Dive Brief:
- Rivian Automotive has recalled nearly 35,000 electric delivery vans due to damage to the driver side seat belt pretensioner cable that the company claims is caused by “repeated misuse”, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- The recalled vehicles include certain EDVs built between December 2021 and November 2025. All of the recalled vehicles are estimated to have the seat belt defect, which may not adequately restrain the seat occupant during a crash and increase the risk of injury.
- Rivian will inspect the affected vehicles and replace damaged seat belt pretensioner cables, free of charge. The company will notify customers on or before Jan. 19, 2026. Rivian has also released an over-the-air software update to automatically detect seat belt misuse that can lead to pretensioner cable damage.
Dive Insight:
Rivian claims that the seat belt pretensioner cable damage is caused by drivers’ repeatedly sitting on a buckled seat belt instead of wearing it correctly, according to the recall report.
On Sept. 22, the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an investigation into a potential seat belt issue in Rivian’s delivery vans after receiving six vehicle owner questionnaires that mentioned fraying of the driver-side seat belt pretensioner cables. The ODI estimated that just over 17,000 EDVs produced between 2022 and 2023 could be affected.
On Nov. 8, Rivian changed its manufacturing processes to include seat belt misuse detection software in all new EDVs. But on Nov. 18, the company elected to issue a voluntary recall for all of the delivery vans produced from December 2021 — which was more than double the population initially projected by the NHTSA’s ODI.
As of Nov. 25, Rivian has not received any reports of injuries related to the defect.
In addition to adding seat belt misuse detection software to the vehicles, Rivian will perform all necessary repairs to any damaged seat belts assemblies. All of the recalled delivery vans are covered under Rivian’s 8 year/100,000-mile new vehicle limited warranty.
In 2019, Amazon ordered 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian to decarbonize its fleet as part of its long-term sustainability goals. Rivian has been planning to expand orders beyond Amazon since 2023, including via some pilots, and orders were officially opened to other fleets customers in February 2025.