If your Rivian is experiencing odd issues or the screen has become frozen or unresponsive, a reboot of the infotainment system may fix the issue.
There are several ways to reboot the computer that powers all of Rivian’s screen, including the rear display for passengers in the back. It doesn’t matter which Rivian you have, as these reboots are applicable to both Gen 1 and Gen 2 vehicles.
Fix Frozen Display - Infotainment Reboot
Rebooting the infotainment unit is the simplest reboot and should be your first choice when you encounter an issue with your Rivian. Infotainment reboots, also known as the “two-finger salute,” involve holding the far left and far right buttons on the steering wheel down. These are the outermost buttons located next to the scroll wheels on the steering wheel. Press them and down them down for 15 seconds to reboot the computer.
The vehicle will beep, and a graphic will be displayed on the driver’s display. Continue holding the buttons down until the screens flash to black. Once the screen goes dark, you can let go of the buttons and the infotainment unit will reboot. The whole process takes about 30-45 seconds, and you’ll soon see the displays come back on with the Rivian logo.
While this reboot can also be done while driving, we don’t recommend it, as you’ll lose access to key vehicle information during the reboot.
This reboot should be your first step when encountering an issue, especially if it’s due to the display being unresponsive or frozen. Other reboot types focus on restarting specific vehicle subsystems, so if a particular feature isn’t functioning correctly, a different reboot method may be necessary.
Sleep Reboot
Begin by unplugging everything from your vehicle, including any USB cables, devices, and the Rivian Guard USB drive. Remember to disconnect any items plugged into the Utility Panel and ensure the Gear Guard Cable Anchor (if applicable) is detached.
Next, unbuckle all seatbelts and remove any child seats or heavy items from the vehicle. If the vehicle is plugged in, disconnect it, then lock the doors. Make sure to keep all keys—including phone keys—away from the vehicle for at least 30 minutes.
This sleep reboot is simple and effective, although it could be more of a hassle, especially if you have car seats installed.
Full Reboot (1 Hour)
The full reboot resets all of the vehicle’s systems, essentially rebooting everything from the ground up. Important: Rivian support advises against performing this procedure multiple times in a short time period. You must wait at least an hour between full reboots to ensure all systems initialize correctly. Attempting back-to-back reboots may result in some vehicle systems not fully starting, which could require a service visit.
To initiate a full reboot, hold down the far-left button on the steering wheel and the emergency flasher button near the ceiling for 15 seconds. This will reset all vehicle systems. While it’s possible to drive immediately after the reboot, Rivian recommends letting the vehicle sit for at least an hour before resuming your journey to ensure everything is functioning correctly.
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With more and more information beginning to slowly trickle out about what the R2 will be packing, we’ve finally got the details on the R2’s next-gen infotainment chipset. Just like the Gen 2 R1 series vehicles, the R2’s chipset will also be responsible for all the AI capabilities - which includes addressing Rivian’s autonomy ambitions.
Infotainment on Gen 1 and Gen 2
Rivian’s Gen 1 processor had three ECUs on board and was relatively capable—but hamstrung in its own ways. It couldn’t process high-resolution imagery and was only as capable as the Mobileye EyeQ4 that was on board. Many users also noted the distinct lag that occasionally happened in the infotainment, especially when rapidly scrolling the map with the satellite view mode.
Gen 2, on the other hand, consolidates those three original ECUs down to one and packs 3.3x the neural processing power on board—alongside 4K image processing. That, along with an effective, smooth, and precise infotainment system, made Gen 2’s XMM2 infotainment chipset a highlight. Now, the R2’s infotainment unit is going to take it to another level.
More Power, More Compact
The R2 and the R3 will feature the XMM3 chipset, which consolidates chips—including memory and power chips—at a 4:1 ratio. This unit will also have 2.4x the compute power of the current Gen 2 XMM2 unit.
This sparks a pretty interesting question—what about Autonomy? Rivian has said they’ve gained a renewed interest in addressing vehicle autonomy. Rivian plans to launch “eyes-off” highway autonomy in 2026 and hands-free highway assist will launch on the Gen 2 in just a couple of weeks with software update 2025.06.
That begs the question, will Rivian require the XMM3 chipset for future autonomy goals such as eyes-off or future Platform+ features?
What About R1S & R1T?
Just like the improvements to the drive units that are coming to the R2, these infotainment improvements will likely eventually make their way over to R1S and R1T as well. Given that Rivian just recently finished retooling their production lines for R1 Gen 2 vehicles, we’d expect them to arrive after the launch of the R2.
With that said, Gen 2.5 or Gen 3, whichever Rivian decides to call it, it’s likely still a couple of years away, but expect it to take advantage of a lot of newer R2 components.
Rivian’s engineering teams have been hard at work on the R2 for quite some time now. One of their primary goals - to reduce per-unit cost of the drive units.
The new Maximus drive unit uses some interesting techniques to help reduce costs and build on lessons learned from the R1 Series Enduro units.
Improvements All Around
The first improvement is in the stator windings. The stators are a critical component of an electric motor, and reducing the number of welds inside the stator is a key to reducing overall cost. The new Maximus drive unit uses a new continuous winding technology, reducing the total welds per stator from 264 on the Enduro to just 24 on the Maximus.
Rivian has also worked to consolidate and reduce the number of physical parts in the R2. Their second development on this front is integrating the rotor shaft and the gear into a single forged component, which is CNC milled. Of course, that’s not all - they also reduced the number of bearings.
Overall, that’s a fantastic set of improvements to help reduce the cost - and weight - of the upcoming R2’s new Maximus drive unit. The R2’s launch will be Rivian’s Model 3 moment - it will be the mass-adoptable mid-size vehicle that many are interested in. As such, driving down costs per unit is key.
The new single-piece rotor shaft and gear.
Rivian Wave
Coming to R1S & R1T?
The next question is: Will these improvements make their way to the R1S and R1T? It seems likely in the future—but not immediately. These improvements are set to greatly reduce Rivian’s per-vehicle costs, which will also help increase profit margins.
While Rivian did—for the first time—have a profitable quarter in Q4 2024, they’re still teetering on the edge of profitability. Sharing as many parts between the R2 and R1 vehicles makes a lot of sense, and you can bet Rivian will take advantage of that if they can.
Rivian’s focus is on the R2 launch, so it may take some time before they shift attention back to the R1 series and implement these cost-saving improvements. When Rivian finally introduces Gen 2.5 of the R1S and R1T, we may see other improvements taken from the R2 besides this improved drive unit.
