1/ When I bought my Rivian R1S, I had one big hesitation. It wasn’t the range, performance, or reliability. It was the maps. Rivian had built its own maps + navigation system from scratch. And as a former Google Maps designer, I know how hard it is to make navigation great.

2/ Now, I love my Rivian R1S. It’s fast, spacious, and even makes school drop-offs fun. But @Rivian's native maps + nav worked fine ~70% of the time. The other 30% included: • Random freeway exits • Bizarre reroutes • Inaccurate ETAs I never felt I could truly trust it.

3/ So every time I used Rivian maps, I also checked Google Maps to see if Rivian’s directions were reasonable. In fact, I complained enough that my brother bought me a 3rd party CarPlay screen to run @googlemaps. This sat awkwardly above my main screen, but was functional.

4/ But then yesterday, Rivian announced something big: They’re switching to Google Maps, via the Auto SDK. Rivian will be able to design their own integrated navigation system and custom features — and it will be powered by Google Maps. This is a huge win for everyone.

5/ This improves the driving experience and lets Rivian focus on what it does best. It's a smart product move and an important lesson: You don’t have to build everything in-house. Double down on what makes your product great, and partner on the rest.