In my 20+ years of car ownership, I’ve tried my best to not double dip, there are just so many vehicles out there and such little time (and funds!) to own them all! There have been a few here and there though: I’ve had two generations of Honda Civic Si (2007 and 2017), variations on the VW Golf (2008 R32 and 2010 GTI). Two different flavors of X5 (gas and plug in hybrid) and then a carbitraged path towards dual Pacifica Hybrids. We’ve moved from our Kia EV9 and back into a Rivian R1S, now of the Gen 2 variety and per Consumer Reports it looks like we wouldn’t be alone in this, with 85% of Rivian owners saying they would buy the same vehicle again!
Where our Gen 1 R1S was a mighty Rivian Blue with the original Quad Motors, for the Gen 2 we decided to sample the more pedestrian Dual motor configuration and opted for the mid-range Large battery pack good for 330 miles (270 and 410 are available). For paint we opted for the Limestone this time, which has sadly been discontinued, and kept the interior with the lighter Ocean Coast setup. On color, I definitely miss the bright and cheery nature of the Rivian Blue. My original choice for this round was the Red Canyon but one wasn’t readily available. There aren’t many bright colors in the Rivian palette, but there’s a new metallic plum purple named Borealis coming!
On the surface, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between what Rivian calls the Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles. Gen 1 effectively was model years 2022 through 2024, and Gen 2 is now 2025 and 2026. The front lighting bar is slightly updated, it has a bit more “shape” to it with a beveled lower portion that now encompasses a multi segmented portion that can be used for sequential purposes like the charge indication animations, a handy safety directional traffic pattern and even a fun Knight Rider red light theme back in 2024. Inside, I’d say there are even fewer changes, the main one being that the door releases are no longer hefty pull handles, but little square buttons to actuate the electronic latch that is for whatever reason quickly spreading across the industry.
Where the monumental changes to warrant the Gen1/Gen 2 nomenclatures is really under the skin. Rivian took huge steps to simplify and update the technology underpinning just about everything in the car. There are fewer electronic control units and over a mile less wiring running through the vehicle to achieve a reduction in build complexity and hopefully improve serviceability. An added heat pump serves to more efficiently warm the cabin, particularly in cold weather, a huge benefit to EV energy draw. More elements like the drive motors and autonomy hardware move to in-house components. Same for the Dolby Atmos capable premium audio system. The suspension system was also updated with new air springs and new dampers to vastly improve the ride quality while retaining much of its sharp handling characteristics.
Yes many of the changes were good, but with 11K miles now on our Gen 2, I will say it’s not even the same vehicle we picked up. The era of software defined vehicles is such that so many of the vehicle attributes and features are constantly being updated and improved. Take for instance the Premium Audio system in Gen 2. It was largely panned when the 2025 model year launched, and much of it likely deservedly so. But subsequent updates have really helped with the tuning of the audio and even features within the audio set have improved where you can now save multiple sound equalizer tuning profiles. And as of December 11th, Rivian also newly announced a sweeping enhancement of their advanced driver assist system with Universal Hands Free, which should greatly expand usability of their hands-off driving technology as well as additional improvements to their media system and virtual assistant!
Things I miss from the Gen 1: I do sometimes miss some of outright power of our Gen 1 Quad Motor. That thing packed 835 horsepower which is more similar to the Tri Motor of the Gen 2 world 850 horsepower, and could hit 60 miles per hour in about 3 seconds. The Dual motor is down 300 horses, which is more than more family 3-rows have altogether mind you, to “just” 533 horsepower and hits 60 miles per hour 50% slower at a whopping 4.5 seconds, oh the horror. That’s still quicker than an Acura MDX Type S and will beat the pants of any of the core body on framers like a Chevy Tahoe or Toyota Sequoia. So really, the Dual motor is absolutely more than enough power for 99% of family 3-row hauler driving needs. But still…
Our Gen 1 also had some interior niceties like the sueded interior headliner. That again, is something now found on the Gen 2 Tri and Quad motor variants, which also up-level beyond our Gen 1 interior with distinctive plaid stitching and additional leather materials on the dash, doors and steering wheel. I also truthfully miss the “regular” door latches/pulls versus the button releases. There was a nice weighty feel to them and a nice tactile piece to the car, but I have gotten used to the button fairly quickly and it’s positioned better in the Rivian than the buttons in our old BMW iX.
The Gen 2 does also offer, and we have ours equipped with, the dynamic glass roof. This helps electrically change the opacity of the panoramic glass roof the deter glare and heat. We also had this on our long term iX and similarly appreciate it here as well. On our Gen 1 R1S we had gone with an aftermarket tinting option for the roof to mitigate the glare and heat. The Rivian dimming is not as sophisticated as some of the others out there which can now electrically frost selected portions of the glass, but it’s still a handy improvement.
What would be on our Gen 3 R1S wishlist to get us to be first time triple dippers? I’d love to see captains chairs offered, as well as an opening roof of some sort and massaging seats up front, at least as an option. Running boards would be nice to help the kids get in and out, as even with the air suspension dropping to kneel mode it’s still a hefty climb in and out for them. There are some aftermarket options here but they never seem quite a finished as a factory option. I’d also love to see some added straps still for the 3rd row, to be able to raise them from the rear cargo area. This is a given on nearly any other 3-row vehicle out there and nothing doing on the Rivian. Power actuation of the rear lower door/tailgate to match the power upper portion would be good to see as well. Our X5’s had this and one button would close both sections. On the rear door access, Rivian should also add a handsfree opening (kick to open etc) as a nice convenience item that again, is a given on nearly every other vehicle on the market. Same with some rear door sun shades.
That said, if you look at the wish list, our Kia EV9 did actually come with many of the items on the wish list if not all of them. The EV9’s dual motor was also a bit more efficient overall. And while the EV9 offers CarPlay/Android Auto, I can’t say that I really miss those suites. Rivian’s technology stack and smartphone app feel wholly more cohesive, consistent, and well thought out than nearly anything I’ve seen and experienced from the traditional automakers. Would love to jump into an R1T next given my affinity for trucklife, but the R2 also looks enticing. That said, car companies aren’t standing still. Will be curious how quickly the likes of BMW with the iX3, Mercedes with the GLC EQ, Hyundai as they iterate on their powerful E-GMP platform and VW/Audi/Scout (with Rivian support) continue to compete.
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