions. Rivian’s goal to redefine expectations in the automotive industry through the human-centric and nature-conscious application of innovation and technology makes Meridian the perfect partner for them. We are delighted that the renowned Meridian sound experience now extends to the Rivian R1T and R1S electric vehicles, and we are excited about the future with Rivian.”
Credit: Rivian and Meridian Audio
Meridian’s design for Rivian’s vehicles is set to ensure that the audio will actually enhance the entertainment experience for every occupant within the vehicle. “Meridian has designed an audio system that provides both the driver and the passengers with a truly immersive listening experience,” Buchanan said. Meridian developed certain technologies that are tailored for the future automotive market, which could be filled with electric vehicles within the next decade. Among the key features of Meridian’s powerful audio systems, four specific technologies are tailored for the R1T and R1S specifically.
Meridian Digital Precison
Meridian Digital Precision technology ensures that all the finest details and emotions of the performance are delivered, regardless of the format used.
Meridian RE-Q
Meridian RE-Q is a Cabin Correction technology that removes unwanted cabin resonances, preserving the natural rhythm and timing of the performance. Bass becomes smooth, deep, and balanced.
Meridian Horizon
Meridian Horizon is an upmixing technology providing immersive multichannel audio from two-channel stereo content, configured for any loudspeaker layout. Providing a truly enveloping and immersive listening experience.
Meridian Intelli-Q
Meridian Intelli-Q is Data-Driven Equalisation that optimizes audio playback within the cabin based on data available from the vehicle such as speed, window state, occupancy, and audio source. This ensures all occupants in the vehicle enjoy optimal audio experience at all times.
Meridian’s full press release announcing its official partnership with Rivian is available here.
Tesla has moved its Wireless Charging efforts for its electric vehicles forward, as it had a new patent published today, one that it submitted back in March.
The patent describes a system for detecting foreign objects on the wireless charging pad under varying temperatures, aiming to mitigate any undesired results that could come from something being on top of the charging pad.
🚨 Tesla has a new patent application published today, which was submitted back in March, for a Wireless Charging Pad:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some… pic.twitter.com/LIeLfZAuDJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The abstract of the patent states:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some examples, an object detector can utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and excite the resonant tanks using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the resonant tanks. The object detector can detect a metal object based on resistance of a coil increasing and inductance of the coil decreasing. By analyzing the shifts and/or distributions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes (e.g., output voltage peaks), the object detector can distinguish between changes of frequencies and magnitudes caused by temperature and those caused by foreign objects to accurately detect the foreign objects.”
The object detection system will utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and “excite the resonant tank using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the tanks.” Metal can be detected by an increase in the coil’s resistance and a decrease in the coil’s inductance.
By analyzing shifts or disruptions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes, the system can detect foreign objects. These types of safeguards need to be implemented through the normal operation of the charging pads.
Tesla says its Cybercab wireless charging efficiency is ‘well above 90%’
Tesla plans to utilize wireless charging with Cybercab and Robotaxi-enabled units to help streamline the fully autonomous experience from A to Z. The last thing the company wants to do is have any sort of small obstruction preventing the rider from experiencing Robotaxi as intended.
Tesla has launched its newest iteration of the Model 3 in China with a slew of new features, including the highly requested V2L (vehicle-to-load) feature and a new interior option.
The Model 3 now has a 16″ front touchscreen with improved resolution, a black headliner, V2L capabilities, Zen Grey interior in the Premium and Performance trims, as the White option has officially been discontinued, and 19″ Dark Nova Wheels, which are standard on the Model 3 Premium only.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Model 3 in China with a variety of new features and specs:
✅ 16” front touchscreen
✅ Black Headliner
✅ V2L Capability
✅ Zen Grey interior (Premium & Performance only)
✅ 19” Dark Nova wheels (Model 3 Premium only)
✅ Zen Grey Interior option… pic.twitter.com/ltTAEIYi2Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The touchscreen in the U.S. version of the Model 3 is just 15.4″, so the newly upgraded screen is .6″ larger. Additionally, the Black Headliner, now standard on Model Y vehicles in the U.S., is coming to China.
Additionally, Tesla’s decision to end the white interior option has also made its way to the Asian market, as Zen Grey is the lighter color consumers can now go with. It is slightly different from the previously offered White option:
These options are available in China, Australia, and New Zealand as well, as Giga Shanghai serves those markets, bringing its mass-market vehicles to those countries in the South Pacific.
The Model 3 trims are now priced at:
- Rear-Wheel-Drive – 235,500 yuan (~$35,000)
- Long Range Rear-Wheel-Drive – 259,500 yuan ($38,700)
- Long Range All-Wheel-Drive – 285,500 yuan (~$42,600)
- Performance – 339,500 yuan (~$50,600)
These features have yet to make their way to the U.S., which might upset some buyers, but it is probably a good sign that Tesla will bring these changes to U.S. trims sometime next year. Potentially, these could come even sooner, as they could be used to stimulate demand for the year-end sales push.
Nevertheless, when things start at Giga Shanghai, they usually end up in the U.S. market. Tesla has also already started to install things like the Black Headliner and larger touchscreen in certain U.S.-built vehicles, so these things will be easy to implement across other vehicles in the lineup.
Elon Musk
The Pentagon taps Elon Musk to design the battlefield of the future
Hegseth named Elon Musk to help lead Project Meridian, a Pentagon study of future warfare.
Elon Musk has a new role in the Trump administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on war.gov Wednesday that Musk will help lead Project Meridian, a new Pentagon study meant to identify the weapons and technologies the U.S. military will need to fight wars decades from now.
Hegseth unveiled the project during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Musk will direct the effort alongside Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, working under Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael. All three men were in attendance, and Hegseth said their first meeting would take place directly after the speech inside a secure compartmented facility, according to The Hill.
Hegseth said the group “will be focused on discovering, developing, and fielding the weapons and systems that our children and our grandchildren will need in their lifetimes, without any creative limitations or restrictions, on any future battlefield, from under the Earth to beyond the Moon.” He added that Meridian is not meant to produce new strategy or policy documents.
SpaceX to become America’s Military data backbone for missiles, drones, and warfighters
A memo released after the announcement gives Michael until January 28, 2027, to deliver findings, a window of 120 days. It names artificial intelligence, autonomy, directed energy, robotics and biotechnology as the fields expected to change how wars are fought. The results will come as a public report with a classified annex. The memo says the study will run through a partner organization it does not name, and it does not mention Musk directly. His role comes from Hegseth’s speech and a Pentagon press release.’
Musk had not commented publicly on the appointment as of Wednesday evening. This will be Musk’s first official advisory role in the administration since he left DOGE last year.
The mandate overlaps heavily with Musk’s companies. SpaceX is one of the Pentagon’s largest contractors, with 2026 defense awards topping $8 billion, much of it tied to launches and a suspected Starshield buildout out of Vandenberg. The Pentagon’s release says Meridian will examine domains “from subterranean depths to the cislunar frontier,” which maps onto The Boring Company’s tunneling and Starship’s lunar plans. Tesla’s work on autonomy and Optimus falls within the fields the memo lists.
Meridian was one of six initiatives Hegseth announced Wednesday. Another is a new Autonomous Warfare Command, which the department wants operating as a four-star combatant command by October 1, 2027.
The news lands a day before SpaceX is scheduled to fly a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload on Falcon Heavy, one of three launches the company has planned for Thursday.
Tesla moves forward on Wireless Charging for vehicles
Tesla launches improved Model 3 in China with V2L, new interior option
