RIVIAN R1S Complaints

160 consumer complaints on file.

#11708078December 31, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have had siginificant issues with my new 2026 rivian R1S specifically based around two key areas: 1. inaccurate battery range reporting/capacity below 20% charge 2. inaccurate mapbox navigation. Those two issues combine to create a dangerous situation in extreme conditions for a vehicle specifically designed and marketed for off-road adventure (snow, rain, below freezing temperatures) and for large capacity (7 passengers). These two issues have left me and my family stranded three different times in remote locations in spite of our best efforts to keep the vehicle well charged and cross referencing navigation with other apps. I have taken the vehicle to Rivian service twice already and I was assured that the software update 38.30, but that is not the case. This left me stranded in Lone Pine, California where I had to abandon the vehicle and have it towed back to the Burbank service center and again near Mt. Shasta, California. Both were in December 2025, in sub-freezing conditions at night after repeated charging attempts. This created additional issues where the 12V battery charge ran down, the vehicle couldn’t get into Neutral to be towed and in all cases, Rivian roadside assistance was not able help beyond scheduling a service appointment.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707817December 30, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS, STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While backing very slowly into a parking space, I lightly contacted small twigs (please see photo) with the vehicle. There was no impact with another vehicle, pole, wall, or solid object, and no significant force was applied. A child seated in the third row mentioned hearing a light scraping sound. Immediately afterward, the rear window suddenly and violently exploded, sending glass shards into the interior of the vehicle. The glass dispersed forward into the cabin, creating a significant safety hazard for the occupants, including children. There was no prior damage to the window, no visible cracks before the incident, and no collision that would reasonably explain the shattering of tempered glass. The explosion appeared spontaneous and disproportionate to the minor contact with twigs. This incident raises serious concerns about rear window glass integrity and the risk of injury to passengers, particularly children seated near the rear of the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707661December 29, 2025
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE
The access to open the rear doors in case of a power failure is complex and not practical or safe.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707116December 26, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES
On November 27th the accelerator on my Rivian became stuck causing the car to accelerate quickly and preventing me from immediately stopping the car. There was a message stating that the regenerative braking system was not available and the accelerator pedal was stuck in the down position. When I pressed on the brake there was a terrible grinding noise and smoke coming from the front tires. I quickly realized that bringing the Rivian to a full stop would likely cause the car to catch fire. Since the road was clear I had time to discuss a plan with my family and I told them to prepare to get out of the car quickly. I pressed hard on the brakes which caused them to grind and smoke. I put the car in park and we all exited the car quickly. Flames were visible from the front tire. The car is available for inspection. If there had been other vehicles on the road or any pedestrians this would have been a life threatening incident. Rivian is claiming that I must have been pressing on both the accelerator and the brake at the same time. We had 2 adults and 3 children in the car and the incident lasted long enough for us to discuss a plan to exit the car. There is no chance that my foot was on both the accelerator and the brake. Rivian has conducted an inspection but has denied that there is an issue. There has not yet been an independent inspection. The car has been in Rivian's service center since the day after the incident. The only warning sign appeared during the incident stating that regenerative braking was not available but this did not explain why the accelerator pedal was stuck.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707052December 25, 2025
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE
I would like to file a safety concern regarding the vehicles rear doors. The manual latch is covered by a strong piece of plastic that cannot be opened in a quick emergency. I am very worried as I drive with family and I don’t want them to potentially be stuck. The front doors have an easy manual latch right next to the electric door open button, and I would like to report this concern as the back doors should also have a manual latch just like the front. The current latches genuinely are difficult to open.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11705326December 16, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owned a 2026 Rivian R1S. The contact stated that while at a red light and idled, the vehicle accelerated violently, and the vehicle was uncontrollable. The contact depressed the brake pedal; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact's vehicle crashed into another vehicle and damaged the rear corner bumper of the other vehicle. The vehicle then crashed into a median strip where there was a 5-foot boulder. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into a five-foot boulder, and the vehicle was damaged. In addition, the contact stated that the failure occurred when the accelerator pedal was depressed while leaving from a red light stop sign. The vehicle was towed to a local tow yard. The contact sustained bumps and bruises. In addition, the contact received whiplash to the right side of her neck and scratches from the air bag deploying. The contact's six-year-old granddaughter, who was seated in the rear seat, received no injuries. A Police report was filed. The contact stated that the failure was very scary, and the only thing that worked in the vehicle was the steering wheel. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was informed that the information retrieved from the computer system indicated that the accelerator pedal was activated, and the brake pedal was depressed for six seconds. The failure mileage was approximately 977.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11702245December 1, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS
I am writing to report a serious safety incident involving my 2026 Rivian R1S. While I was slowly parking the vehicle, it suddenly experienced what appears to be unintended acceleration, causing the car to lunge forward uncontrollably and crash directly into my home. This resulted in significant property damage as well as injuries to the passengers inside the vehicle. Earlier in the drive, I had also reported experiencing electronic and system irregularities, which now seem potentially related to this failure. Given the severity of the incident and the concerning sequence of events
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11701342November 24, 2025
VISIBILITY:GLASS, SIDE/REAR
The contact owns a 2024 Rivian R1S. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the rear windshield shattered without impact. The contact's husband was outside and heard an abnormal cracking sound coming from the vehicle. The contact's husband witnessed the rear windshield shattering and bulging outwards. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer for inspection at the owner's expense. The contact stated that upon investigating the failure, the contact found out that nickel was used in the tempered glass, which weakened the glass. The contact had safety concerns about driving the vehicle. The failure mileage was 43,511.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11700895November 21, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
SUMMARY OF PROBLEM: Vehicle experienced sudden uncontrolled acceleration and deceleration while driving on busy road with family as passengers on November 16 2025. Vehicle provided no warning before loss of control occurred. Created immediate risk of collision and serious injury. DETAILED DESCRIPTION: On November 16 2025 at approximately 5:25 PM ET, my 2025 Rivian R1S experienced sudden uncontrolled acceleration and deceleration while driving on a busy roadway. The vehicle began accelerating and decelerating erratically without driver input, creating immediate risk of rear-end collision or loss of control. No warning lights or messages appeared before the incident. The vehicle displayed "Thermal Fault Detected" and "Coolant Level Low" messages only after the erratic behavior began. This incident occurred with my family in the vehicle and created serious risk of injury or death. I was forced to have the vehicle towed. PRIOR RELATED INCIDENTS: This is not the first safety issue with this vehicle. Service Request SR-RAB3DU1AM documents "Emergency Braking Mistakenly Triggered on Regular Roadway" from August 29 2025 that remains unresolved in Rivian's system. The vehicle has required multiple service visits for thermal and cooling system failures at only 15000 miles. MANUFACTURER RESPONSE: Rivian service center claims rodent nesting caused thermal system failure leading to loss of vehicle control. If correct, this indicates critical design flaw - environmental factors should not be able to compromise vehicle control systems without warning or failsafe mechanisms. Vehicle lacks adequate: - Warning systems for thermal degradation before catastrophic failure - Failsafe mechanisms to prevent loss of control - Protection of critical systems from environmental factors SAFETY CONCERN: If thermal system damage can cause sudden loss of vehicle control without warning, this represents unreasonable safety risk. Other R1S vehicles may be at risk of similar failures.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11699510November 15, 2025
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES:DOORS:LATCH:EMERGENCY MECHANICAL RELEASE
The rear doors cannot be opened in an emergency when electrical power is interrupted. Although the Rivian R1S generation 2 Owner's Manual has a process to open the door, the process could not be performed by a reasonable person in a reasonable amount of time, in an emergency such as a battery fire. The process could definitely not be performed by children. The process requires physically destroying one the side panels and then reaching deep into the interior cavern of the door to hunt for a wire to pull. The process cannot be practiced, nor can it be taught to children, because it involves destruction of the side panel of the door. The side panel cannot be replaced without scheduling a service appointment and ordering a replacement part from Rivian. As a result, my children's life is irresponsibly endangered in case there were to be an accident, especially a battery fire, which would both cut electrical power and also risk burning to death for my children trapped in the back of the car with no way to open the doors.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11698854November 11, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
While driving the entire computer shuts down and reboots, both screens go black for several minutes. Speed display disappears, turn signals stop working, after the screens come back on there are warning lights for emergency braking disabled, cruise control disabled, and the headlights won’t come on for several minutes.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11695876October 27, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I am submitting this complaint regarding repeated ineffective repair attempts by Rivian Automotive, Inc. at its Costa Mesa Service Center on my 2025 Rivian R1S Adventure. During multiple service visits at Rivian’s Costa Mesa Service Center (January 29, June 18, July 16, and October 11, 2025), Rivian repeatedly failed to diagnose or correct the same issues affecting my 2025 Rivian R1S Adventure. • Drive Cam / Diagnostics Error: Rivian’s diagnostics incorrectly reported my drive storage as 119 GB when I have a 2 TB SSD (the maximum recommended). After five hours of testing, they failed to identify the issue. The in-car viewer still shows only partial clips, even though the full recordings are visible on a computer. • A/C Vibration and Noise: Despite Rivian tightening and insulating the A/C components, the vibration persists and is noticeable on the passenger side. This issue did not exist in the 1st generation R1S loaner vehicle, suggesting a design issue in the 2nd generation R1S, where A/C components are placed in the front compartment. • Proximity Lock and Bluetooth Delay: The vehicle frequently fails to unlock for 5–15 seconds even when I’m standing next to it. Rivian attributes this to “deep sleep mode,” which is unreasonable—no other automaker treats slow unlocking as normal. This delay is a safety concern in emergencies or bad weather. • Lighting / Camera Malfunctions: I provided video of headlights turning off while idling in a drive-thru and of the reverse camera freezing. Rivian could not replicate the issues and closed the cases. • Privacy Concern: A technician asked me to change my Rivian password and share credentials so they could log in for diagnostics. This raises privacy and data security concerns. After repeated visits and software updates (including version 2025.38.0, reissued October 21 and October 25 without listed fixes), all defects persist. These failures have caused significant inconvenience, time loss, and ongoing safety concerns.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11695067October 22, 2025
STEERING
The Rivian R1S that I own pulls hard to the right when you accelerate and then pulls to the left when you decelerate. I took it for repair and Rivian realigned vehicle and confirmed everything is as it should be. This behavior is tied to the Rivian Stability control and when the stability control is deactivated the steering issue stops. The issue is a safety concern as it's difficult to keep the vehicle in lane and straight with the stability control activated which turns to On each time you drive the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11694105October 17, 2025
SUSPENSION, WHEELS
When vehicle returned from service for outstanding recalls, the control arm bolt was not properly tightened and caused additional movement on rear of vehicle
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11693883October 16, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owned a 2025 Rivian R1S. The contact stated that while driving 24 MPH, the other vehicle switched lanes in front of the contact's vehicle. The other driver had a learner's permit. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but it traveled down to the floorboard, and the vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle was pushed into the cement divider. The vehicle came to a stop when it crashed into a light pole inside the cement divider. The contact was unsure whether there was a warning light illuminated. The air bags deployed. A police report was filed. The contact and her daughter, along with one of the passengers, were taken to the hospital by ambulance. The contact sustained minor injuries: abrasions and cuts on her forehead. And a scar on the right arm. The contact's daughter, who was sitting on the back right seat, had abrasions and, due to tachycardia, was transported to a trauma hospital due to internal bleeding. The contact's passenger, who was sitting behind the driver's seat, had multiple lacerations on the mouth, lost two front teeth, and underwent a root canal. The contact's other passenger, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was not injured. The vehicle was towed to an unknown location. The insurance company was notified and declared the vehicle a total loss. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 24.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
3
Deaths:
0
#11693231October 14, 2025
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
During an early season wet snow storm within minutes of driving the lights had become covered with snow and deflected the light in such a way that created a very unsafe driving environment. There was zero snow on the road because of it not being cold enough to stick but the deflection of the light and limited light on the road it was nearly impossible to see the road markings and lines to stay in the lane and created a very unsafe environment around me requiring me to drive significantly lower to try to stay on the road which could have caused an accident with other drivers who were not driving as slowly. There are a significant amount of reports of incidents like this across multiple forum platforms (ie: reddit) where drivers of the Rivian have indicated a drive that was very unsafe and something they had never experienced before. Rivian needs to create a retrofit to the existing headlamp that has a heating element of something to continue to melt the snow off the light as driving since the truck face is flat and the LEDs do not conduct enough heat to melt snow as driving.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691672October 6, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Vehicle was involved in a rear end collision. Vehicle was setup to have Emergency Braking enabled and used the Rivian High Regen setting (one pedal driving). In freeway traffic, the vehicle in front slowed quickly. The vehicle initiated emergency braking, but when the vehicle in front sped away, the vehicle failed to release emergency braking thus resulting in the car behind hitting my Rivian. There was no vehicle to the right of my car. I should have been able to accelerate out of the way and move to the right. It would appear the Rivian system requires a FULL STOP. I was unable to accelerate to mitigate the rear collision damage. Secondly, the vehicle acted like it did not recognize HIGH REGEN setting as a brake input. I have had multiple time where it flashed at me to brake and the HIGH REGEN setting was stopping the vehicle. This is not acceptable. Rivian was contacted and the vehicle taken for service and repair. I was informed that they reviewed the accident and that all systems checked okay. Rivian noted that I did request acceleration from the car, but I did not hold the accelerator long enough for the vehicle to allow me to regain control. I have asked what the threshold is to regain control and they were unable to answer. Minimally I would hope they can describe how their system has been designed so that I can properly drive their vehicle. Ideally, the system should display emergency information on how to override in the event it forces the car to stop on a freeway. I am sure the Rivian system is smart enough to see that I was on a freeway and I would hope smart enough to detect that I could have safely moved to the right as other cars did to avoid collision. I firmly believe the incident could have been avoided. Vehicle had all cameras enabled and full accident is recorded and available for review. Rivian also collected vehicle diagnostic logs.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11690848October 1, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The horn is far to quiet to be heard by other drivers. This creates a dangerous situation in many common circumstances on the road and highway.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685004September 4, 2025
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Regarding the Safety Recall mentioned below, I reached out to Rivian Service Center. They are not giving me an ETA to fix this and no alternate is given. Is there anyways NHTSA help me by making Rivian Automotive LLC take responsibility and address the issue sooner than later ? They dont have a fix for below safety recall and no ETA on when they can fix it. Its really disappointing to see the lack of accountability. Appreciate your help in this matter. best regards [XXX] Jun 13,2025 Manufacturer Recall NumberFSAM-1693 NHTSA Recall Number25V-387 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete, remedy not yet available Summary Rivian Automotive, LLC has decided that certain model year 2025 Rivian R1S and R1T vehicles fail to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108 and Technical Standards Document (TSD) 108 - “Lamps, reflective devices, and assoc. equipment.” Safety Risk Diminished front turn signal lamp performance may cause reduced awareness of the vehicle’s intent to turn for road users in front of the vehicle. Reduced awareness of intent to turn may increase the risk of a crash. Rivian is not aware of any crashes, injuries, or fatalities related to this condition. Remedy Pursuant to its recall determination, Rivian will inspect and/or replace the front turn signal lamps on the potentially affected vehicles free of charge. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11684790September 3, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
door mechanisms do not disengage if something becomes trapped between the handle and the door when auto-locking. Hands and fingers can become pinched or trapped, posing a risk of injury, particularly to children.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0

← Back to RIVIAN R1S