Photo: Rivian
Tesla introduced car owners to the wonders of over-the-air updates, which changed car ownership forever. Rivian is among the carmakers that offered this feature from the beginning, and a recent OTA update pushed to its fleet brought many new features and bug fixes.
Modern vehicles have become de-facto computers on wheels, with software paramount to a great user experience. This is why an upgradeable software platform is a must, helping to quickly squash bugs and even avoid a recall when a problem can be addressed in software. Rivian leveraged its software platform to offer users new features like the famous Camp Mode, which rolled out in August.
A new software update was sent last week to certain users, bringing a ton of features, but mostly bug fixes to improve user experience. Nevertheless, judging by their reactions shared on Rivian Forums, the owners were not impressed by the new OTA. They expected a lot more, especially considering the Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. At the very least, an Easter egg with a ho-ho-ho message or something. If possible, a Snow Mode and a fix for the dreaded phantom drain problem.
According to the release notes, the new software update 2022.43.0 brings interesting features, like Roomy Entry and Exit, which automatically adjusts the driver’s seat and the steering wheel for easy access. Also, the Rivian R1T and R1S now offer to shift to neutral when selecting the Car Wash Mode, and the Kneel Vehicle is tied to the driver’s user profile.
There are also improvements to the automatic display brightness and the EV trip planner to include more charger locations and reduce the trip planner calculation time. Some driver assistance systems, like Adaptive Cruise Control and Highway Assist, were also optimized. There are also three-screen worth of bug fixes related to the infotainment system and connected services. But there was no Snow Mode and certainly no gobble-gobble (don’t ask!) surprises, which saddened some people on Rivian Forums.
One user complained about the lack of battery pre-conditioning, which apparently is not yet offered on Rivian vehicles. Rivian owners use a workaround by delaying charging at home so that it finishes charging around the time they plan to leave and start cabin heating early. And, of course, the promised Dash Cam functionality is still unavailable.
A new software update was sent last week to certain users, bringing a ton of features, but mostly bug fixes to improve user experience. Nevertheless, judging by their reactions shared on Rivian Forums, the owners were not impressed by the new OTA. They expected a lot more, especially considering the Thanksgiving and the winter holidays. At the very least, an Easter egg with a ho-ho-ho message or something. If possible, a Snow Mode and a fix for the dreaded phantom drain problem.
According to the release notes, the new software update 2022.43.0 brings interesting features, like Roomy Entry and Exit, which automatically adjusts the driver’s seat and the steering wheel for easy access. Also, the Rivian R1T and R1S now offer to shift to neutral when selecting the Car Wash Mode, and the Kneel Vehicle is tied to the driver’s user profile.
There are also improvements to the automatic display brightness and the EV trip planner to include more charger locations and reduce the trip planner calculation time. Some driver assistance systems, like Adaptive Cruise Control and Highway Assist, were also optimized. There are also three-screen worth of bug fixes related to the infotainment system and connected services. But there was no Snow Mode and certainly no gobble-gobble (don’t ask!) surprises, which saddened some people on Rivian Forums.
One user complained about the lack of battery pre-conditioning, which apparently is not yet offered on Rivian vehicles. Rivian owners use a workaround by delaying charging at home so that it finishes charging around the time they plan to leave and start cabin heating early. And, of course, the promised Dash Cam functionality is still unavailable.
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