> I wonder what happens if you disable the e-SIM (in the US) and then a safety recall appears via software update - do dealers have any way to update control modules besides OTA?

I would assume so. Even on older cars, service techs can typically manually push firmware updates over the OBD-II / J2534 port. Rivian's OBD-II port actually hides an Ethernet signal inside of it - so the interface is certainly there.

Fun fact: You can buy an Ethernet adapter directly from Rivian here to connect to the car's internal network: https://rivianservicetools.com/Catalog/Product/TSN00535-300-...

> Rivian's OBD-II port actually hides an Ethernet signal inside of it - so the interface is certainly there.

Nice. This is really normal now, for what it's worth - all of the European makes have moved this direction as well (DoIP over ENET). There's shockingly little documentation about Rivian online, though, probably because emissions regulation doesn't mandate it.

For those unfamiliar with DoIP:

https://automotivevehicletesting.com/vehicle-diagnostics/doi...

https://www.iso.org/standard/13400-2

The first link leads malicious ads/malware. On iphone says viruses detected pretending to be apple/google

I am on desktop and saw no such warning, but I'm also using adblockers and noscript.

Yeah, I got a cable to update my 2017 BMW's infotainment system, and it's OBD-II to RJ45. Doesn't seem to be too new of a thing.

Yep! Depending on the vintage, BMWs have "real" DoIP or a BMW-ized version (sort of like how KWP2000 was the predecessor to UDS). For emissions modules, they still also have to support updates over UDS as well as ENET, though, for the above mentioned J2534 reasons (Ethernet wasn't added to J2534 until 2022).

> Even on older cars, service techs can typically manually push firmware updates

Older cars have no concept of such updates.

Happy with my 70s and 80s and early 90s cars.

Actually almost any fuel injected vehicle can accept flash updates through the port to at least the ECU and PCM, frequently the BCU is also write enabled.