Interior and tech The interior designs of these vehicles are pretty different too, though again, thankfully, both of them are relatively modern. The design of the Model Y’s interior is very Tesla. It’s minimalistic and somewhat bare, though for the Model Y Juniper, Tesla has added more accent lighting and increased the size of the infotainment display from 15 inches to 15.4 inches. That display is where you’ll both control every aspect of the vehicle and get information like your current speed, as there’s no instrument display behind the steering wheel in the Model Y. There is a second screen, though. For the Model Y Juniper, Tesla has added a small display for the second-row passengers to control their own climate settings and access their own entertainment. It’s a nice addition, especially considering the fact that many Model Y owners have been putting aftermarket displays there anyway. Christian de Looper / Digital Trends The launch edition of the new Model Y being sold in the US has a number of tech features to mention. Notably, it comes with Tesla’s so-called Full Self-Driving tech, which normally costs extra. It’s important to note that you should always be ready to take control of a car, even if it’s in so-called “self-driving” mode. The interior of the Rivian R1S is modern too, but it’s not quite as minimalistic. That’s not a bad thing, though. Plenty of people prefer to have an instrument display for monitoring things like speed and other settings. To that end, the Rivian R1S has both an instrument display behind the steering wheel and an infotainment display in between the two front seats. The R1S’s interior build is also designed to be rugged, offering a heavier stitched leather and additional design elements like handles and more storage. It also has more seats than the Model Y, given the fact that it has three rows. With those three rows, it can seat up to seven people: two in the first row, three in the second row, and two in the third row. Christian de Looper / Digital Trends Both the Tesla Model Y and the Rivian R1S offer completely custom software experiences. Both Tesla and Rivian have become known for developing good software, which is helpful considering the fact that neither of the two supports Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Again, however, interior design is subjective. Do you prefer an ultra-minimalistic look or a more rugged take on design? That’s up to you to decide, but this category is a tie. Winner: Tie