Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 🎃 Rivian has released a Halloween-themed software update for its electric vehicles.
- 🧟♂️ The update visualizes pedestrians as zombies and witches on the dashboard display.
- 📲 This is made possible through over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
- 🚗 The update is similar to past entertaining holiday upgrades by Tesla.
- 🔍 To unlock the Halloween theme, users must solve a cryptic riddle provided by Rivian.
- 🌐 The update was shared in software version 2023.38.0 and unlocked on October 21.
Over-the-air (OTA) software updates have become the primary way electric vehicle (EV) makers like Rivian and Tesla can provide essential upgrades, bug fixes, performance improvements and, sometimes, simple entertainment. In a recent update from Rivian, for example, the automaker has deployed a special Halloween surprise that changes how pedestrians are depicted.
Rivian has shared a Halloween update that visualizes pedestrians as zombies and witches, as seen in a test drive of the R1S from Peter Barba shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday. The video shows the dashboard display behind the steering wheel while the driver is stopped at a stop sign, with those crossing the intersection shown on the screen as some of Halloween’s most popular recurring characters.
The visualizations are an excellent example of some of the more fun uses of OTA updates, which have been used for entertaining holiday upgrades in the past by Tesla.
You can see Barba’s video featuring the Rivian zombie visualization below, as posted on X on Saturday.
The Halloween theme was shared with Rivian’s 2023.38.0 software update deployed earlier this month. At the end of the release notes for the update, Rivian shared a rather cryptic message that reads like a riddle:
When pumpkins light their glowing eyes,
For the season of Halloween,
Look where you go to customize,
To find the secret theme.
The automaker also said on X upon the update’s release that the Halloween surprise would be unlocked on October 21, so it makes sense that the feature was spotted today. In order to unlock the special Halloween theme, users must solve the aforementioned riddle.
