Rivian owners are filing a lawsuit alleging false promises about self-driving features

Rivian has been sued over allegations that the electric vehicle manufacturer made false claims about the self-driving capabilities of its R1T truck and R1S SUV models.

The class action lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, focuses on the first-generation R1T and R1S models and claims that Rivian assured that these flagship vehicles would be able to drive hands-free, without looking into the eyes.

This type of capability is also called Level 3 autonomous driving, a designation by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) that means the car can automatically handle steering, acceleration and braking without the driver’s hands on the wheel or eyes on the road in certain conditions such as highways or at low speeds. This does not mean that these vehicles are fully autonomous; The human driver is still expected to remain alert and take over when necessary.

The lawsuit alleges that Rivian falsely promised, over a five-year period and through a coordinated nationwide marketing campaign, that it would make its hands-free driver assistance system — known as Driver+ — standard in every vehicle it manufactured. Among the appearances cited in the lawsuit: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe’s appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022, where he reportedly gave presentations about the company’s self-driving ambitions.

“No software update — no matter how complex — will enable first-generation vehicles to perform as advertised,” the complaint states. “Rivian undoubtedly knew that its first-generation vehicles would never be capable of Level 3 autonomous driving or ‘true hands-free driving,’ but it continued to tout the supposed capabilities of its vehicles to entice consumers to buy them.”

Rivian declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.

The lawsuit, which includes three plaintiffs, accuses Rivian of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. The law firms Coleman Law, Tico & Zavari, representing the plaintiffs, requested a jury trial.

This wouldn’t be the first time Rivian has faced a successful legal challenge. Last year, the company agreed to pay $250 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by shareholders after it suddenly raised prices for its R1 pickup truck and SUV in 2022.

Rivian’s first-generation R1T and R1S vehicles do not offer hands-free driving. This is done by second-generation vehicles that are renewed for 2024. The second-generation cars look physically similar, but Rivian has revamped their internal parts, including the battery pack, suspension, electrical architecture, interior seats, and sensor suite.

As part of the revamp, the second-generation R1 vehicles are equipped with the “Rivian Autonomy Platform,” which comes standard and includes 11 cameras, five radar sensors and a computer that is 10 times more powerful than the previous system, the company told TechCrunch at the time.

The advanced driver assistance system on second-generation models initially included adaptive cruise control, which maintains speed and distance behind vehicles on the highway, and a highway assist feature that automatically steers, brakes and accelerates on select highways.

Last year, Rivian rolled out “universal hands-free” driving through a software update pushed to second-generation R1 vehicles. The feature allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel on more than 3.5 million miles of road in the United States and Canada, including a mix of highways and surface streets, as long as there are visible lane lines.

Rivian isn’t the only automaker facing legal challenges over promises to deliver self-driving features. Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have spent a decade claiming that its cars will be fully autonomous via full self-driving software. Some owners have sued Tesla for failing to offer full self-driving without supervision.

Tesla has also come under regulatory scrutiny over claims about the capabilities of its FSD and Autopilot advanced driver assistance systems. The California Department of Motor Vehicles has filed charges alleging that Tesla violated state law by deceptively marketing Autopilot, its advanced driver-assistance platform, as well as its more capable full self-driving software. A judge ruled in favor of the DMV, but the agency decided in February not to suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses, a 30-day penalty it chose to waive because the electric car maker stopped using the term “Autopilot” in its California marketing.

This article was originally published at 11 a.m. PT.