Rivian has been bringing a fun and unique ‘Halloween Mode’ to its vehicles every year since 2022, and 2024 isn’t going to be an exception.
Rivian’s Halloween Mode enables special features or themes, and you’re free to enable or disable them whenever you’d like, but they’re only available for a select time.
We’re excited to see what’s in store for 2024, and we have some predictions, but before we dive into 2024, let’s take a look at what Rivian’s Halloween Mode brought us in the past.
Halloween Mode 2022
Rivian’s 2022 Halloween Mode was the first Halloween Mode update and brought with it a slew of fun features. Locking and unlocking your vehicle would play an Owl’s hoot, and the interior lights were set to a bloody red. Gear Guard Garry got a make-over too! To celebrate the spookiness of Halloween, he donned a skeleton outfit. Best of all, pedestrians around your vehicle would be displayed as zombies, shambling their way through un-life around you.
You can see the blood-red interior lights, listen to the owl’s hoot and see Gear Guard Gary in the 2022 Halloween Mode below, which was added in update 2022.38:
Halloween Mode 2023
In 2023, Rivian brought a few additional changes to Halloween Mode to spice things up. Locking and unlocking the vehicle played the opening and closing notes of Dracula’s theme. This time, the interior lights were set to an evil green color, and Gear Guard Garry donned Dracula’s cape and some vampiric teeth. The pedestrians got some companions too, with bats now flying around the zombies. In addition to pedestrians being turned into zombies, motorcycles are now turned into witches flying on a broom.
There’s one more neat trick for 2023, too – when the vehicle doors open, a pumpkin will roll out of the door in the vehicle’s visualization. That occurred in both the vehicle and in the app.
Rivian’s 2023 Halloween Mode update was added in update 2023.38. The video below shows the full set of features and visualizations:
Halloween Mode 2024
We’re hoping that Halloween Mode 2024 comes with another bivy of spooky changes – maybe this time Rivian will double down on the zombie theme, and we’ll get a Gear Guard Zombie Garry. We’d love for Rivian to take advantage of the new charging indicator light bar in Gen 2 vehicles, so hopefully we’ll see that added as well.
This year will also be Rivian’s first Halloween with its new cell-shaded design in the app and in the vehicle, so expect some new visualization art.
Rivian’s 2024 Halloween Mode is expected to launch in Rivian’s next update, presumably update 2024.39.
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Rivian is officially making its extreme performance ambitions known with the launch of the Rivian Adventure Department, or RAD, for short. What began as a quiet, internal skunkworks team of dedicated designers and engineers has now been formalized into a specialized division tasked with pushing Rivian’s vehicles to their absolute limits.
RAD becomes essentially an AMG, ///M, or GT equivalent inside of @Rivian.
Sounds like we can expect future models to carry the RAD name as a trim level. Think “R1T RAD” perhaps.
By validating the hardware and software in some of the most unforgiving environments on Earth, RAD aims to translate some of the lessons learned from high-performance motorsports directly into exciting consumer features.
From the Desert to Pikes Peak
The roots of the RAD initiative trace back to Rivian’s earliest days, including the grueling 13,000-mile prototype journey from Patagonia to Los Angeles during the filming of the Long Way Up documentary. Since then, the internal passion project has evolved through rigorous real-world motorsport testing.
When a Rivian R1T became the first EV to win the gruelling Rebelle Rally in 2023, the data gathered from conquering the deep sand directly led to the development of Rivian’s Desert Rally drive mode, as well as the Deep Sand mode.
Our team is further developing the deep sand performance of the Tri-Motor R1! It’s incredible :) pic.twitter.com/DNzlGaSVAH
Similarly, when Rivian’s engineers set out to shatter the production electric truck record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, they built a custom internal software tool to adjust torque bias, stability control, and regenerative braking on the fly. They realized one thing along the way: that tool was simply too fun to keep locked away for engineers, and Rivian decided to refine it for customers, too.
The RAD Tuner
That Pikes Peak engineering tool has officially arrived in consumer vehicles as the RAD Tuner. Exclusively available for Gen 2 Quad-Motor owners, the RAD Tuner acts as a high-performance equalizer for the powertrain.
You have access to real-time control over ten different vehicle parameters, including power output, front-to-rear torque split, brake assistance, wheel slip, damping, and roll stiffness. Instead of relying on factory presets, off-road enthusiasts can now dial in their own custom driving dynamics to suit their style and the trails they’re adventuring on.
That’s a level of customizability that’s never really been available in a production vehicle before.
Taking on the FAT Ice Course
To celebrate the formalization of the new division, RAD is making its official public debut this week at the 2026 FAT Ice Race in Big Sky, Montana. They’re also showcasing the new bold orange, red, and white RAD livery - and competing with a brand-new Quad-Motor R1S on the frozen course.
Rivian R1S Quad on studded tires sets a lap around the FAT Ice Race course!
The studded tires help a ton but so does the new RAD Tuner that allows Luke Lynch to dial in all of the suspension and powertrain attributes to his liking
Equipped with studded tires, the first R1S Quad RAD is leveraging RAD Tuner to perfectly control its suspension and powertrain for the low-traction environment - all with 1,025 horsepower on tap. Perfect torque delivery is what keeps a vehicle stable at those speeds and in those conditions, and Rivian is proving that its new performance division isn’t just a marketing exercise - it is a massive commitment to build highly performing electric adventure vehicles.
Skiers at Big Sky Resort in Montana are getting a high-tech lift to the slopes this season that does not involve a gondola. X user Kyle Conner (@itskyleconner) recently shared footage of a fleet of at least six Rivian R1T trucks being used as a specialized shuttle service at the resort.
"6 Rivian R1Ts pulling trailers to move people around Big Sky ski area. So cool!" Conner noted while capturing the electric trucks in action. The implementation is a clever way to solve a common mountain problem: getting people from free parking zones to the ski lifts without forcing them to hike up in heavy gear.
The setup involves the R1T trucks pulling large trailers or carts, each capable of seating more than a dozen people. According to Conner, the shuttle service runs daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., effortlessly moving crowds across the ski zone.
It appears that Rivian may have provided both the trucks and the custom trailers to the resort for this specific pilot program. When the sun goes down and the slopes close, the fleet is parked at on-site Level 2 AC chargers to juice up for the next day. Seeing these silent, emission-free pickups replace noisy diesel shuttles is a major win for sustainable mobility in fragile mountain ecosystems.
6 Rivian R1Ts pulling trailers to move people around Big Sky ski area. So cool! pic.twitter.com/l3xIDNuiQa
The R1T is practically overqualified for this job. The Gen 2 (2025–2026) model is a high-performance beast, with the Quad-Motor variant pushing a staggering 1,025 hp and 1,198 lb-ft of torque. It can hit 0–60 mph in just 2.5 seconds, and the Dual Max version offers a massive EPA-estimated range of 420 miles.
More importantly for a ski resort, the R1T features 14.9 inches of ground clearance and advanced off-road capabilities that make navigating icy, snowy roads a breeze. With a max towing capacity of 11,000 lbs, pulling a cart filled with skiers is light work for this truck. Safety is also a major factor, as the R1T is the only EV ever to achieve an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating in the pickup category.
The Future of the Brand
This mountain implementation comes at an exciting time for Rivian. While the R1T and R1S continue to prove their worth in extreme conditions, the company is finally nearing the launch of its long-awaited R2 midsize SUV.
The Big Sky implementation is pretty impressive. By putting their hardware into real-world, high-utility roles like this, Rivian is showing that electric trucks are not just for the suburbs — they are rugged enough to keep a world-class ski resort running smoothly and sustainably.
