Rivian’s new update could make your EV feel like Knight Rider (or Back to the Future)

Rivian's getting into the Halloween spirit by adding new "car costumes" to its electric vehicles that can theme out its screens to look like the Time Machine interface from Back to the Future or KITT from Knight Rider. (It'll animate red KITT-like scanner lights on the front of the car, too.) There's also a non-IP-specific "Haunted" theme that displays a ghostly static TV screen inside the car.

The costumes will come via a software update Rivian will roll out right after midnight local time tonight (October 18th at 12:01am). R1T and R1S vehicles must already have the 2024.39 update installed to get the new features, as well as the latest version of the mobile app.

There are some feature differences to keep in mind based on whether you have a Gen 1 or Gen 2 Rivian vehicle; for instance, Gen 1 won't get the exterior KITT red scanner light beam.

Once you get the update, they work as follows:

Knight Rider

To set Knight Rider as your Car Costume, find the Get Spooky card on the main page of your Rivian Mobile App. You'll select the Gear Guard dressed as Michael Knight to activate. From there, your interior display system will feature K.I.T.T.'s diagnostics on screen and play the original show intro music. For Gen 2 owners, the exterior lightbar will cascade a red beam just like K.I.T.T. and exude its iconic scanner sound effect, creating the ultimate Knight Rider experience. 

Back to the Future