SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) â Rivian owners are accusing the electric truck and SUV manufacturer of making demonstrably false claims about the self-driving capabilities of its early vehicle models. Plaintiffs in the class action say between 2018 and 2023, Rivian marketed its Gen 1 vehicles, known as the R1T and R1S as capable of level 3 autonomous driving through its Driver+ system. Under level 3 autonomous driving, or conditional automation, the vehicleâs autonomous driving system takes over its operations, including accelerating, braking and steering. While the driver can legally do other tasks in the vehicle, they must remain seated and prepared to take over if prompted, according to SAE International standards on autonomous driving. The plaintiffs say the company represented that level 3 functionality would be standard on every Rivian vehicle, either at the time of purchase or through eventual software updates to the vehiclesâ computer systems. This was not possible in Rivianâs first generation vehicles, the plaintiffs say. âIn reality, Rivian manufactured its Gen 1 Vehicles without the hardware, cameras, sensors, and compute to enable hands-free driving and/or level 3 autonomous operation,â they write. âIndeed, the Driver+ system was never designed to support the type of autonomous driving Rivian claimed its vehicles could perform. No software update â no matter how sophisticated â will enable its Gen 1 Vehicles to perform as advertised.â Rivian knew that this was the case, but nevertheless continued to market the level 3 capabilities of its vehicles over the course of five years through marketing materials, statements from its sales teams and public statements by the companyâs founder, RJ Scaringe, the plaintiffs say. Specifically, plaintiff Michael Fritz, of San Diego, said that Scaringe explicitly stated all Rivian vehicles would be equipped with two front-facing remote sensors and other sophisticated technology that would provide drivers