EVwire brief: Rivian Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid confirmed during a recent Reddit AMA that launch versions of the upcoming R2 will support Rivian’s future point-to-point supervised self-driving system. Responding to a question about whether early R2 vehicles without LiDAR hardware would still support the feature, Bensaid replied:
“Yes! R2 Performance with Launch Package will be capable of point-to-point assisted hands-free driving when software is ready.”
The AMA also included one of Rivian’s clearest timelines yet for its broader autonomy plans. SVP of Autonomy and AI James Philbin stated that Rivian’s upcoming Point-to-Point autonomy is designed as a true “Point A to Point B” address-to-address system. Powered by the new Large Driving Model (LDM) on Gen 2 R1 and R2 vehicles, the system will handle a mix of surface roads and highways.
The R2 is now in production at Rivian’s Normal, Il plant
Philbin added that Rivian plans to introduce active stoplight and stop-sign control to Universal Hands-Free “in the next few months” ahead of a public rollout of point-to-point assisted hands-free driving later in 2026, with wider availability targeted for the first half of 2027.
"Since the start of the year, our perception system has been detecting stop signs and traffic lights in apprentice mode, and this data is already being used to continuously validate the precision of the system.”
Rivian is aiming to roll out point-to-point assisted hands-free driving later this year
Context:
The AMA comments closely align with statements made by CEO RJ Scaringe during Rivian’s Q1 2026 earnings call, where autonomy emerged as one of the company’s biggest long-term priorities.
During the call, Scaringe stated that Autonomy+ subscription adoption had exceeded Rivian’s internal expectations. He described the upcoming point-to-point feature as a major value driver for customers:
“The introduction of point-to-point we think is a major value driver for customers... You can put the address for the location you're going to into the car and the car will fully drive you there.”
CEO RJ Scaringe believes autonomy could be one of Rivian’s biggest opportunities
Scaringe also outlined the longer-term vision:
“And then following that, allowing you to go eyes-off in highway conditions and ultimately everywhere—that means you get your time back.”
Rivian has increasingly framed autonomy as a major component of its future software-and-services business. The company has also positioned advanced driver assistance and autonomous capabilities as key long-term recurring revenue opportunities.
Source: Wassym Bensaid’s Reddit AMA
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