Rivian, the electric vehicle maker, has rolled out new software updates on Tuesday, introducing hands-free driving with its Enhanced Highway Assist and adventurous ‘Rally’ drive mode.
With its 2025.06 software update, hands-free highway driving has been enabled for the second-generation R1S and R1T. Enhanced Highway Assist can manage steering, acceleration, and braking on supported highways. Drivers can go hands-free for prolonged durations on 135,000 miles of compatible highways.
The update also brings a new ‘Rally’ driving mode for performance dual-motor vehicles. When off-road mode is enabled, Rally Mode can be selected to optimize steering precision and throttle response, making it suitable for navigating surfaces like ice, mud, dirt, and asphalt.
Enhanced Highway Assist is a Level 2 autonomous system capable of operating across 135,000 miles of highways. Rivian claims its vehicles feature an onboard compute module proficient in performing over 200 trillion operations per second.
Drivers Can activate the self-driving mode by pulling the gear stalk. The system relies on an in-house setup that includes 11 cameras, five radars, an onboard compute module and machine-learning models developed by Rivian. It continuously improves through user data, utilizing onboard machine learning perception and HD maps to elevate performance over time.
Rivian has launched a $5,000 Performance Upgrade for Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles equipped with Standard+, Large, or Max battery packs. The upgrade boosts performance to 665 horsepower and 829 lb-ft of torque. Additionally, it includes three new driving modes—Sport, Rally, and Soft Sand—alongside the existing modes: All-Purpose, All-Terrain, and Snow.
Rivian drivers now have the option to add Performance Upgrade post-purchase, a feature that wasn’t available previously.
Currently, Enhanced Highway Assist is available at no cost but will eventually be included in Rivian’s future subscription service, Autonomy Platform+.
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