Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has provided an updated timeline for the company’s autonomous driving plans, and it shows some of the milestones Rivian outlined last year have already slipped.
In early 2025, Scaringe said Rivian would introduce hands-free driving by the end of the year, followed by an “eyes-off” autonomous driving system in 2026. However, Scaringe now says Rivian’s point-to-point driving system, similar to Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD), will arrive later this year, while eyes-off capability is now expected in 2027.
The updated timeline was revealed during a recent appearance on the Masters of Scale podcast, where Scaringe also discussed Rivian’s longer-term ambitions for fully driverless vehicles and robotaxi services.
Tesla FSD-Like Driving Coming This Year
According to Scaringe, Rivian’s next major step will be the launch of supervised point-to-point driving across its second-generation vehicle platform.
“Later this year, we’ll have full supervised point-to-point, which will be very similar to Tesla’s FSD. That will roll out to all of our Gen 2 vehicles and, of course, R2.”
The system is expected to handle complete trips while still requiring driver supervision, similar to how Tesla’s FSD operates today. Rivian plans to deploy the capability to its Gen 2 R1T and R1S vehicles and the new R2, leaving Gen 1 R1T and R1S owners out in the cold.
A Shift From Rivian’s Original Timeline
The latest roadmap differs from the schedule Scaringe outlined in January 2025. At the time, Rivian said it would launch a hands-free Level 2 system during 2025 before progressing to a Level 3 “eyes-off” system in 2026. While the company still appears committed to delivering those capabilities, the latest update suggests development is taking longer than originally anticipated.
Rather than introducing hands-free driving first, Rivian is now emphasizing supervised point-to-point driving as its next major milestone.
Scaringe said the next step after that rollout will be allowing drivers to disengage their attention from the road under certain conditions.
“Next year, we’ll allow it to go unsupervised, so you can take your eyes off the road.”
Robotaxis Are Part of the End Goal
While Rivian’s immediate focus is on consumer vehicles, Scaringe made it clear that the company is ultimately working toward fully driverless operation.
“The next step is achieving full capability for the vehicle to drive itself with no one in the car. We’ve been developing that for a while for our personal vehicles, but we also see it unlocking new business models, robotaxi being one of them.”
Rather than building its own ride-hailing platform, Rivian intends to leverage its recently announced $1.2 billion partnership with Uber as a path toward commercial deployment.
“We took the decision to parter with Uber so we could focus on the tech and leverage them for their access to a big distribution channel. They’re really a category of one. There’s no one quite at their scale or reach.”
The strategy stands in contrast to Tesla, which is developing and operating its own Robotaxi network. Rivian’s approach would allow it to focus on autonomous driving technology while relying on Uber’s existing customer base and global ride-hailing infrastructure.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in new interview:
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) June 13, 2026
"Later this year, we'll have full supervised point-to-point, which will be very similar to @Tesla's FSD. That will roll out to all of our Gen 2 vehicles and, of course, R2. Next year, we'll allow it to go unsupervised, so you can take… pic.twitter.com/2okv50X34d
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