Rivian R2 in Half-Moon GreyAnthony KarczThe more vehicles evolve, the more they start to look like any other piece of consumer technology. Take the newly-launched Rivian R2. While the latest mid-sized SUV from the nascent EV manufacturer was full-featured when customers started taking delivery last month, the company promised fast-follow features via OTA updates.Rivian delivered a bunch of those features last week with Update 2026.24.40. This R2-only update brought with it a slew of features and requested modifications. It was first noticed on July 11 and released to the public last Wednesday, July 15.How To Update?Release notes can also be found in the Rivian appFor this first Rivian R2 update, you'll need to launch it manually (conveniently, this update also brings with it the option to schedule overnight updates in the Rivian app so you won't have to manually update again). You'll want to be parked at home with a reliable signal and have at least 35 miles of charge. The update will take around 30-40 minutes.AdvertisementAdvertisementPersonally, the live activity widget for the update seemed to be stuck at 9% for me for most of the update. It was only after I opened the app that I saw it was actually nearly done. So don't stress if it looks like things have stalled out. Check the app first!Parked ConveniencesRear view of the Rivian R2The biggest part of this update is the addition of two highly anticipated features that current Rivian R1S and R1T owners have enjoyed for years: Pet Comfort and Gear Guard.Pet Comfort mode will maintain a comfortable cabin temperature while you're away from your vehicle. It also displays a message on the screen with the information that the mode is active as well as the current cabin temp. However, based on real-world tests from one R2 owner whose vehicle failed to reach the designated temperature after 20 minutes, it seems that this feature could use a bit more tweaking. If you do use it right now, keep a close eye on cabin temp via your Rivian app.Gear Guard is another big feature for the R2. At its core, this feature enables the automatic recording of clips to the R2's internal storage when you're away from your vehicle and it detects activity around your vehicle. When activity is detected, the R2 sounds an alarm and notifies you in the app (yes, you can turn this off at your home location).AdvertisementAdvertisementGear Guard (and Launch Mode) also brought a slew of video features for when you're on the move, such as incident recording, which saves clips when a crash or hard brake is detected. You can also plug in an external hard drive (Rivian owners swear by the Samsung Shield T7) to fully record your drives.Launch ModeFor those of you that want to see how close you can get to the R2's official 3.6 second 0-60 mph time, you can now engage Launch Mode. Meant to be engaged on close courses in dry conditions, you can access it from Driver Modes > Sport > Launch. The vehicle will walk you through the process (and give you a fair amount of warnings as to its usage). In Launch Mode, you'll have access to maximum off-the-line acceleration and a higher top speed. Your 0-60 mph and quarter mile times will also be recorded. Keep in mind, this is not considered a standard drive mode.GaragesRivian R2 in my garageAnd now for the thing I was most excited about — the garage door opener! My garage is fickle and has decided to stop responding to some of its remotes lately, leaving me stuck opening and closing it via the MyQ app, which is…fine? But what I want is a button to press in my car, preferably something that is integrated into the vehicle itself without requiring additional hardware. As soon as I saw the Homelink hardware included in the R2 owner's manual, I've been looking forward to this being enabled.Yes, it's a minor convenience, but it's well-integrated into the R2 experience. You pair your garage opener under Settings > Garages, set up one-touch access, and then use the right Haptic Halo wheel to open and close the garage. I have a minor issue where my garage doesn't always want to close from the one-touch signal but works if I go into the Garages menu…but like I said, my garage door opener is fickle. You can also specify a location range for the one-touch option to appear. It's very nicely done, overall.Quality of Life and Bug FixesThis update also includes a fair amount of fixes and improvements to the overall software package, from improved performance for the media apps, to better responsiveness from the haptic trunk and rear window buttons. There are also quality of life improvements such as the lowering of the turn-signal volume (which didn't bother me, but was the first negative thing my wife said about the R2). The performance of the Haptic Halo wheels has also been refined…though that's a subtle enough change I haven't really noticed much of a difference.AdvertisementAdvertisementRivian's engineers also included a fix to an embarrassing issue where the vent controls were reversed in the climate settings…so if you haven't been able to get the vents pointed where you like them, give it another go after the update.More SoonRivian is just getting started in regards to the R2 and its over-the-air software updates. Additional high-profile features that are expected this fall include the launch of the Sirius XM media app (hopefully sooner rather than later, I miss Lithium terribly) and improved Autonomy+. Autonomy+ is expected to receive point-to-point navigation as it gets closer to Level 3 self-driving sometime later this year…though it remains to be seen if Rivian can deliver on their ambitious self-driving timeline.Should I Update?Absolutely. Update 2026.24.40 brings with it features that Rivian promised when you purchased your vehicle and adds bug fixes and quality of life updates that make your R2 safer and more pleasant to drive. If you haven't already, you can launch the update from your Rivian app or the main screen of your vehicle.If you'd like to dig into the details of this release, open your Rivian app and click Updates to get the official release notes. The R2 owner's guide (also accessible from the Rivian app) has also been updated to include the new features and changes.AdvertisementAdvertisementYou can find out more about the R2 on the Rivan site.This article was originally published on Forbes.com
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