Rivian faces class action lawsuit over false autonomous driving promises

Rivian has been sued in a class action complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, with owners alleging the electric vehicle manufacturer made false claims about the autonomous driving capabilities of its first-generation R1T truck and R1S SUV models. The lawsuit, which includes three named plaintiffs and was filed on Wednesday, focuses on Rivian's representations that these vehicles would be capable of hands-free, eyes-off driving—a capability designated as Level 3 autonomy by the Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE), meaning vehicles can automatically handle steering, acceleration, and braking without driver input in certain conditions such as highways or low-speed scenarios.

According to the complaint, Rivian falsely promised over a five-year period through a coordinated nationwide marketing campaign that it would make its hands-free driver assistance system—known as Driver+—standard in every vehicle it builds. The suit cites CEO RJ Scaringe's appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022, where he reportedly made representations about the company's autonomous driving ambitions. The complaint alleges that "Rivian unquestionably knew that its Gen 1 Vehicles would never be capable of Level 3 autonomy or 'true hands-free driving' yet continued to tout the supposed capabilities of its vehicles to induce consumers to purchase them." The law firms Coleman Law and Tycko & Zavareei are representing the plaintiffs and have requested a jury trial. Rivian declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.

The lawsuit makes claims against Rivian for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. This is not Rivian's first legal setback; last year the company agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class action shareholder lawsuit following its sudden price increase on R1 vehicles in 2022. The current suit highlights a contrast between Rivian's first and second-generation vehicles: the first-generation R1T and R1S do not offer hands-free driving, while the second-generation models, which were completely overhauled in 2024, do include such capabilities. The second-generation vehicles were equipped with the "Rivian Autonomy Platform," which comes standard with 11 cameras, five radar sensors, and a computer ten times more powerful than the previous system.

Rivian rolled out "Universal Hands-Free" driving to second-generation R1 vehicles last year via software update, allowing drivers to take their hands off the wheel on more than 3.5 million miles of roads across the United States and Canada—including highways and surface streets with visible lane lines. The dispute reflects a broader industry pattern, as other automakers have faced similar legal challenges over autonomous driving promises. Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have spent a decade claiming its vehicles would achieve full autonomy through Full Self-Driving software, and some Tesla owners have sued the company for failing to deliver on unsupervised autonomous capabilities. Tesla has also faced regulatory scrutiny for claims about its FSD and Autopilot systems.