Rivian has clarified the timeline for its third-generation autonomy hardware. At an investor conference, the company said the RAP1 computer and LiDAR will go into employee R2s before the end of 2026, with customer deliveries following in 2027. That means the earlier "late 2026" promise technically holds, but only for Rivian's own staff; the company did not give a specific date for customer availability.
Point-to-point driving, Rivian's competitor to Tesla's Full Self-Driving, will not have to wait for the new hardware. The rollout is set to begin late this year on R1 Gen 2 vehicles and later Gen 2 hardware revisions, with the goal of covering the full Autonomy+ fleet later next year. The first version may not handle every scenario, such as parking lots. Autonomy+ costs $2,500 upfront or $49.99 per month.
Rivian also said LiDAR costs have fallen dramatically, to "a few hundred dollars" per vehicle, compared with thousands or tens of thousands of dollars years ago. The in-house RAP1 chip is expected to improve margins. On the Uber partnership, Rivian still expects the second $250 million payment in the fourth quarter, with the robotaxi service targeted for late 2028. The 10,000-vehicle order depends on reaching an L4-capable service first.