Rivian Prices Its Supervised Driving System Below Tesla While Building an AI Driver Around Temporal Object Tracking

I would consider Rivian, but I dislike the cartoon-like styling. I care how the things I own look, even if the technology sounds interesting.

People said the Prius looked ridiculous too, yet plenty bought Mini Coopers, which were less practical. Rivian cannot please everyone.

I think the headlights are a miss, perhaps because the founders put too much personality into the product. The driving system has a sound starting point if it really tracks objects across video frames.

Google Maps, no CarPlay, and no amber turn signals put me off Rivian. I like the brake-pedal feel, though the accelerator sits too far off the floor for me.

If autonomous systems become demonstrably safer than human drivers, regulators may eventually require them like airbags, backup cameras, and automatic emergency braking.

If carmakers build subscription revenue around this, a mandate could leave people paying monthly just to drive legally. That legal outcome worries me even though I want autonomous driving.

My 2025 Model 3 has driven more than 95% of my last 1,000 miles. FSD usually goes parking spot to parking spot for me, and it feels safer than I am when I get tired.

Insurers may get there before regulators by discounting safer vehicles. Those discounts could offset the monthly fees carmakers charge.

Building cars gets a company almost nowhere toward writing a safe software driver. Apple reportedly spent about $7B and quit, while Uber and GM also spent billions without a working result; Waymo is the only clearly safe functioning driver besides humans.

Tesla has operated more than 80 unsupervised taxis as of August, with over 380,000 miles. They must report incidents to NHTSA, so their growing mileage should soon show whether they beat human safety.

Rivian split its software work into a joint venture with Volkswagen Group. I think the plan is to create a platform that Audi, Porsche, and other brands can license.

Tracking an object across frames is the minimum I expect from a driving system. A camera blip should not make the car brake hard.

That sounds good in theory, but the system still needs huge amounts of training data. Tesla's end-to-end FSD uses occupancy networks and still has not fully solved brake stabbing.

I rode a fully autonomous Cybercab to a coffee shop yesterday. It had no steering wheel and handled a garbage truck, double-parked cars, construction, and unpainted speed bumps more smoothly than Waymo in my experience.

I want accountability when a robot hits someone. We punish negligent human drivers, so manufacturers should face equivalent liability when their system fails.

I like the small lidar embedded in the front window glass. Rivian's focus on a boring, uneventful drive sounds right to me.