Rivian is moving quickly to resolve one of the most frustrating pain points across its vehicle lineup. During a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on the r/RivianR2 subreddit, Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid officially confirmed that a factory wireless charging mat retrofit is on the horizon for existing R1 vehicles.
The update comes as a massive relief to early adopters. While Bensaid’s interactive digital session focused primarily on the upcoming R2 midsize platform, he carved out time to answer popular hardware parity questions for the brand's premium consumer base.
Direct From the Chief Software Officer
The issue of functional wireless phone charging has loomed large over the brand since its initial launch. For years, owners have criticized the original Qi-standard wireless charging pad in the console for heating up devices, allowing them to slide out of alignment during basic cornering, or completely failing to maintain stable power delivery.
During the live Q&A, a community member brought up Rivian quietly splicing the much more stable, next-generation charging pad from the R2 that Bensaid has previously called “a charging mat that actually works” directly into recent R1 production runs, asking when legacy buyers could expect a standalone hardware upgrade.
Bensaid confirmed the upcoming rollout plan in his response, writing: "I love the R2 charging mat! We are already integrating it in new R1 Gen 2 vehicles, and we will start retrofit[ting] on existing vehicles in the fall."
A Permanent Fix for an Elusive Problem
The announcement follows a quiet hardware revision that took place earlier this year. Back in March, the automaker silently began shipping brand-new factory MagSafe-compatible pads on the latest R1 builds rolling off the production line. Early delivery reports confirmed that the magnetic solution locked devices perfectly in place, charging them quickly without causing abnormal thermal spikes.
Prior to that production-line shift, inductive charging remained a continuous problem on R1T and R1S units. Despite carrying up to 30 individual internal alignment coils, the original mats were so inconsistent that they sparked an entire cottage industry of third-party, 3D-printed plastic alignment brackets. By upgrading the physical infrastructure to a robust Qi2/MagSafe architecture, internal magnets now structurally align the phone's internal charging ring with the car's power delivery hardware, eliminating the loose movement that plagued both Gen 1 and Gen 2 R1 vehicles since launch.
Shared Tech with the Mass-Market SUV
The high-performing inductive hardware was originally engineered as a standout feature for the upcoming R2 platform. Rivian’s inaugural mass-market midsize SUV is preparing to kick off its first customer handovers later this spring, led by the premium Performance variant.
As R2 mass production accelerates at the Normal, Illinois, plant, utilizing the same highly functional components across both vehicle classes helps streamline Rivian's supply chain. While official retail pricing has not been detailed for the retrofit, the component will likely land as an individual accessory purchase through Rivian’s Gear Shop. For R1 owners who have grown tired of their devices sliding around the center armrest, a seamless, factory-approved solution is finally just a few months away.
