Rivian announced that it is directly integrating Alexa into its upcoming vehicles, including the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV.
They say that drivers will be able to “control key vehicle features — even in remote locations with poor reception — and access unique Rivian ‘home-to-car’ and ‘car-to-home’ skills.”
In February 2019, Rivian took a $700 million round of funding led by Amazon, and at the time, they discussed opportunities to work together.
Later, we learned that on top of the investment, there’s also a multibillion-dollar contract for Rivian to build 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon.
Now they are cooperating together again with the integration of Amazon’s Alexa voice control system in Rivian’s vehicles.
The automaker wrote in a press release today:
Programmed directly into the vehicle’s connected car system, Rivian owners will be able to ask Alexa to control key vehicle features such as HVAC, windows, opening and closing the frunk, and more. Users will be able to check on their gear remotely by accessing the vehicle’s bed camera from screen-based devices like Echo Show and Fire TV. The integration also allows Rivian to provide new ‘car-to-home’ and ‘home-to-car’ skills unique to its vehicles, as well as access to certain Alexa features when the vehicle is offline.
Rivian has been marketing its vehicles as “adventure electric vehicles.” The offline aspect is going to be useful for those who intend to have off-road adventures with Rivian vehicles.
RJ Scaringe, Rivian’s founder and CEO, commented on the Alexa integration:
Rivian’s vision is to enable exploration without compromises and provide our owners the best digital experience, no matter where their adventure takes them. We want this to be the most comprehensive, most seamless Alexa integration in the market.
Ned Curic, vice president of Alexa Auto at Amazon, added:
We’ve continued to be impressed by the entire team at Rivian, and we’re excited to be working together on this upcoming integration. By leveraging the newest version of the Alexa Auto SDK, Rivian is able to make Alexa a natural part of the driving experience and provide customers with continuous access to key car control features — even in remote locations where reception is poor or nonexistent.
Rivian will be at the Amazon Automotive booth at CES to demonstrate the Alexa integration, but we already saw a glimpse of it last year.
Here you can watch Rivian open the frunk of the R1T electric pickup truck through Alexa voice command.
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