Rivian issues R2 recall for poorly tightened battery packs

Rivian has issued a recall for its R2 SUV after the company discovered that fasteners on its high-voltage battery pack might not be properly tightened, which can cause a loss of power while driving.

The company says only around 14 vehicles may have been affected, and that it will repair or replace damaged components on customer vehicles as needed.

This is the second recall Rivian has issued for the R2, which started shipping to customers this year. It’s an all-important vehicle for the company, as it’s the first Rivian EV meant for a mass market and is supposed to help it reach profitability for the first time. The first R2 recall, issued last month, had to do with the visibility of the backup camera and was addressed with a software update.

In a filing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Rivian first spotted the defect on September 17. A “manufacturing operator” at the company’s Normal, Illinois factory noticed one of the fasteners had been “under torqued” by and “automated station” on the assembly line. The company investigated and reprogrammed the station to reject “improperly torqued fasteners.”

Rivian told the safety regulator that it “is not aware of any customer reports, accidents, injuries, or fatalities related to this issue.” Some Reddit users, along with RivianTrackr, a blog that follows the company closely, reported about the issue late last month. One owner said Rivian’s service department told them to stop driving immediately, and the company towed the vehicle.

Rivian has set an aggressive goal for the launch of the R2. The company has said it plans to ship between 20,000 and 25,000 of them by the end of this year. With deliveries starting in June, that would make it one of the fastest launches of a new EV in the U.S. market if Rivian pulls it off. The company is supposed to be adding a second production shift to hit those numbers, and has said early demand is strong for the new, more affordable SUV.

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Sean O'Kane

Sr. Reporter, Transportation

Sean O’Kane is a reporter who has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the transportation industry, including Tesla and the many startups chasing Elon Musk. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane.

You can contact or verify outreach from Sean by emailing sean.okane@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at okane.01 on Signal.

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