Rivian Claims Its New Software Update Could Save Owners $900 A Year

With the least-expensive used Rivians still hovering in the low-$40,000 range, no one is buying R1 without a solid job and plenty of money, but that doesn’t mean Rivian owners don’t still appreciate saving a little money here and there. Heck, one of the reasons people buy EVs is to save money charging at home instead of constantly filling up at the gas station. And if Rivian’s math can be trusted, its latest software update could save owners as much as $900 a year in charging costs, at least if they live in an area with variable electricity rates. 

According to Rivian, most of its owners charge at home, but nearly three-quarters of those charging sessions don’t happen during off-peak hours, when electricity is cheaper. It’s not like those hours are a secret the utility company hides from you so they can squeeze a couple extra dollars out of you, but most EV owners tend to just plug in when they get home, without worrying about charging rates. After all, it usually feels more important to have plenty of range than it does to save a couple cents per kWh. Those higher charging costs do add up over time, though, and according to Rivian’s estimate, only charging at off-peak hours could save owners as much as 20%, or $900 a year. 

With its latest software update, owners will be able to provide their home location and energy provider in the Rivian app, which then allows the car to automatically vary when it charges based on when electricity is the cheapest. Is it something you couldn’t possibly do manually? Not at all, but these are luxury vehicles we’re talking about, and at the very least, it seems like a convenient feature for Rivian to add to both its Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles. How much money it will actually save owners, however, remains to be seen.

Smart charging isn’t the only improvement included in the latest update. Rivian says it also added something it calls Co-Steer, which allows you to adjust your car’s position in the lane without deactivating the driver-assistance feature it calls Highway Assist. Meanwhile, availability for the hands-free version, known as Enhanced Highway Assist, is up 50% and should allow much longer stretches of hands-free driving. That update, however, is only available on Gen 2 vehicles. 

Rivian has also worked to improve its sound system, something it’s gotten plenty of complaints about in the past. One part of those improvements is the option for different drivers to save their preferred equalizer settings to their driver profile, so your music sounds like you want it to, regardless of who drove the car the last time. Rivian also claims to have updated the system’s low-frequency response, “resulting in a more controlled bass and richer sense of spatial separation, making it easier to pinpoint different elements in a track.”

Are these software updates going to turn your Rivian into a completely different vehicle? Of course not. But who doesn’t like the idea of saving money while charging? Even owners who probably won’t save the full $900 a year aren’t going to complain about their electricity bills being lower. And being able to use the hands-free feature more frequently and for longer stretches of time should make commuting less exhausting, especially if your music sounds better than it did before.