Rivian LiDAR is not coming on any vehicle you can order today, and Rivian has put it in writing: no R1T, R1S or R2 currently available to order includes LiDAR or the Rivian Autonomy Processor, the in-house chip Rivian calls RAP1. That includes the R2 Performance with Launch Package, the most expensive R2 on sale.
The statement comes from a new Rivian support article titled “LiDAR and RAP1 Availability.” It also says Rivian “has not announced specific customer availability dates for this hardware,” and that nothing a buyer does today locks it in.
What does not get you LiDAR
Rivian lists three things that do not guarantee a vehicle with LiDAR or RAP1:
- Buying Autonomy+. Rivian describes it as a software package that runs supported driver assistance features on the hardware already in the vehicle. It does not add LiDAR or replace the onboard processor.
- Choosing a vehicle package, including the R2 Launch Package, which comes with Autonomy+ for the life of the vehicle.
- Picking a later delivery date. Rivian says “no specific order date or delivery window guarantees LiDAR or RAP1” until it announces eligible configurations and customer availability.
Rivian also separates the two model lines. “Announcements about future R2 hardware do not establish availability for R1T or R1S,” the page says. CEO RJ Scaringe has said the new hardware coming in 2027 “is for R2,” as eletric-vehicles.com reported, so an R1 buyer has even less reason to wait for it.
No retrofit for current vehicles
Rivian says it has “no plans to retrofit LiDAR hardware to existing Rivian vehicles,” and points out that an over-the-air update cannot add physical sensors or swap the processor. A Rivian bought today will keep the sensors and computer it was built with.
Vehicles without LiDAR will still get software improvements, according to the same page, but those depend on each vehicle’s installed hardware. Software updates “do not change the installed hardware or guarantee access to features that require different hardware.”
What Rivian has said about timing
The Q3 2026 earnings presentation, released October 29, has no customer date for LiDAR or RAP1. Its autonomy update covers software that runs on current hardware. Point to Point, which follows a navigation route with driver supervision, starts a limited rollout later this year through Rivian’s invitation-only Autonomy Early Access Program, with a general release to all Autonomy+ subscribers expected in 2027. We compared it with Tesla’s system in our Point to Point vs FSD (Supervised) breakdown.
On the chip, Rivian’s Q2 presentation said RAP1 development was on track and that it had begun the final testing phases of production silicon. Scaringe has described the Gen 3 autonomy platform as pairing 65 megapixels of cameras and a radar array with a front-facing long-range LiDAR, “starting in late 2026.” Rivian’s support page is the more conservative document for buyers: it says internal testing milestones and autonomous vehicle partnership announcements, such as its partnership with Uber, “do not establish when this hardware will be available in customer vehicles.”
Rivian’s next scheduled chance to say more is its Autonomy and AI Day on December 9.
Should you wait?
Buy a Rivian today for the hardware it has. Current Gen 2 R1 and R2 vehicles run Universal Hands-Free and are in line for Point to Point through Autonomy+, which costs $49.99 a month or $2,500 once. That is the feature set you are paying for, and Rivian says it will keep improving software on these vehicles within the limits of their hardware.
If LiDAR is the reason you want a Rivian, wait for Rivian to announce which configurations get it and when they ship. Ordering now and hoping for a late build will not get you there, and Rivian says having LiDAR or RAP1 does not by itself mean an eyes-off driving feature will be available. Eyes-off driving also needs supported software and approval for specific operating conditions.
Sources: Rivian Support, LiDAR and RAP1 Availability, Rivian Q3 2026 earnings presentation (SEC filing), Rivian Q2 2026 earnings presentation (SEC filing), eletric-vehicles.com.