We found a few new patents from Rivian this week, including one particularly interesting new one, showcasing neat-looking functions that the brand is considering for the R1S SUV and possibly R1T truck. In a conceptual illustration of the dashboard, there’s a row of knobs or big buttons(!) below the main screen. Looks like Rivian might finally be feeding some car functionality away from the wide central screen and into physical controls.
Now, patent imagery doesn’t necessarily dictate exactly what future designs will look like. And, of course, there are plenty of instances where a company will patent something but ultimately decide not to push it to production. That said, I think the four little circles drawn below the main screen in Rivian’s cockpit illustration (Fig. 13 of US Patent No. 12,522,055 B2) are, in fact, a very strong signal that the model will be getting buttons soon. Car and Driver had the same inclination.
It would be pretty odd for Rivian’s engineers to arbitrarily add this detail in the patent illustration. It’s not like somebody would be drawing a Rivian dashboard from memory in this context. It’s much more likely that there’s a template/base image of the next-gen dashboard that they’re using for mockups like this, and that row of buttons (or knobs) has me thinking they’re already part of the next design.
I’m increasingly optimistic that the era of all-screen everything is coming to an end. Last year, Hyundai said, “analog car interiors would be coming back.” Volkswagen promised “buttons are back for good.” Car designers are starting to admit that they might have gone too far in deleting physical controls, and I’m sure this has not escaped the design team at Rivian.
Our Director of Content and Product, Joel Feder, reached out to Rivian about this, but only got a boilerplate non-answer from a company spokesperson. “Our design and engineering teams are always innovating and working to make our products better for our customers. Naturally, it would make sense for us to patent these inventions. Whether or not these inventions make it to production, well as you know, we don’t comment or speculate on future products.”
Beyond the potential for physical controls, here’s how the tailgate patent idea, if it goes to production, would change the back of the R1S:
We’ll upload all the documentation below if you want to study it deeply. Most of these are from the second half of last year—but since we’ve got the files open, here are some big recent takeaways in addition to the buttons-and-rear-window patent (which is only 10 days old):
- New tailgate design that lets the glass open independently from the rest of the door (love that) with an integrated windshield wiper
- Flip-up shelf inside the tailgate to create a little standing workstation (we’ve seen this idea floated on the R2S concept, but it looks like it’s being made part of R1S in the new patent)
- New exterior door handles with receivers that seem to allow for touch-to-unlock (I’m less impressed by that one … my 2017 BMW has this)
- Heated cupholders (cute, but not particularly useful if you have an insulated mug)
- A deployable rear diffuser to improve aerodynamics and efficiency at speed
Rivian SUVs already have horizontally split rear tailgates, opening clam-style, where the bottom becomes something you can sit on, and the top window area is effectively an awning. Looks like Rivian’s thinking about getting away from that for a more traditional hatch-style opening, but keeping some of the “split” functionality by making the rear window openable.
The diffuser idea is a cool one, too. Reconciling aero efficiency with the high ground clearance needed for off-road driving is tough, so I’d be very curious to see if Rivian’s solution here could meaningfully improve highway range without sacrificing departure angles.
As far as I know, the 2026 Rivian R2 is still set to enter series production in Normal, Illinois, this year. It stands to reason that the automaker would accompany the new model’s launch with some updates to the R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck, too—can’t have the lower model pack cooler features than the flagship, right?
Relevant Rivian Patents
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