Driver+ Gen 1 Advertised Features

[elektrode]

I dropped this turd/bomb in the first Gen2 software update thread, but I think this deserves its own topic:

Defending those complaining… found a Tech Crunch article that linked to Rivian’s website from the early days.

Wanted to check myself why I thought there would be more to Driver+. Well, it’s because Rivian said there would be!

https://stories.rivian.com/time-to-build

Everything mentioned was Driver+ and not the goal post moving Rivian Autonomy Thingamabob.

In the end we got:

1) waits a bit longer to nag you to put hands on the wheel
2) cool animation when you switch lanes and Highway Assist doesn’t turn off.
3) cameras freak out less in rain and glare.

That’s it for two years of shipping vehicles.

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[Dark-Fx]

Yeah and? Hardware simply isn't capable of those things safely.

 

[R1Tom]

Yeah and? Hardware simply isn't capable of those things safely.

Back in 1999 Ford advertised Cobra HP at 320. When the owners put them on a dyno, they too figured out the hardware simply wasn't capable of performing as advertised. So Ford corrected the situation, by replacing intake manifolds, mufflers, and a retune...so the customers were made whole to the advertisement.

Not saying that is what Rivian owes owners....but arguably the resale value of G1 Rivians have taken a hit by this revalation that the hardware can't do what the advertisements said.

I honestly don't care in this case, as I am good with my truck as it stands....even if it never gets another update....but I do understand the argument.

 

[CharonPDX]

Back in 1999 Ford advertised Cobra HP at 320. When the owners put them on a dyno, they too figured out the hardware simply wasn't capable of performing as advertised. So Ford corrected the situation, by replacing intake manifolds, mufflers, and a retune...so the customers were made whole to the advertisement.

Not saying that is what Rivian owes owners....but arguably the resale value of G1 Rivians have taken a hit by this revalation that the hardware can't do what the advertisements said.

I honestly don't care in this case, as I am good with my truck as it stands....even if it never gets another update....but I do understand the argument.

Providing an actual measurable number that wasn't met on shipping is different than providing a feature that was sold as "coming eventually."

Yes, it's annoying. But Tesla has been touting "rent your car out as a robotaxi to earn extra money later this year!" since 2018. Don't buy any vehicle based on features "coming later." (See also Fisker.)

I, too, am annoyed that they disabled the cabin camera to allow hands-free. My vehicle has a camera, why can't I use it? My iPhone contains "3D Touch" hardware, yet Apple discontinued it in software. Various Tesla vehicles still have radar and ultrasonic sensors, but Tesla made the vehicles significantly *WORSE* disabling those sensors use with a software update. At least Rivian hasn't regressed and stopped the use of hardware that is present. They simply realized before deploying the feature that the hardware isn't sufficient for the task they hoped.

Same with lane-change. As people have discovered, the hardware they use can't actually make use of all the cameras on the vehicle to allow for proper camera-based monitoring of vehicles behind the centerline of the vehicle. Thus lane change isn't available.

Sucks, but upgrading would be likely cost-prohibitive, since the whole vehicle compute architecture shifted.

I figure the only reason Tesla offered FSD camera+computer upgrades is because they actually did specifically charge extra money for a feature "the vehicle already has the hardware for."

 

[R1Tom]

Providing an actual measurable number that wasn't met on shipping is different than providing a feature that was sold as "coming eventually."

Yes, it's annoying. But Tesla has been touting "rent your car out as a robotaxi to earn extra money later this year!" since 2018. Don't buy any vehicle based on features "coming later." (See also Fisker.)

That is a solid point. I do wonder what the legality difference is. And then by extension...what would be ok for a manufacturer to say is "comming in a future update"...but then later say....oops....we were wrong...can't make it happen. Just not sure where that line in sand is...

 

[ThumprMN]

 

[godfodder0901]

That is a solid point. I do wonder what the legality difference is. And then by extension...what would be ok for a manufacturer to say is "comming in a future update"...but then later say....oops....we were wrong...can't make it happen. Just not sure where that line in sand is...

I think it's more about the promise being in 'good faith' or if it was a known lie.

 

[s4wrxttcs]

Back in 1999 Ford advertised Cobra HP at 320. When the owners put them on a dyno, they too figured out the hardware simply wasn't capable of performing as advertised. So Ford corrected the situation, by replacing intake manifolds, mufflers, and a retune...so the customers were made whole to the advertisement.

Not saying that is what Rivian owes owners....but arguably the resale value of G1 Rivians have taken a hit by this revalation that the hardware can't do what the advertisements said.

I honestly don't care in this case, as I am good with my truck as it stands....even if it never gets another update....but I do understand the argument.

I wouldn't have a problem if Rivian decided to nix the feature because of some unforeseen circumstance beyond their control.

But, as I understand it that's not what happened.

What happened was the Driver Monitoring Camera didn't work for the purposes of Driver Monitoring.

That's a pretty massive miss in my book.

Without the Driver Monitoring Camera there is no Hands Free. It doesn't really matter how good the driver assistance is.

In any case I do think there needs to be some kind of regulation that protects consumers from inflated company promises for SW features. When I bought the Tesla EAP+FSD I never received anything close to value of what I paid Tesla.

The Rivian miss is magnitudes lower, and I honestly don't really care because I think the driver assistance sort of sucks. So I would never trust it for hands free anyways.

I don't really think Gen2 owners have it much better because once again its a future promise for something that doesn't yet exist. I'm only jealous of the Cameras they get. They even might be able to read a license plate with them.

 

[MrMusAddict]

Educating ourselves on Rivian's autonomous driving history, present, and future

 

[kyunam]

I enjoy driving Rivian.

 

[srkz]

I don’t think the lack of driver monitoring camera killed gen 1’s capabilities, I think gen 1’s lack of capabilities meant the driver monitoring camera was useless so they cut it out to save money since it wasn’t doing anything at all.

 

[SoCal Rob]

I think part of it depends on when you purchased. For example, we bought our R1S in June of 2023. According to the Waybackmachine https://web.archive.org/web/20230528211539/https://rivian.com/r1s , as of late May of 2023 this is the language Rivian was using:

Driver +
Standard with every vehicle, Driver+ is designed to make driving safer, easier and less stressful for everyone. With Driver+ engaged, your vehicle will automatically steer and adjust speed on your command. Like all driver assistance systems, your full attention on the road is required.

Our System
Driver+ includes an integrated set of cameras, radars and ultrasonic sensors that allow the vehicle to have an accurate view of its surroundings, including the road, vehicles and obstacles. If the system detects that your attention drifts away from the road, you’ll be automatically prompted to place your hands on the wheel to keep Driver+ engaged.

Our Features
Driver+ includes a collection of driving assistance and safety features. With regular vehicle software updates, functionality is expected to expand over time.

Driving Assist
Help with the manual driving tasks when you want it.

• Highway Assist: Automatic steering, braking and acceleration on select highways while engaged.
• Adaptive Cruise Control: Set your speed and automatically accelerate or brake, adjusting speed to keep an appropriate distance from vehicles in front of you.
• Lane Change Assist: Assisted lane changes on the highway.

I think the part which I made bold and red is the only part where they seem to be overreaching. If they said accurate view of the road ahead rather than surroundings I think they would have been describing the capabilities better.

I’m fine with the capabilities they delivered, but I can understand why others aren’t.

 

[Electrified Outdoors]

I'm not upset but I understand why some folks would be upset. Had rivian charged for the feature then I would be upset.

As others said, I think rivian really believed that the hardware was capable. However, once they started getting data from the fleet over time and trying to expand its feature set they started to realize they were coming up against limitations with the hardware.

What saves Rivian is that they didn't charge for the feature. The new cars that have the hardware required to enable the features require paid subscription after two months.

I'm happy keeping the free features and getting updates to find tune the existing feature set. I may lease a gen 2 at some point... haven't decided....but I'm not in a hurry to have to sign up for a subscription. After all, the new Rivian Autonomy Platform isn't really offering all that much yet. Auto lane change is good...but if you already have a gen 1 I can't see upgrading to gen 2 and subbing just for that.

It will get better down the road though and that's when it will be a better value proposition. Assuming of course your someone that will use it enough to justify the costs.

 

[R1SFamilyGuy]

That is a solid point. I do wonder what the legality difference is. And then by extension...what would be ok for a manufacturer to say is "comming in a future update"...but then later say....oops....we were wrong...can't make it happen. Just not sure where that line in sand is...

See also, Volvo. Thankfully I got my refund back easy enough

 

[CBRacerX]

Don’t need or want FSD. But please keep making the existing Gen 1 features better with the platform available. I’ll be happy with that for the next 3 years.

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