Rivian faces a class action lawsuit over self-driving in its early vehicles

Rivian has been sued on allegations that it made misleading statements about the self-driving capabilities of its R1T truck and R1S SUV.

According to the class action complaint brought by Rivian customers, the first-generation models of these vehicles are not capable of the offering the self-driving potential that the company had promised. The plaintiffs argued that Rivian represented that those early models would be capable of level 3 autonomous driving, meaning the vehicle would be able to steer, accelerate and break without driver action.

"In reality, Rivian manufactured its Gen 1 Vehicles without the hardware, cameras, sensors, and compute to enable hands-free driving and/or Level 3 autonomous operation," the complaint states. "No software update — no matter how sophisticated — will enable its Gen 1 Vehicles to perform as advertised. 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."

Rivian introduced its "universal hands-free driving" software update late last year. The tech was made available for the company's R2 collection of electric vehicles and the second generation of its R1 lineup.

When contacted by TechCrunch, Rivian declined to offer comment on the pending case.