Rivian Automotive has identified a rather small problem affecting 666 vehicles produced for the 2022 and 2023 model years. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall population doesn't comply with the requirements of a federal motor vehicle safety standard due to incorrect information on the tire placard label.
The "recall" in the headline features quotation marks because owners won't have to drive their electric rigs to the nearest service center for the remedy. Before August 3, 2024, the California-based automaker will provide them with a corrected overlay placard via first-class mail.
Rivian became aware of this problem on June 14, when it reviewed the labels compared to the requirements of FMVSS 110 for tire selection and rims. Affected R1S utility vehicles and R1T pickup trucks feature labels that do not correctly define the vehicle's maximum capacity weight.
Considering that few Rivian owners actually take their EVs to the max capacity, this recall is no biggie. For model year 2025, which marks an extensive refresh for the R1 lineup, the R1T is rated at 1,764 pounds (800 kilograms) for payload and 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) for towing. The R1S shares the payload capacity, whereas max towing is 7,700 pounds (3,493 kilograms).
Affected R1Ts were produced between August 23, 2021 and October 11, 2023 at the company's Normal, Illinois assembly plant. Rivian purchased the former Mitsubishi facility from a liquidator in January 2017 for a cool $16 million, which is peanuts compared to how much has been invested in the complex since then.
Photo: Rivian
Mitsubishi and Chrysler built the factory in 1988, with Mitsubishi shuttering the plant in 2016. The last Mitsu produced there was the Outlander Sport, a.k.a. the ASX in European talk. Over in Japan and Canada as well, it sells under the RVR moniker. The completely redesigned second generation isn't even a Mitsubishi, but rather a Renault Captur with different badges and slightly different styling cues for the upper front grille.
As for the affected R1S utility vehicles, the production timeframe is May 9, 2022 through October 13, 2023. Given the aforementioned recall condition, R1S and R1T owners should kick back, relax, and wait for the new placards to arrive by mail.
To be joined by the R2 in the first half of 2026 and the R3 in late 2026 or the first half of 2027, the much-improved R1 series can be had from $69,900 for the R1T or $75,900 for the R1S. By comparison, Rivian expects the most basic configuration of the R2 to start at circa $45,000.
Highlight numbers for the R2? Make that over 300 miles of driving range, as in 483-plus clicks on a full charge, zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in roughly three seconds, and seating for five instead of seven for the R1S.
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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