Rivian is issuing an over-the-air update to address a seat belt issue in 34,824 of its electric delivery vans, according to a recall notice from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The safety regulator clarified that the defect affects vans produced between December 10, 2021 and November 8, 2025.
“Rivian has determined that on certain EDV vehicles the driver side seat belt pretensioner may be damaged from repeated misuse, such as from the driver sitting on the seatbelt while it buckled underneath the driver,” the recall notice reads.
The damage may lead to inadequate restraint of the seat occupant, increasing the risk of injury if a crash occurs.
Issue Fix
The evaluation of the issue was first opened on September 22 by the NHTSA, and acknowledged by Rivian on November 18, which decided to conduct a voluntary safety recall of all potentially affected vehicles.
The regulator said that, as of November 25, Rivian was “not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this issue in any market.”
Rivian has released an over-the-air software update to fix the issue, which “enables automatic detection of any seatbelt misuse by the driver,” as shown on its website.
Additionally, the company “will inspect and replace the driver’s seat belt pretensioner assembly if necessary, free of charge.”
Besides publishing the recall issue on its website, Rivian is notifying owners by mail from January 19, according to a response letter sent to the NHTSA.
Rivian EDVs on the Road
Rivian is currently delivering electric delivery vans to Amazon, its first client and one of its major investors since 2019.
The retail giant placed an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans back then, scheduled for delivery by 2030.
As of the latest update in late October, the retail giant had deployed 30,000 Rivian EDVs in its fleet across the US, North America and Europe.
When questioned if the 100,000 Amazon units were still on track, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe reaffirmed the target and said that Rivian is already “thinking about what comes beyond that initial 100,000 unit contract.”
Commercial Fleet Customers
In February, and after exclusively producing vans for Amazon, Rivian began taking orders for its electric delivery van from external clients.
Since then, the company has only publicly announced a partnership with HelloFresh, its “first major fleet customer,” to which it delivered 70 vehicles in April.
In mid-October, a Rivian electric delivery van bearing a Cintas logo was spotted, suggesting the US uniform and safety supplier may be testing the vehicle or has become a commercial fleet customer.
However, as of press time, no deal has been announced yet.
