Should you buy a Rivian R2 now or wait for the version with LiDAR? In a video on the Tailosive EV channel, the host lays out the case for waiting. Rivian has said it will start integrating LiDAR sensors and its own custom silicon into the R2 early next year, and the host argues that the new chip, more than the sensor, is what will separate the cars on the road today from what comes next. He frames it through his own Tesla experience, owning two Hardware 3 cars that he says are now capped at a lighter version of Full Self-Driving while newer AI4 hardware pulls ahead. The worry is that R2 buyers today could end up in the same spot, with fine hardware that ages out of the best features a couple of years down the line.
There is a concrete buying angle the video only touches. Right now, according to the host, you cannot even order a regular R2 Premium, only launch and performance versions, so anyone waiting is also waiting on the cheaper 45,000 standard model Rivian has promised. That reframes the decision. It is not only wait for LiDAR, it is wait for the trim that actually hits the advertised price. The host's broader point is worth taking seriously for any EV purchase: automakers routinely oversell what current hardware will eventually do. He cites Tesla's years of Hardware 3 promises as the cautionary tale, and says Rivian's own early marketing once implied higher levels of autonomy than the cars shipped with. For a buyer who keeps a car a long time, the compute inside it may matter more than any sensor bolted to the outside.
The host is careful not to oversell LiDAR itself. He says the sensor Rivian has shown so far is front facing only, unlike the full surround LiDAR on Waymo vehicles or even Tesla's validation cars, and he argues that in his own driving the hard moments are navigation and visibility around blind corners, not the head on obstacle a forward sensor would catch. His experience with the lighter FSD build, he says, is that most interventions happen in the first and last stretch of a drive, entering and parking, while the middle is largely handled. That is why he lands on the chip. A smarter central computer, he argues, is what unlocks real gains, which is why he thinks Rivian developing its own silicon is the right move even though he is skeptical of the company's Level 4 timeline. He also flags that early R2 deliveries have shown powertrain bugs, which he attributes to Reddit reports rather than his own testing. He compares the situation to Tesla's rollout, where he says early Hardware 3 buyers who paid heavily for Full Self-Driving now get a lighter version, and he points to features like bumper cameras and camera sprayers that later validation and robotaxi cars carry but earlier hardware does not. His view is that a much smarter central computer, not any single sensor, is the real unlock, and that Rivian, Tesla and Lucid all have an incentive to downplay how much better the next hardware will be so buyers do not wait.
Bottom line: If self-driving is not why you want a Rivian, buy the one that makes you happy and stop reading. The R2 is a good adventure vehicle on its own terms. But if you care about autonomy and you are not in a hurry, the host's logic is hard to argue with. The custom chip is likely to age far better than today's Gen 2 hardware, and waiting also lines up with the cheaper standard trim. Just do not buy either version for a guaranteed Level 4 future. On that, the track record of every company involved argues for patience over faith.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.