I’m sick and tired of automakers being so goddamn serious all the time. There’s no whimsy, no pageantry, no fun whatsoever. Luckily, Rivian noticed this dearth of fun right in time for Halloween and has decided to roll out some reskins for its R1 vehicles that’ll allow them to “dress up” for the holiday.
Rivian says owners will be able to watch their R1S SUVs and R1T pickup trucks transform with lighting, sounds and visual references to KITT from “Knight Rider,” the DeLorean time machine from “Back to the Future” and a “Haunted Rivian” costume. I love this shit, man. I don’t care if it’s goofy. For a few years now, Rivian has been adding little Halloween easter eggs to its cars, but it’s now taking it up a notch with these “Car Costumes.” Let’s break down what each “Costume” offers.
First up, we’ve got KITT from “Knight Rider.” All owners need to do is go to the “Get Spooky” card on the main page of the Rivian App. From there, select the Gear Guard (Rivian’s little mascot dude) dressed like Michael Knight to activate it. After that, the interior displays will transform to look like KITT’s diagnostic screen, and it’ll play the original theme song. Gen 2 R1S and R1T owners will also be treated to the updated exterior lightbar transforming into the cascading red beam KITT had along with some scanner sound effects. Obviously, this only works while in park, but it’s still cool as hell.
Next, we’ve got the “Back to the Future” Time Machine. Click the Gear Guard dressed up as Doc Brown, and your screens will change into the Time Machine’s interface and you’ll get acceleration sounds from the film. If you hit the 88 mph button (it doesn’t have anything to do with speed), you’ll see even more themed lighting and sound effects from the front and back of your R1. Listen, I really don’t care if this is a gimmick. It’s a gimmick I enjoy and that’s all that matters.
Finally, we get to the Haunted Rivian, which isn’t based on any existing intellectual property, but it’s still rather cute. Hit the Gear Guard dressed as a scarecrow, and you’ll be able to select eight different sound effects and a handful of color schemes (purple, yellow, red and green). Your interior display will be taken over by static and ghosts. Gen 1 Rivian owners will get a green animation on the vehicle’s exterior, but Gen 2 owners will see whatever color they’ve chosen.
There are a few more little odds and ends that are being added, including an Owl chirp when you lock or unlock the doors. Additionally, pedestrians in the driver display will turn into zombies, and bicyclists and motorcyclists will be headless horsemen. Camp mode also gets a reskin featuring crows, pumpkins and green flames at nighttime. The drive modes also get new spooky artwork as well.
Rivian owners will be able to enjoy all of this Halloween foolishness starting on Friday, October 18 at 12:01 p.m. local time. I am very jealous of them, as my car doesn’t do anything fun like this. I know it’s a little bit hokey and doesn’t mean much for the overall driving experience of the car, but I really wish more automakers did stuff like this. I mean, everyone has screens and over-the-air updates now, so more car companies should be taking advantage of that fact and getting silly with it.
