Self driving update: Gen 2 and Gen 3 Autonomy on R2 should be similar for a "couple of years"

[sparked]

A few quotes from James about Gen 2 and Gen 3 autonomy platforms and LiDAR from a recent Reddit AMA:

JamesRivian: Both Gen 3 (RAP1) and Gen 2 platform vehicles will have similar levels of capability at both the base and Autonomy+ levels for the next couple of years. Since all Autonomy features are based on the same underlying technology, base autonomy features will continue to improve along with new Autonomy+ features.

LiDAR on R2 will have the same core feature set as non-LiDAR vehicles, including Autonomy+, with the main difference being that over time LiDAR vehicles will require less supervision including greater eyes-off support.

JamesRivian: At R2 launch we're going to release the same Autonomy features that our R1 Gen 2 customers enjoy, and we remain confident in beginning to rollout point-to-point at the end of this year with a wider rollout in 2027. Before point-to-point, Lane Change on Command will add support for surface roads, and Universal Hands-Free will add support for traffic light and stop sign control, driven by our Large Driving Model. Auto Parking will offer one-tap parking for those times when you just want the car to handle the crowded lot for you.

Sponsored

 

[DuoRivian]

Aligns with what RI said in recent interviews that L4 which comes with RAP1 and LiDAR is late 2020s to early 2030s so the two years is pretty much the minimum time and could be much longer.

 

[Mos Eisley]

A few quotes from James about Gen 2 and Gen 3 autonomy platforms and LiDAR from a recent Reddit AMA:

James' quotes should make many feel like they do not need to wait for the LIDAR-included version of R2.

 

[TexasBob]

James' quotes should make many feel like they do not need to wait for the LIDAR-included version of R2.

Pretty sure that is why he said it. They cannot afford to have a bunch of launch customers defer.

 

[KineticKev]

These comments have been overall consistent from Rivian Staff. Even at the Autonomy event, it was the overall conclusion I gathered from what was said.

However lets be clear, the Lidar & Gen 3 chip will be more future proof over time yet likely by the time it becomes relevant there's a high chance there will be a Gen 4 chip with a better lidar that will be presented as more future proof.

To me the Launch Package is a Great Value. I was on the fence but when he said Coastal Cloud will be part of the Launch Package I was sold.... Now let's just see how far away I am in this reservation line ‍ lol

 

[Gen(R3)Xer]

These comments have been overall consistent from Rivian Staff. Even at the Autonomy event, it was the overall conclusion I gathered from what was said.

However lets be clear, the Lidar & Gen 3 chip will be more future proof over time yet likely by the time it becomes relevant there's a high chance there will be a Gen 4 chip with a better lidar that will be presented as more future proof.

To me the Launch Package is a Great Value. I was on the fence but when he said Coastal Cloud will be part of the Launch Package I was sold.... Now let's just see how far away I am in this reservation line ‍ lol

Coastal Cloud interior is available at the end of 2026 for the Launch Edition along with Forest Green exterior paint, right?

 

[Mos Eisley]

Coastal Cloud interior is available at the end of 2026 for the Launch Edition along with Forest Green exterior paint, right?

 

[Donald Stanfield]

So it's going to be at least a year before it can even come close to replicating what a Comma unit does now.

 

[DJFrerichs]

Let’s not forget about the new RAP1 chip to come in R2 early next year. That will have 800tops per chip than the current 200top launch chip.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Let’s not for about the new RAP1 chip to come in R2 early next year. That will have 800tops per chip than the current launch chip.

This is the thing that everyone seems to glaze over. LIDAR may just be a mule for training but they’re adding a chip with 4x the performance of the current chip, 200 TOPS vs 800 TOPS. And then of course there’s two of each for redundancy. If we learn anything from Tesla it’s the compute power that is the issue as time moves along.

 

[DJFrerichs]

Yeap! Exactly!!, They are glazing over it to sell as much of the launch as possible and reduce people saying, “I will wait”. Given we drive our cars until the wheels fall off (8-10yrs) we will want to have as much processing/ hardware /software updating ceiling as possible. We will wait until RAP1 is live. Some may not want to wait, and that’s ok too. Everyone has different needs & wants. In all honesty I think they will sell every single R2 off the line for a while.

 

[DuoRivian]

Yeap! Exactly!!, They are glazing over it to sell as much of the launch as possible and reduce people saying, “I will wait”. Given we drive our cars until the wheels fall off (8-10yrs) we will want to have as much processing/ hardware /software updating ceiling as possible. We will wait until RAP1 is live. Some may not want to wait, and that’s ok too. Everyone has different needs & wants. In all honesty I think they will sell every single R2 off the line for a while.

You may as well wait to 2029 and get RAP2 with that philosophy. There will always been hardware improvements. The current planned setup covers most people to strong L3 autonomy and updates for many years.

 

[phaduman]

While we are on this topic, also sharing TOPS comparison with Tesla HW versions: (from Google gemini after couple of prompting):

Updated (5/27/26):

Generation (Release)	Primary Silicon	Compute Power	Sensor Philosophy	Max Camera Resolution
Tesla HW3 (2019)	Custom Tesla FSD Chip	~144 TOPS	Camera + Radar (Radar disabled later)	1.2 Megapixels
Rivian Gen 1 (2021)	Mobileye / Boson Stack	~34 TOPS	Camera + Radar + Ultrasonics	1.2 Megapixels
Tesla HW4 / AI 4 (2023)	Upgraded Tesla FSD Chip	~400-500 TOPS	Pure Vision (No radar, no USS)	5.0 Megapixels
Rivian Gen 2 (2024)	Dual NVIDIA DRIVE Orin-X	~500 TOPS	Sensor Fusion (High-res cameras + HD Radar)	8.0 Megapixels (4K)
Rivian RAP1 / Gen 3 (Late 2026/2027)	Custom 5nm Rivian Silicon	~1,600 TOPS	Extreme Fusion (Adds LiDAR to Cameras + Radar)	8.0 Megapixels (4K)
Tesla AI5 (HW5) (Mid-2027)	Custom Next-Gen Tesla Chip	Projected 4,000+ TOPS	Pure Vision (Camera-only unified transformer)	5.0+ Megapixels

And Media/Entertainment Processor table: (updated 5/27/26):

Feature / Metric	Tesla Legacy (MCU2)	Rivian Gen 1	Tesla Current (MCU3)	Rivian Gen 2	Rivian R2 Platform
Primary Chipset	Intel Atom E8000	Intel Atom Custom Architecture	AMD Ryzen Embedded	Qualcomm Snapdragon (XMM2)	Next-Gen Qualcomm (XMM3)
Active Era	2018 – 2022	2021 – 2024	2021 – Present	2024 – Present	Launching 2026/2027
Architecture Type	x86 Architecture	x86 Automotive Block	x86 Desktop/Console Grade	ARM Mobile/Automotive	ARM Centralized System
Graphics Framework	Custom Linux	Unreal Engine 4	Custom Linux / Chromium	Unreal Engine 5 / OS 2.0	Unreal Engine + Edge AI Core
Edge AI Capability	None	None	Low	Medium	High (200 TOPS for local LLM)
Media Streaming	Native Apps (Netflix, etc.)	Audio Only (At launch)	Native Apps + Twitch	Google Cast, Netflix, YouTube	Native Streaming + Cast
Real-World UI Feel	Moderate (Shows age)	Smooth (Occasional map lag)	Liquid-smooth / Instant	Highly Responsive	Tablet-like (Zero latency)

OLD (slightly incorrect data but kept for reference):

OLD (slightly incorrect data but kept for reference): And the Media Control Unit (Entertainment processor on both platforms): MCUs/Media processors are used for AI Assistant, navigation, music etc.

 

[DJFrerichs]

Nah, lets not get too crazy here and lets no forgot about Rivian marketing that RAP1 is designed for+7 years of hardware ceiling/software updating. Fingers cross the rest of the car is as reliable as the hardware processing abilities.

 

[DaveA]

Yeah, the way tech is changing nowadays, I'm probably not keeping a vehicle more than 3-4 yrs anyway. Not the most financially sound decision, but I like latest and greatest. R2 for me is a holdover for R1 Gen 3 without air suspension. (One can hope)

Sponsored