Rivian started internal testing of its upcoming software update, which will get to customer vehicles as the 2023.50 update. Among the highlights are the possibility of scheduling the preconditioning of the cabin and battery before a planned drive, improved regenerative braking, and wiper sensitivity control.
Rivian has seen its fair share of failed updates this year, but the overall sentiment among its customers remains positive. Rivian owners have come to appreciate the new features that come with every software update, an essential part of the ownership experience. Many say that Rivian is next to only Tesla in this regard. However, the EV market leader has so far avoided the embarrassment of a failure of monumental proportions.
Rivian hasn't been so lucky, as the update 2023.42 bricked many owners' vehicles. The software team worked around the clock to fix the issue without bringing the trucks into service for a physical repair. In the end, the operation was successful, although even the fix was problematic and caused other issues. Everything is water under the bridge, though, as the EV startup pushed a successful update (2023.46) at the end of November.
We're now approaching the end of the year, and another update is in the starting blocks, waiting for the green light to deploy to customers. The most important feature included in the 2023.50 update is the possibility to schedule a drive and have the vehicle precondition the cabin and the battery pack before departure. For instance, in cold climates, you can schedule your vehicle to warm up before an anticipated departure time.
By using the new Climate Schedule panel in the center display, you can set up as many schedules as you want–for different days of the week or even multiple schedules for the same day. You can specify the desired days and times of departure, as well as cabin temperature, seat heat or vent, and steering wheel heat for each schedule.
Photo: johnking via Rivian Forums
Also, if you have a Time-of-Use program with your utility company, you can opt to draw power directly from the grid outside of the set Charge Schedule. You can thus keep your vehicle plugged in to maintain optimal battery pack condition without impacting range. However, Rivian warns that keeping the car plugged in outside of the Charge Schedule could incur unexpected utility costs, including on-peak charges. You should check with your utility company to avoid nasty surprises.
The new software version also introduces Regenerative Brake Assist to improve deceleration performance in cold climates, on long downhills, and when the vehicle has a high state of charge. Rivian does that by blending more consistently and seamlessly with the hydraulic braking system. You can adjust this in Settings > Driver+ > Regen Brake Assist.
Finally, Rivian owners will be able to select from three automatic wiper sensitivity levels. When you toggle the wiper switch down to Auto, it changes to the highest sensitivity level. If you toggle the switch down again in Auto mode, it will decrease the sensitivity, while toggling it up will increase it. Instead of toggling, you can also hold the wiper switch up to jump to Storm or hold the wiper switch down to jump to Auto. In that case, it recalls your previously selected sensitivity setting.
Software update 2023.50, which also includes improved auto-hold performance for Snow mode and many bug fixes and improvements, is being tested internally by Rivian employees as we speak. If everything is in order, it should arrive after Christmas or even earlier. Usually, it takes about a week before a new software release is moved from internal testing to production. Still, considering that we're in the Holiday season, things could move faster.
After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions. Full profile
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