R2 w/ LiDAR, 19-inch wheels spied

[Rivian_Hugh_III]

If the new federal driving laws are upheld and go into effect all pre 2027 cars will hold or grow in value.

How’s that?

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[tgrick]

I only see a future where LIDAR gets added to vehicles destined for driverless operation - Level 4 as mentioned.

Why spend the money on it when camera/radar based systems generally work "good enough" ?

So why wait for something that may never come around?

I agree with you and also think this is correct for diffrent reason. I think the ultimate benefit of LiDAR will be for RIVIAN to properly build their driving models that we will all benefit from. I think we all agree on this. Rivian did mention that the variants of R2 would separate in 'ability' at some point in the future. The problem I see with this is we need new laws and an understanding of what happens should a car injure someone? My point is that we might still be a decade away from the benefits a car with LiDAR can give us. The LiDAR car is more capable, but will be held back. So those cars that do not have LiDAR will be operating to the max ability of the sensor and computer array whereas the LiDAR car again, will be restricted. That's my thought anyway. I just don't think LiDAR will bring the dream we are thinking of for another 5 or more years.

 

[Dark-Fx]

How’s that?

The ones that detect if you are driving drunk. Person you replied to are telling on themselves.

 

[Eric9610]

The ones that detect if you are driving drunk. Person you replied to are telling on themselves.

No, I don't drink. The tech is not practical and causes a lot of false positives. Also applies to drowsy driving and distracted. Don't want to make this political but highly recommend people read the rules in detail.

Here is a link to the details: Link

 

[StinkyPete]

The LIDAR, while it will come standard in the future, is effectively a $2500 paid upgrade compared to the LE, because of the free Autonomy+. I don't think LIDAR will benefit you without Autonomy+, so by waiting you're effectively resigning yourself to pay $2500 more for hardware that may eventually provide an edge. It will take years before the vehicles with LIDAR/RAP1 can actually do anything the current Gen2.5 vehicles cannot also do.

(Note that Rivian has said the data from the LIDAR models will be used to improve the autonomy features on non-lidar models too. Its just a crowdsourcing strategy to gather more driving data for their AI training. And the non-RAP compute modules have plenty of headroom for the near-term.)

Forgetting autonomy, doesn't the RAP1 provide other benefits like increased processing power for other functionality?

 

[Jeremy3292]

I thought level 3 was eyes-off, and LiDAR will be required for Level 4 where you send the car home after it drives you to the airport.

Until someone does it and I can buy it, it’s all made up fantasy land stuff. Could be 2028 or 2038 who knows really.

 

[rvnxyz001]

Forgetting autonomy, doesn't the RAP1 provide other benefits like increased processing power for other functionality?

Even if you don’t care about full autonomy, RAP1 still seems like meaningful hardware. Rivian said the Gen 3 setup uses two of their own RAP1 chips, 800 TOPS each, or about 4x more compute than the current NVIDIA-based setup.

I don’t think that necessarily means the screen, maps, or apps will be faster. Rivian talked about RAP1 mostly in the context of autonomy and perception, so the real benefit is probably more around cameras, radar, LIDAR, driver-assistance features, and whatever software features they add later.

The timing is the part that makes me hesitate. On the Q1 2026 call, Rivian said the Gen 3 autonomy hardware suite should be available on R2 later this year. They also talked about point-to-point driving by the end of the year, hands-off / eyes-off in some areas in 2027, and Level 4 robotaxi use starting in 2028.

So even putting autonomy aside, I would still think twice about buying right before a major compute and sensor update. It could matter later for software support, future features, and resale value.

 

[R2 Fan]

Apparently the LE option will still be available in the Dec-Feb timeframe according to the invite window they sent me.

Yes, but the big question is:
Will the LE option (and perks) apply to to the Lidar, Gen 3 version?
My thoughts are that the Gen 2 is the "Launch Edition". You can still get the LE perks on Gen 2 in Dec-Feb, but, the Lidar, Gen 3 version will see a jump in price with no perks. It will not be a Launch Edition.

 

[Josh X]

They won't ship LIDAR units until LE trim is over IMO. Can't see them giving you LIDAR/RAP1 and LE package, which includes Autonomy+. They may have test mules for LIDAR already, but scaling production, getting parts in, and adding to lines seems unlikely til next year.

Imo they likely value the data they can collect for model training over a small temporarily loss by selling lidar models with launch package.

If the new federal driving laws are upheld and go into effect all pre 2027 cars will hold or grow in value.

what law?

 

[rvnxyz001]

Yes, but the big question is:
Will the LE option (and perks) apply to to the Lidar, Gen 3 version?
My thoughts are that the Gen 2 is the "Launch Edition". You can still get the LE perks on Gen 2 in Dec-Feb, but, the Lidar, Gen 3 version will see a jump in price with no perks. It will not be a Launch Edition.

If they start delivering lidar as promised at the end of 2026, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Some people got LE without lidar in November, and others got LE with lidar in December?

if they just silently change hardware during the same Launch Edition run, I think early buyers would have a legitimate reason to be annoyed.

 

[tatonka2]

This chat topic is important as we all need to make a choice to go with the LE or wait. I keep thinking of one thing that does not seem to pop up in these 'discussions' and that's RADAR. I do not think Tesla uses RADAR but RIVIAN does and this fact also has to play a role in autonomy? Am I wrong? I'm really not sure. My understanding is that the RADAR has a range of about 1000 feet or so. In the rain LiDAR might not work? RADAR if I'm not mistaken would work. Does anyone know? I'm just thinking that having cameras and RADAR make the R2 more capable than Tesla in theory? Anyone care to add? I do not own a Tesla and the R2 will be my 1st EV.

We had 2 earlier teslas that included radar before EM got ultra cocky and claimed cameras could do it all. After this switch, Tesla updated software to stop using the already on board radar on our vehicles which was noticeable. Rain, shadows, nighttime low vis were all better with the radar feed…

 

[shandering]

We had 2 earlier teslas that included radar before EM got ultra cocky and claimed cameras could do it all. After this switch, Tesla updated software to stop using the already on board radar on our vehicles which was noticeable. Rain, shadows, nighttime low vis were all better with the radar feed…

This is extremely ignorant. The safety increased by a lot when they stopped using radar

When tesla was slamming into stationary vehicles they were using radar to aid in depth detection. They now use 100% cameras and it is safer than ever. Cruise control radar are not intended for safety critical driving

With modern end to end neural networks you see chinese cars with lidar/radar (the best ones like hauwei) hitting overturned semis in broad daylight. Tesla fixed that more than 3 years ago

 

[tatonka2]

This is extremely ignorant. The safety increased by a lot when they stopped using radar

When tesla was slamming into stationary vehicles they were using radar to aid in depth detection. They now use 100% cameras and it is safer than ever. Cruise control radar are not intended for safety critical driving

With modern end to end neural networks you see chinese cars with lidar/radar (the best ones like hauwei) hitting overturned semis in broad daylight. Tesla fixed that more than 3 years ago

Hmm, well I only experienced it. Also an engineer on aircraft autonomy systems, so you’re comically ignorant on your anti redundancy rant. Thanks tho

 

[shandering]

Hmm, well I only experienced it. Also an engineer on aircraft autonomy systems, so you’re comically ignorant on your anti redundancy rant. Thanks tho

What the hell does that have to do with anything? Aircraft has nothing to do with car autonomy

have you even used FSD since they have switched to neural networks on freeways? Have you used HW4 v14, FSD? Phantom braking for shadows is gone but the safety i s higher than ever. Almost all of teslas issues with hitting stationary vehicles were caused by using radar

Almost every car using radar for ADAS has a strict warning in the manual about not seeing stationary vehicles. Ford bluecruise was investigated by the NHTSA for not seeing stationary vehicles and it does not see them above 45mph.

As more and more cars see stationary vehicles (thanks to depth detection from cameras) it will become worse when you don't have htis feature

 

[tatonka2]

What the hell does that have to do with anything? Aircraft has nothing to do with car autonomy

have you even used FSD since they have switched to neural networks on freeways? Have you used HW4 v14, FSD? Phantom braking for shadows is gone but the safety i s higher than ever. Almost all of teslas issues with hitting stationary vehicles were caused by using radar

Almost every car using radar for ADAS has a strict warning in the manual about not seeing stationary vehicles. Ford bluecruise was investigated by the NHTSA for not seeing stationary vehicles and it does not see them above 45mph.

Again, I literally experienced a reduction in capability in my own vehicles.
And yes, aircraft autonomy has been in use for decades before car autonomy and is studied as a safety benchmark. Ever heard of “autopilot?” You’re too funny: extremely insulting, extremely confident, but also extremely wrong. Aircraft are safe because of redundancy and proven repeatable statistical metrics—not techbro bravado. “But but have you tried the LAtESt FsD that has solved everything!” (Almost).
I’m not gonna go 10 rounds with an internet-know-it -all. Best of luck in your Tesla fan boyhood and I’m sure you can find plenty of other people to fight with and share your self proclaimed expertise with. Clearly you’re also smarter than Waymo engineers, Rivian autonomy team who created future roadmap, etc. Nice job! Maybe take your wealth of knowledge to Tesla and solve that level 4 that was promised 10 years ago

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