Rivian Plans Hands-Off, Eyes-Off DrivingRivian Plans Hands-Off, Eyes-Off Driving

California automaker Rivian has detailed its automation roadmap, and it plans to deliver ‘hands off, eyes off’ driving as early as next year.

The Irvine-based company, which has a manufacturing plant in Illinois, sits in the same area of the market as Tesla, offering premium EVs, although its models comprise only the R1T pick-up and the R1S SUV.

While its volumes remain modest, producing 49,476 vehicles in 2024 and delivering 51,579 – it has big ambitions, and these were detailed in a press briefing widely reported.

The push towards delivering autonomous driving is among the most eye-catching of Rivian’s plans.

Outlining the firm’s intentions, CEO RJ Scaringe said: “We think there’s an enormous amount of value to customers to having a robust first Level 2, but importantly, Level 3 in very specific domains.”

While Level 2 as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers is considered the sort of Advanced Driver Assistance System offered by Tesla’s Autopilot and Ford’s BlueCruise, Level 3 is much more significant in that it essentially permits the human behind the steering wheel to take their eyes of the road, although they must be prepared to resume control if necessary.

According to Scaringe, Rivian is “hyper focused” on delivering both, with hands-free Level 2 targeted for this year and eyes off Level 3 in 2026. 

Related:Mercedes ‘Hands off, Eyes off’ Driving Now Available in the US

Scaringe continued: “Imagine a world where you leave your house, you’re still in the vehicle, but you get to the highway, and you have all of your time back… You don’t have to be looking at the road. You don’t have to be grabbing the wheel to say: ‘I’m still here’. The vehicle [will be] capable of doing that. For us, that’s absolutely in the roadmap.”

While Level 3 may be “in the road map,” attaining it by next year would be something of an achievement. Only Mercedes has been approved to offer L3 tech on cars in the United States in the form of its Drive Pilot feature, which is available on select models in Nevada and California.

But Scaringe is confident that recent AI breakthroughs in training self-driving systems can provide the company with the necessary momentum and said a year from now the second-generation R1S and R1T, which were launched in 2024, would be much closer to being able to deliver on Rivian’s targets. 

It is not clear whether they would require extra hardware. They currently are fitted with what the company calls the Rivian Autonomy Platform, which includes 11 exterior cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, four corner radars, one forward radar and a driver-facing camera. However, the current level of capability cannot match BlueCruise or Autopilot. It is also not clear what automated technology the forthcoming R2 SUV, earmarked for early 2026, would be equipped with. 

Related:Tesla Faces Court Battle Over Alleged Misleading Autopilot, Self-Driving Claims

Rivian is also understood to be looking at some form of colored lighting for its vehicles to signify when they are in autonomous mode – as Mercedes has done with turquoise elements for its Driver Pilot cars.