Rivian has a name for the vehicle that comes after its next two: the Rivian R4. CEO RJ Scaringe says self-driving software will let the company build “dramatically different” vehicles, and he says the R4 is where that idea ends up. He just won’t show anyone what it looks like yet.
Key takeaways
- Scaringe confirmed in an October 2026 interview that “the thing after R3 is going to be called R4.” Rivian has released no design, specs or launch date.
- His argument: once a car can drive itself, designers no longer have to build everything around a driver’s seat.
- He still expects most miles to be driven in privately owned cars, not robotaxis.
- Rivian gave up its 2027 profit target in March 2026 to spend more on autonomy, and Uber has agreed to invest up to $1.25 billion in R2 robotaxis.
What did Scaringe actually say about the Rivian R4?
He spoke to Sean O’Kane in a sit-down at TechCrunch Disrupt, and TechCrunch published the interview on 19 October 2026. “Where it gets really interesting is when you think beyond R2 and R3,” Scaringe said, adding that autonomy “can create dramatically different experiences.”
Then he gave the name. “The thing after R3 is going to be called R4,” he said, and promised it is “going to be cool.” He gave no other details.
That’s all we know for certain. The name follows R1, R2 and R3, and Rivian’s CEO has tied it to a future where the car does the driving. Any render you see online right now is a guess.
Why would self-driving change how a car looks?
Every car today is designed around one person facing forward and holding a wheel. The seats, dashboard, windshield angle and pedals all follow from that.
Take the driver away and the cabin works more like a room than a cockpit. Seats can face each other. The front can be shorter. The wheel can fold away or vanish. An electric drivetrain, which is basically a flat battery with motors at the wheels, helps here because there’s no engine block or transmission tunnel taking up space.
Here’s an analogy: phones changed shape once the keyboard became software. When driving becomes software, the car’s shape can change too.
Haven’t we heard this before?
Yes, many times. About ten years ago, automakers and self-driving startups expected autonomy and batteries to bring a flood of new vehicle types. Mercedes-Benz showed a long lounge sedan at CES 2015, and Toyota pitched “rooms on wheels” in 2018. In 2019, Hyundai showed a concept car that had legs.
None of these made it past the prototype stage. Self-driving took far longer than promised, and building and selling an entirely new kind of vehicle turned out to be brutally expensive.
TechCrunch points to two things that are different now. Robotaxis carry paying passengers on public roads in several cities. EV batteries and motors are also much cheaper, and companies like Tesla, Rivian and several Chinese brands now build them at scale. For more on that shift, see our explainer on the rise of electric vehicles and what it means for the auto industry.
Does Rivian think everyone will ride robotaxis?
No, and this is the most interesting part of the interview. Scaringe said about 95% of US miles are driven in vehicles owned by the driver or their household. Even with Level 4 autonomy (meaning the car handles every part of driving within a defined area and needs no human backup), he thinks that share might drop to 90% or 80%, but no lower.
His reasons are social and psychological. People like owning their space. So the R4 vision is a different kind of car that you would still own, not a shared pod.
Opinion: this is a smarter bet than going robotaxi-only. Rivian sells to people who keep kayaks on the roof, and those buyers aren’t going to give up ownership.
Where is Rivian’s autonomy tech today?
Rivian laid out its roadmap at its first Autonomy and AI Day on 11 December 2025. It announced a custom 5-nanometre chip built with Arm and TSMC, a new autonomy computer called ACM3, and a lidar sensor (lidar measures distance with laser pulses) mounted above the windshield, according to TechCrunch.
| Stage | What it means | Status (as of 19 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-free | Hands off the wheel, eyes on the road | Shipping; priced at $2,500 or $49.99 a month |
| Point-to-point | Enter an address and the car drives the whole route while you supervise | Promised by the end of 2026 |
| Eyes-off | You can look away in approved conditions | Requires lidar; no date given |
| Robotaxi (Level 4) | No human driver needed | R2 robotaxis on Uber planned from 2028 |
What is Rivian paying for this bet?
A lot. On 19 March 2026, Rivian said it no longer expects to be adjusted EBITDA positive in 2027. EBITDA is a measure of operating profit before interest, taxes and depreciation. The company blamed rising research and development costs from its self-driving work.
On the same day, Rivian announced a deal with Uber. Uber will put in an initial $300 million and could invest up to $1.25 billion in total. The plan starts with 10,000 robotaxi R2s, with an option for up to 40,000 more, Engadget reported. Service is set to launch in San Francisco and Miami and expand to 25 cities by 2031. Most of that money depends on Rivian hitting autonomy milestones.
What happens next
- R2 ramp: Rivian is scaling production of the R2 SUV. That is the car that has to turn years of losses around.
- Point-to-point driving: Rivian has promised supervised driving from start to finish by the end of 2026. That is the first real test of its software.
- Lidar R2s: Later R2s get ACM3 and lidar, which are needed for eyes-off driving.
- R3, then R4: The smaller R3 comes next. The R4 is still just a name with a promise attached.
Here’s the catch. Each step depends on the one before it. If the R2 struggles, the R4 stays a slide in a presentation, just like the concepts from 2015.
FAQ
When will the Rivian R4 launch?
Rivian hasn’t given a date. As of 19 October 2026, only the name is confirmed, and it comes after the R2 and R3.
Will the Rivian R4 be a robotaxi?
Rivian hasn’t said. Scaringe expects most driving to stay in privately owned cars, and Rivian’s announced robotaxi plans use the R2 on Uber.
Can current Rivians drive themselves?
Not fully. Today’s system lets you drive hands-free while you keep watching the road. Supervised point-to-point driving is promised by the end of 2026.
If you’re shopping for an EV, judge Rivian on what the R2’s software can do when you buy it, not on the R4 promise. Then keep an eye on whether point-to-point driving arrives by the end of the year.
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