You dress the kids up for Halloween. You dress yourself up for Halloween. You even dress the house up for Halloween. But someone. Someone out there. Someone out there has you beat.
They download a Halloween costume for their car.
Many of today’s cars can download software updates over the air and change features on the fly. This is particularly common among electric vehicles (EVs). Sometimes, this fact lets their designers get playful.
Tesla is famous for its December holiday updates, which can feature practical improvements and whimsical seasonal toys. Now, electric-only automaker Rivian is claiming its own holiday – the spooky one.
“For the first time, we’re introducing Car Costumes, which are inspired by iconic and classic vehicles from entertainment and pop culture,” the company explains.
They only work on a parked R1T pickup or R1S SUV. But they modify the vehicles’ screens and lights to mimic famous cars from movies and TV.
Knight Rider
A K.I.T.T. download lets your Rivian dress up as the sentient 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from the classic 1980s TV show “Knight Rider.” It makes the Rivian’s front light bar pulse red from left to right (if you know, you know), and plays iconic scanning noise and the show’s intro music.
It also switches the car’s touchscreens to display the button-heavy diagnostic screen from the show. Rivian even got “Knight Rider” star David Hasselhoff to play the character in an ad for the feature. Sadly, they did not replicate K.I.T.T.’s voice, and the car won’t call you Michael. We assume voice actor William Daniels, now 97, is enjoying his retirement.
Back To The Future
Another costume replicates Doc Brown’s Delorean time machine from the “Back To The Future” movie series. Your car’s screens will show the date you’re in, the date you left, and the next date you’re jumping to. The rear-seat entertainment screen shows a flux capacitor.
A third option uses Halloween-themed sound effects. It includes a few features that work while the car is in motion. Pedestrians will show up on the driver display as zombies, Rivian says, “and bicyclists and motorcyclists are headless horsemen.”
It’s all a little silly. But it uses the inherent connectivity of modern cars to get playful, so we like it. The settings will automatically revert to normal, the company says, Nov. 4. Election day, Nov. 5, will be spooky enough without it.
Cox Automotive, the parent company of Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, is a minority investor in Rivian.
