Previous generate-upgrade required renames in rel/ directory:
rebar generate
...changing code...
mv rel/<release> rel/<release_prev>
rebar generate
rebar generate-upgrade previous_release=<release_prev>
With the proposed changes you can now do the same without moving things:
rebar generate # default target dir: rel/<release>
...changing code...
rebar generate target_dir=<release_new>
rebar generate-upgrade target_dir=<release_new> previous_release=<release>