Rivian finished 2023 beating its annual guidance, with the BEV manufacturer from Michigan reporting 50,122 deliveries. Be that as it may, Rivian also ended 2023 with a safety recall concerning 7,873 examples of the R1T pickup and R1S utility vehicle.
More specifically, documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveal that Rivian has recalled 2022 model year R1T and R1S electric vehicles produced between June 10, 2021 and October 31, 2022. As a brief refresher, both are manufactured in Normal, Illinois at a facility where Mitsubishi used to make the Outlander Sport.
The issue can be summed up as the accelerator pedal not detecting when the driver releases it, therefore failing to activate the auto-hold and park functions. Rivian claims that it had already fixed the problem with an OTA software update, but that's only half the remedy. As per the report attached below, the original accelerator pedal needs to be replaced with a revised one. What's the issue with the original design?
If exposed to high cabin temperatures, the accelerator pedal may drift outside of the dead band in such a way that the pedal may fail to register as 0% applied when the driver takes their foot off the pedal. That's why the auto-hold and park features don't operate as intended. The iffy pedals were supplied by Precision Varionic International Sensor from Swindon, UK.
Back in March 2022, the automaker received the first warranty report concerning this condition, with the customer reporting that the vehicle wouldn't go into sleep mode. Between March 2022 and December 2023, the automaker received no fewer than 35 service requests. It's not clear when Rivian started investigating this problem, but we do know that Rivian identified the root cause on December 14.
Photo: Rivian
On December 21, a little over 50 percent of the 7,873-strong recall population had the software update (version 2023.46.01 or 2023.50) installed over the air. Rivian isn't aware of any property damage, injuries, or worse related to the aforementioned condition. Dealers will be informed no later than February 16. Owners will be notified via first-class mail by then as well. Rivian hasn't provided a VIN list, but on the upside, owners can determine whether their vehicles qualify for a replacement accelerator pedal by running the VIN on the NHTSA's website.
If you're in the market for an R1T to the detriment of the Cybertruck and alternatives from legacy automakers, bear in mind that pricing kicks off at $71,000 for the Adventure grade with dual-motor AWD and the Standard pack. The Large pack adds $6,000 to the tally, whereas the Max pack is a staggering $16,000. Then again, the most expensive battery choice also enables the most driving range, with Rivian promising 410 miles (670 kilometers).
The Performance specification is $5,000 more than the dual-motor AWD, whereas the quad-motor AWD adds $8,000 to the final price of the R1T. Capable of hitting 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in as little as 3.0 seconds flat, the zero-emission pickup can be furthered with the $3,850 All-Terrain pack.
The Rivian R1S is the three-row SUV take on the R1T, with prices starting at $78,000 at the moment of reporting. The off-road upgrade is slightly more affordable in this case, with Rivian charging $3,600.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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