Google Cast is set to arrive in Rivian vehicles very soon. This was one of the standout announcements from a recent ‘fireside chat’ with Rivian’s chief software officer, Wassym Bensaid, attended by Carscoops. During the discussion, Bensaid offered a glimpse into the brand’s ongoing software development, teasing features to watch out for and a few that might raise eyebrows.

For a company that has deliberately eschewed Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the addition of Google Cast marks an interesting, if somewhat lateral, step forward. Google Cast isn’t a perfect solution for that, but it will enhance the overall experience for Rivian customers. Now, the company is about to launch it with software update .47 coming before the end of 2024. Not stopping there, Rivian’s engineers are also working on enabling rear-seat passengers to cast content directly to the back screens.

Voice Controls To Rival Physical Interfaces

In addition to Google Cast, Rivian is honing its speech-to-text functionality, with artificial intelligence playing a pivotal role. Bensaid confirmed that it’ll co-exist with Alexa that’s already integrated into its vehicles. He also says that everything that you can access in the infotainment system should be accessible via speech-to-text.

More: Physical Controls Are Back Because Drivers Are Sick Of Endless Touchscreen Menus

That’s right, he’s hoping to make it so that your voice can do anything in the system that your hand could do. He also believes owners will have the ability to access the same features via their mobile device. On top of that, he says it’s coming in 2025.

Physical Buttons? Not Likely

To be fair, the brand never really had many physical buttons in its cars to begin with. Still, the market appears to be trending back toward physical buttons after a couple of decades of moving away from them in favor of touchscreens. When pressed on whether or not Rivian would also begin to include physical buttons, Bensaid made his position clear.

While the company is adding haptic buttons to the steering wheels of its cars, the main interface isn’t going to change much. “We believe that if we have a cluttered interface with lots of physical buttons that the challenge with physical buttons is that they’re there forever,” Bensaid said.

“You can never change them, you have assigned functionalities. Whereas if you make it software, you have the ability to improve it over time based on customer feedback. That’s the guiding principle of why we don’t want to constrain ourselves to physical buttons,” he added.

Carscoops pushed a little harder concerning things like climate control buttons. Here’s what Rivian’s Vivek Surya told us.

“In Rivian vehicles, climate controls are integrated into the overall software stack, which means they interact with different systems in the car,” said Surya. “We want as many features as possible to be scalable and modular so we can quickly evolve in-vehicle experiences – and reduce mental load on the customer as complex hardware and software work in concert behind the scenes for features like automation.”

For example, here are some recent features that demonstrate the flexibility “untethering” from physical buttons gives us:

• Driver profile specific customizable vent positions that can set multiple vents at the same time with a single touch
• Tri-zone climate control, which expands the customization and adds more access to fine tune controls.

Unlockable Power And Range May Be On The Table

Rivian’s Connect+ software also led to a question about range and power. As of this writing, Connect+ simply includes a list of additional features for $14.99 per month ($19.99 CAD) or $149.99 per year ($199.99 CAD). Owners can sign up in the vehicle, on their phone, or online. That said, the host asked Bensaid if that architecture would end up having other unlockables for sale.

“Do you think customers would want to have a performance or range upgrade?” he responded. When the host affirmed, Bensaid simply said, “Okay, if you think so then I think we should do it.” That could mean that we may see Rivians ship to customers with some of their full power or range, or both, locked behind a paywall. For now, there is no telling (or even if) when this might actually happen, but it seems to be under consideration.

Photos Stephen Rivers / Carscoops

Rivian came up with more creative ways to turn “spooky” this Halloween season. The automaker announced a new software update for 2024, adding “Car Costumes” inspired by the Knight Rider TV series and the Back To The Future films, alongside several Halloween-themed features.

The update is available for both the R1T and the R1S for a limited time, between October 18 and November 4. The highlight is that the Rivian EVs can replicate features of the K.I.T.T. and DeLorean Time Machine movie cars, using custom infotainment graphics, together with lightning and sound effects,

More: This Rivian R1T Floated 150 Feet During Hurricane Helene And Still Runs Fine

The Knight Rider costume will turn your Rivian’s light bar into the iconic red scanner of the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, originally driven by David Hasselhoff. The actor even revisited his famous role for a cameo appearance behind the wheel of the Rivian R1T.

The Knight Rider treatment is more extensive inside the cabin. Rivian’s 15-inch infotainment display transforms into a replica of K.I.T.T.’s diagnostic panel with many colorful buttons, while the audio system plays the intro music from the popular series.

The next trick-or-treat special is inspired by Back To The Future. This one replicates the DeLorean Time Machine’s interface on the digital cockpit, with matching sound effects from the speakers. Furthermore, the “88 mph” button activates a light show on the exterior, making your time-traveling DeLoRivian even more noticeable.

The third option is the “Haunted Rivian Car Costume”, which gives you a choice between eight sound effects and three color themes. Depending on the selected Car Costume, the Gear Guard figure on the application dresses up like Knight Rider, Doc Brown, or a scarecrow.

Fun is good but safety is a top priority, meaning that the aforementioned gimmicks are only available when the vehicle is parked. Furthermore, the exterior lightning effects are reserved for the 2025 Rivian R1T and R1S models, making use of their light bars.

Besides the Car Costumes, the EVs swap the locking sound for different kinds of owl chirps. The digital instrument cluster turns pedestrians into zombies, while bicyclists and motorcyclists appear like headless horsemen. Finally, the Camp mode now features crows, pumpkins, and green flames, with similar Halloween-specific graphics for the drive modes.

This is not the first time that Rivian made Halloween a little more special for its customers, as the automaker rolled out similar updates in 2022 and 2023.