Rivian recalls 30 R1S SUVs over side airbag issue. Details here

In its second recall campaign in less than a month, EV manufacturer Rivian recalled 30 units of the all-electric R1S SUV in the US due to a side curtain airbag issue. The EV manufacturer has recalled certain R1S SUVs from the 2022-2023 model year to remedy a potential problem involving side curtain airbags, which may be improperly secured to the roof rails, claims an official report by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The report claims that the improperly fastened side curtain airbags increase the risk of injury to the occupants in case of an accident as the side airbags may not perform to their optimum level, as they should ideally.

The report claims that the defect in the impacted Rivian R1S SUVs was detected on February 16 this year. It also states that the EVs in question were built at the automaker's Normal plant between October 28 last year and January 21 this year. After that, the automaker stopped building the R1S electric SUVs with the suspected fastenings.

Rivian reportedly started reaching out to the affected customers of the R1S SUVs earlier this month. The affected EVs will be inspected, and then the side curtain airbags will be properly secured by the service technicians, claims the NHTSA report. In case some components require replacement, the EV manufacturer will do that for free, claims the report.

Also, the automaker will reportedly reimburse the owners who already fixed the issue and paid out on their own. “Rivian has a policy and practice of reimbursing owners who have paid for a repair that subsequently becomes the subject of a field action. To ensure consistency, Rivian, as part of the owner letter, will request that customers send the original receipt and/or other adequate proof of payment to the company for confirmation of the expense," states the report.

This comes as the second airbag-related recall that the EV manufacturer has issued in the past month, with the previous one potentially affecting nearly 13,000 vehicles, including both R1T pickups and R1S SUVs. That recall was issued over a faulty sensor in the front passenger seat belt system of the affected vehicles.

Check out Upcoming EV Cars in India, Upcoming EV Bikes in India.