Inside Rivian’s Bid to Build Level 4 Robotaxis—and Then Passenger Cars

Rivian’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, observed the development of Rivian R2s in Normal, Illinois, and plans to introduce an Autonomy+ system that allows users to let the vehicle drive to any mapped destination in the U.S. and Canada. The system is one of the most advanced semiautonomous-driving systems coming to market and is intended to operate seamlessly on suburban streets. Rivian plans to debut the system on its all-new R2 SUV by the end of 2026 and via over-the-air updates for its newest R1S and R1T models. The system charges $49.99 a month, or $2,500 up front, versus Tesla’s $99 per month for its rival system, which is somewhat misleadingly called Full Self-Driving (Supervised), or FSD.

Rivian’s Autonomy+ is a Level 2+ system, meaning a human driver must pay full attention and be ready to retake control at any moment. The company is aggressively working toward more impressive (and potentially lucrative) levels of autonomy, aiming for Level 4 autonomy. Rivian plans to graduate to a fleet of self-driving, Level 4 robotaxis starting in 2028, with those taxis, along with Rivian’s consumer fleet, serving as the literal training wheels for extending Level 4 ability to consumer vehicles. Rivian’s strategy combines a suite of cameras, radar, and lidar; a custom set of silicon chips, developed in-house, to process sensor data; and an AI autonomy model running on those chips.

Rivian’s underdog strategy is to leverage software and tech to make itself a serious player. Volkswagen, among the world’s largest automakers, invested up to $5.8 billion in a joint venture called Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies. The joint venture gives Rivian crucial capital for development and gives Volkswagen access to Rivian’s electrical architecture and to the software for the R2, new-generation Rivian SUV that went on sale in June. Rivian’s unit on the new R2 SUV is housed in a small, sleek enclosure where the windshield meets the roof. The joint venture doesn’t give Volkswagen access to Rivian’s autonomous tech. Rivian’s $1.25 billion deal to supply Uber with up to 50,000 robotaxis is underpinned by the R2 architecture. The companies plan to initially deploy 10,000 taxis, beginning in San Francisco and Miami in 2028, before expanding across 25 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

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