July 16, 2026 - Rivian Halos Innovate User Interface

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for July 16, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to drive Rivian's new R2 electric SUV for the first time. Rivian has retained the same basic styling language as the original R1S, but it is now about 16 inches shorter and several inches narrower, putting it closer to the size of a Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Honda CR-V. Given that it's the most popular segment in the U.S. market, it makes sense for Rivian to offer a product this size. 

When the R1 launched, it turned out to be far more expensive to manufacture than expected, and Rivian has lost nearly $22 billion cumulatively since the R1 debuted in 2021. Rivian claims it has reduced the manufacturing cost of the R2 by half compared to the R1, so it can be priced closer to the average transaction price in the U.S., which is about $50,000. 

The R2 Performance is the first variant to start production and costs nearly $60,000, but there will be a variant that starts at $45,000 in mid-2027. Overall, it's a more comfortable vehicle to drive than the R1S, and, with a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds, is far quicker than it really needs to be. But the most impressive aspect of the R2 may well be its new human machine interface, or HMI. I've been critical of Rivian and other automakers for over-reliance on touchscreen interfaces that require more cognitive load to use. At first glance, the R2 appears to follow the same path with few physical controls, and it still relies on touch to adjust the vents. 

But the new haptic halo dials in the steering wheel provide an excellent new means of controlling a wide variety of functions without taking your hands off the wheel. The halos in the left and right spokes of the wheel look like large, round dials mounted perpendicular to the spokes. They have embedded haptic actuators that enable click-type feedback as the dial is turned for easier control. They can be rotated with the thumb or fingers on the back of the wheel and pushed or pulled to provide a selection action. Pulling from the backside is similar to tapping a shift paddle. The dial edge can also be pushed or pulled left and right to provide a toggle action. 

Overall, the halos provide easy physical access to a wide range of functions and turned out to be much easier to use than the smaller rollers and toggles on the R1 steering wheel. While I still don't like software-controlled vents, the Rivian R2 haptic halo is probably the smartest HMI innovation in a long time, and hopefully, the R1 will get updated with the same design. 

Thanks for listening.