Rivian is rolling out update 2025.18 to employees before going wide. Here’s what we know
Rivian is reportedly rolling out its latest update, 2015.18, internally to employees, meaning it should be available to R1S and R1T owners in the next couple of weeks. It includes several new features, like Multi-factor Drive charging optimizations. You can learn more below.
Like most software-defined vehicles, Rivians receive occasional updates available over-the-air (OTA). Unlike more traditional OEMs that can only deliver updates to things like navigation and infotainment, Rivian is able to roll out more robust upgrades, adding new features or abilities to existing components, and increasing various efficiencies (and of course, fixing bugs).
In the past, we’ve seen Rivian roll out features like Camp Mode, Kneel Mode, and Launch Mode. Oftentimes, Rivian will publish details of bigger software updates to its “Stories” page, like 2025.10, which rolled out to the public in early April.
As a Rivian R1S owner, I was more excited about update 2025.14, which updated the BEV’s Highway Assist feature. Today, RivianTrackr shared that software update 2025.18 is rolling out internally before launching widely, and we have a preview of what to expect when it arrives.
What to expect in Rivian update 2025.18
Per the report, update 2025.18 was noticed on May 30, 2025, and is rolling out to early access Rivian drivers (employees). The update applies to Gen 1 (2021-2024) and Gen 2 (2025) Rivian models, and the first four pieces of the latest update are the same for both, so we will start there.
Multi-factor Drive
The first major update is the addition of Multi-factor Drive. When enabled, this feature will require two-factor authentication for your Rivian R1S or R1T to start. When you enter your BEV, hit the brake, and shift out of park, a new authenticator will pop up on the screen, which can be verified through the Rivian app (version 3.1 or later) or your smartwatch. Some additional notes:
- Only the user registered as the Rivian’s vehicle owner can enable or disable Multi-factor Drive. The setting applies to all drivers and keys associated with the vehicle.
- When Multi-factor Drive is enabled, a driver cannot drive the vehicle using the key fob or key card without completing the second authentication.
- To approve a driver, the driver must have a Rivian account associated with the key and the key must be paired with the vehicle.
- Drivers can also access a time-based passcode on their smartphone. Tap to “Security and access” then “View time-based passcode.”
- To use Multi-factor Drive, all drivers must have Rivian app 3.1 or later.
Rivian Energy App update
A new Rivian Energy app features new ways to monitor and control your R1S or R1T’s energy consumption, whatever state of motion the vehicle is in. You can also precondition your battery on demand ahead of a fast charging session and view your charge curve within the vehicle with an interactive graph. The update also includes improved charge time accuracy.
You can view the Ebergy app on your Rivian’s center display, or in the automaker’s app 3.1 or later.
Charging and additional improvements (Gen 1)
- Optimized charging algorithms to reduce charge time from 10% to 80% (Max Pack only)
- Expanded capabilities across a wider range of temperatures (Max Pack only)
- Enhanced vehicle visualizations with more detailed vehicle models on driver display
- Improved responsiveness of Go Chime (fewer random chimes)
- Improved stability and responsiveness of infotainment system
- Improved performance and stability of media apps
Charging and additional improvements (Gen 2)
- All Gen 2 battery packs get improved charge times and expanded capabilities across a wider range of temperatures.
- Optimized charging algorithms to reduce charge time from 10% to 80% (Standard and Max Pack)
- Optimized charging algorithms in Large pack to improve peak charge rates, reduced 10% to 80% charge times, and increase number of miles replenished in the first 15 minutes of a charge session
- Rivian update 2025.18 fixes a rare issue that caused camera views and recorded videos to be unavailable in the Gear Guard app
- Enhanced vehicle visualizations with more detailed vehicle models on driver display
- Enhanced driver display to show a greater number of vehicles across five lanes and more diverse situations (cross-traffic, oncoming traffic, parked vehicles)
- Improved the stability and responsiveness of infotainment system
- Improved performance and stability of media apps
- Optimized low-voltage battery management to improve long-term battery health
One thing I’m not seeing mentioned is a bug I noticed in my Gen 2 R1S after installing the 2025.14 update. When using navigation, my route map zooms out to a view of all of North America every time I make a turn. It’s super annoying.
I hope that big issue is fixed with Rivian’s 2025.18 update, which should be rolling out to individual owners in the next week or two.
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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Environment
Podcast: Trump/GOP go after EV/solar, Tesla, Ford, GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Today’s episode is brought to you by Bosch Mobility Aftermarket—A global leader and trusted provider of automotive aftermarket parts. To celebrate Amazon Prime Day July 8th through 11th, Bosch Mobility is offering exclusive savings on must-have auto parts and tools. Learn more here.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Electrek FSGP 2025: New teams, new cars, same solar spirit
- Congress votes to send 2 million US jobs to China, increase deficit, energy costs
- Tesla (TSLA) confirms 384,000 deliveries in Q2 2025, right on expectations
- Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller
- Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries
- Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready
- Here’s why Ford’s electric vehicle sales crashed by nearly a third in Q2
- The Chevy Equinox EV is GM’s breakout star, but that’s not the only surprise
- Xpeng launches G7, a new Tesla Model Y competitor for just $27,000
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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