Rivian Confesses To Over-The-Air Update Mess: 'We Messed Up'

EV maker Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN sent out a wrong over-the-air update, much to the disappointment of drivers who are either stranded or clueless.

What Happened: “We made an error with the 2023.42 OTA update – a fat finger where the wrong build with the wrong security certificates was sent out,” Vice President Of Software Development at Rivian Wassym Bensaid posted on Reddit. The company has canceled the campaign and will restart it with proper software, he added.

As for those who updated their vehicles with the wrong build of update, service will reach out to them, Bensaid said. The resolution might also require physical repair in some cases, he added.

“This is on us – we messed up,” Bensaid wrote.

Customers React: Several impacted customers have responded to Bensaid’s post. While some have noted that the vehicle is drivable, some say otherwise.

“Just updated both R1S and R1T and both failed. The infotainment screen is not coming on. On phone with service and they don't know what's going on,” a user wrote.

“The Halloween functions are gone! WTH?!,” another said, referring to the Halloween mode which allowed users to make their vehicles spooky in light of the festival celebrated on Oct. 31.

“Bricked r1t here. Stuck at 90. Update cancelled and now rivian logos show on displays. Truck is driveable but no infotainment. Hard reset did nothing,” yet another user wrote.

“I am stuck. Update is at 90% and both screens black. Car not drivable. Spoke to customer service and they are going to call back. This sucks!!,” a Rivian user wrote on X.

"We’ve identified an issue in our recent software update 2023.42.0 that impacts Rivian’s R1T and R1S infotainment system. In most cases, the rest of the vehicle systems are operational. We’ve paused the release of the update and our customer support team is prioritizing support for our customers related to this issue,” Rivian told Benzinga.

Photo via Shutterstock

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Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include a response from Rivian.