Rivian is continuing to flesh out its in-house navigation system with a pair of helpful quality-of-life upgrades. During a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session hosted on the r/RivianR2 subreddit, Rivian Software Chief Wassym Bensaid revealed that owners will soon be able to add custom labels to saved destinations and navigate directly to contact addresses.
When a community member asked about the timeline for these missing map options, Bensaid confirmed that development is moving along quickly. He noted, "We are actively working on these features and are hoping to deliver these features to you by the end of the year! And of course, you will be able to do all of these with our beloved Rivian Assistant."
Smarter, More Personal Navigation
The update will let drivers ditch messy street coordinates for personalized names like Home, Work, or Grandma's House. Alongside custom labels, Rivian’s software team is designing a pipeline to pull contact names and addresses straight into the navigation system. This means that when you simply type or speak a friend's name, your vehicle will automatically reference their saved physical address to map out your route.
Rivian Assistant support is a central focus for this rollout. Drivers will be able to communicate directly with Rivian’s new AI chatbot, using natural language prompts to set these location tags or map out trips to saved addresses. Rivian Assistant started rolling out to all R1 vehicles last month with software update 2026.15. With the AI assistant being available on Rivian’s upcoming R2 SUV right out of the gate, these custom navigation options will land on both the R1 line and the next-generation fleet via over-the-air software updates.
Expanding the Software Ecosystem
Confirmation of these navigation features arrives during a very busy launch window for the brand. Rivian opened up its R2 order configurator last month, giving reservation holders a chance to lock in their builds after R2 mass production began in Normal, Illinois, back in April. The first customer handovers are officially scheduled for next week on Tuesday, June 9, beginning with the top-tier R2 Performance Launch Package before cheaper models like the R2 Premium enter production later this year.
The R2 will launch with RivianOS 2.0, a next-gen operating system with a brand-new native Weather app and the makings of a curated automotive app store down the road. Bensaid highlighted several other features coming exclusively to the R2 during the Reddit discussion, including an in-cabin Pet Cam to monitor animals via the mobile app and a secure PIN lock for the glovebox.
With the map update on track to arrive by the end of this year, Rivian is addressing a long-standing customer complaint. While skipping third-party map integrations to keep navigation software development in-house does give the brand total control over the cabin experience, it means that Rivian has to dedicate resources to creating creature comforts like custom location tags from scratch.
