Here’s how the Tesla FSD and Rivian’s “hands-free” driving systems compare.

DETROIT — What are the best advanced driver assistance systems on the market? Listen Rivian Automotivewill say the new artificial intelligence and its creator.

“Rivian is truly exceptional. It’s an unparalleled blend of safety and technology,” the chatbot told me during a several-hour, mostly autonomous drive on several Midwest highways in one of its R1T pickup trucks.

The Rivian AI bot may be biased, but that’s exactly the company’s goal in a new generation of vehicle software and technology: to be the best. Rivian is trying to catch up and surpass teslaFSD (surveillance) capabilities, but with additional safety guardrails that Elon Musk does not use.

Based on recent drives totaling hundreds of miles, Rivian’s Autonomy+ outperforms traditional competitors including: general motorsSuper Cruise with ADAS. But it still trails Tesla’s FSD when it comes to non-highway driving and point-to-point driving where the vehicle is designed to navigate itself from start to finish. To compare the technologies, I ran the latest version of FSD (supervised) v14.

Rivian plans to offer point-to-point driving later this year, but for now, its system is a big step forward for the company compared to what it previously offered, and clearly lays the groundwork to better compete with Tesla.

“That’s the next step,” said James Philbin, Rivian’s senior vice president of autonomy and AI. “The Tesla system you’re using is a point-to-point system. So in a sense the next big advancement for us is to have the same point-to-point type of interaction and a system that actually performs the complete driving task.”

To be clear, the vehicles currently being sold are not self-driving or self-driving cars. Drivers must be alert and ready to take over driving at all times. Many advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) can control vehicle speed, braking, and steering using cameras, sensors, and/or mapping data. There are a growing number of systems that allow humans to take their hands off the handle during use.

Rivian credits its improvements to a push toward vertical integration, including a new generation of software and electrical architecture for its vehicles. We are just beginning to reap the benefits of ADAS.

The technology is also becoming increasingly important to drivers and investors who are targeting ADAS as a growing market with recurring revenue for automakers.

“We support independent (and appropriately valued) companies that are leveraging in-house expertise to build next-generation machines,” Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter said in a note to investors last month, upgrading Rivian stock. “As volumes increase, Rivian should be able to better monetize its software and services, which is a key benefit of vertical integration.”

Systems vary in price and can be included with your vehicle purchase from the beginning or purchased through a subscription. Tesla’s system currently costs $99 per month, according to the company’s website. Rivian costs $49.99 per month, or $2,500 for the lifetime of the vehicle. GM costs $39.99 per month or $399 per year.

The biggest operational difference between Tesla and Rivian’s ADAS technology is the ability to control the vehicle on roads other than highways with traffic lights and signs.

Rivian’s system currently detects these road signals, but does nothing other than warn drivers that they are approaching. Meanwhile, Tesla’s system handled every signal, interchange, and exit ramp it encountered across nearly 320 miles of rural Michigan and downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Based on 10 years of hands-free ADAS driving experience, these two technologies are the most advanced. This was not always the case.

GM, not Tesla, led the development of the hands-free highway system in Super Cruise, which I first tested a year before its 2017 debut. But America’s largest automaker has been slow to introduce it to new cars or significantly expand its capabilities beyond geographic expansion and lane-changing possibilities.

ford motor Although both cars quickly caught up with GM on highways, both still lack systems that allow hands-free driving off highways. Two automakers are working on such technology, including a so-called eyes-off feature, which is not expected to become a reality until 2028.

As Tesla’s in-car Grok AI told me while driving a 2025 Tesla Model Y for nearly 320 miles, this is a difficult leap. “Highways have predictable lanes, speeds, fewer pedestrians, clear signage, and easier sensor fusion and path prediction. Urban roads bring confusion, intersections, bikes, construction, and ambiguous rules that challenge even the best AI vision systems.”

It’s more challenging for some people than others. While driving in the Model Y, on both highways and non-highway roads, the vehicle was essentially automatically controlled for hours and tens of miles without intervention.

It handled several roundabouts, also known as roundabouts, with ease and parked us multiple times, including parallel parking, when arriving at or near our destination. It also managed a semi-truck blocking half a lane on a two-lane road and a fairly complex construction zone, with Tesla’s ADAS sensing each barrel or cone.

The Rivian technology handled highway driving very well, with no intervention outside of exit ramps or, in some cases, construction zones. It also can’t change lanes on its own yet, but the company promises that will happen soon.

When I asked Rivian about some of its experiences, the company said its vehicles can detect construction objects, but they don’t necessarily display them on the in-car screen. That system still needs help in certain locations, such as roundabouts.

All ADAS technologies, except the Mercedes-Benz system in limited situations, require the driver to monitor the system, even if the vehicle can be largely controlled without human intervention for hundreds of miles.

The rise of “hands-off” technology has raised concerns about driver inattention, both among industry participants and the general public. Automakers are primarily trying to combat this problem with driver cameras. However, concerns remain about ADAS being handed over to the driver and people becoming overly dependent on the system.

YouTube is full of examples of drivers abusing such systems, especially Tesla products, and videos of ADAS acting like humans but malfunctioning and requiring assistance.

The handoff from ADAS to a human can be sudden and can lead to a disastrous situation if the driver is not alert enough to quickly regain control of the vehicle.

There are few regulations regarding the system, and each company has a different approach.

“Thanks to our investment in a more robust sensor stack, we hope to be able to surpass the Tesla system even further,” Rivian’s Philbin said. “In fact, we’re such big believers in multimodal imaging that we’ll be putting cameras and radar on R2, and later, early next year, lidar as well.”

Rivian’s system uses at least 10 high dynamic range cameras, five radars, and some map data to help the vehicle “see” the road. There are also expectations for the release of vehicles equipped with lidar (light detection and ranging) that improves the vehicle’s “visual vision.” Tesla’s system relies on cameras and a “vision-based” setup, which some critics say isn’t robust enough, especially under certain conditions.

Tesla’s partially autonomous driving system has been under scrutiny for years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced earlier this year that it was escalating its investigation into Tesla’s fully self-driving vehicle after identifying multiple crashes, including one fatality, in which the system did not adequately warn drivers about reduced visibility conditions such as sun glare or fog.

Philbin said non-camera technology, such as lidar, can better detect potential hazards or objects in such situations. My drive took place on a sunny day with no bad weather.

Still, despite not having as many sensors, Tesla’s Grok chatbot was developed by Musk’s xAI and space x Earlier this year, we felt the brand had a good system, and this applies to many driving situations, at least for now.

“Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is widely rated as the top advanced driver assistance system of 2026 by sources such as Motor Trend,” Grok AI said. He then added, “While Rivian’s AI assistant excels at voice control, navigation, and vehicle functions in its R1 cars, it has yet to catch up to more advanced systems like ours and full self-driving capabilities.”