2022 RIVIAN EDV Problems & Complaints

seat belt anchor failure

Same problem as many of our Rivian vans, the seat belt is coming loose at the anchor point causing a major safety concern.

Same as several of our Rivian vehicles, the seat belt anchor is failing causing a major safety concern.

The seat belt anchor for the lap belt has separated from the anchor point. It appears the cable is pulling apart as can be seen in photos I will be attaching. This is a huge safety concern however Rivian is telling us this is from a driver sitting on the seat belt. I am denying this accusation because we have cab facing cameras that detect this kind of behavior.

During normal operation of the this vehicle, the seatbelt pretensioner cable snapped when the driver attempted to buckle the seatbelt. This is where the lap belt portion is attached to the seat. The cable is frayed and breaks. This same defect has occurred on 5 of our 34 vehicles of the same make and model in the last 12 months. The manufacturer has replaced the first four failures and advised that we need to pay for the repair. This is a Rivian produced Amazon delivery vehicle. Online forums show this being reported by Amazon drivers throughout the country, so it is not an isolated incident. If this cable were to break during an accident, the occupant would no longer be restrained by the seatbelt. The manufacturer has advised us that this is the result of seatbelt misuse, the part is being stressed by drivers sitting on the seatbelt. I find it hard to believe that a component designed to withstand extreme g-force pressure would be damaged from a 180 pound person sitting on it. There must be some flaw in the material, workmanship, or design.

We have a fleet of these Rivian delivery vehicles and they all have the same issue: the shift lever is made of inferior materials and insufficiently designed. The operator manipulates the shift lever to place the vehicle in drive and the lever breaks off. The vehicle is then stuck in gear and cannot be shifted. This is causing near miss incidents due to the operator being unable to safely control the vehicle. Example: operator places the vehicle in "D" to drive forward but is then unable to place the vehicle in "R" to reverse backward, or to place the vehicle in "P" to park. There are no warnings or indications that the failure is about to occur. These units have been inspected by the manufacturer and their representatives but they refuse to address the concern and prefer to instead charge the owner/operator for replacement of the defective part.

The new Amazon Rivian EDV vans lack passenger-side airbags. Amazon is requiring Driver Trainers to sit in the passenger "jump seat" for 3+ hours a day for on-the-road training tests. The government requires front airbags for both the driver & passenger, yet Amazon is requiring Driver Trainers to sit in a seat without proper safety protections. The van also has a blue metal pole in front of the passenger seat that people could hit their heads on, and there is a hard surface behind the head that could be hit during whiplash. If the government requires front airbags, how can Amazon require it's employees to sit a vehicle without them? The official Rivian EDV operating guide PDF is attached here which confirms the lack of passenger-side safety features & airbags. Amazon claims that safety is their #1 priority, yet they are not providing basic safety for their Driver Trainers.