There are 3 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2022 Rivian R1Tin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
I was driving late night to a campsite in a very rural part of the Big Island of [XXX] , about 45 minutes from where I live. I was by myself except for my dog, in the passenger seat. I was on a country road with a 30 mph speed limit, going about 25 mph. I engaged the cruise control and it immediately went up to 40-45 mph, far faster than the limit and far faster than was safe given the wet conditions and windy road. As I tried to slow the car down, using the steering while cruise control adjustment buttons, I steered through a curve and rather than turn with the road, as I had intended, the truck slid off the road to the left, effectively hydroplaning, into two trees, at about 40 mph. The airbags deployed as the truck came to a complete halt against the two trees. The car automatically called 911 as I sat there trying to assess what had just happened, whether I was hurt, and whether my dog was hurt. I told the 911 operator that the truck had called them automatically adn that I was ok and I would call in the morning after assessing what had happened. I am waiting for the police report and also waiting for the incident report from Rivian, which has an on-board log of events. I don't know why the cruise control engaged at such a high speed, rather than at the posted speed limit, but this appears to be a known flaw with Rivian's cruise control that I was not aware of. The cruise control and software are available for inspection by NHTSA. There is also an active recall on this vehicle that I was aware of but had been unable to schedule for service yet b/c it required shipping the truck to [XXX] on a barge. I had only had the truck on island for a little more than a month. From previous operations I had no reason to believe that the cruise control was faulty. It is possible that the recall issue may have been a contributing factor to the crash but I don't know b/c the vehicle has not been inspected yet by Rivian. They have scheduled an adjuster to come on April 14. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
When towing a trailer with my Rivian R1T on interstate 75 I set my cruise control while going with the speed of traffic at approximately 60 mph. Instead of cruise control setting at the speed I was traveling, it instead sets at the posted speed limit. In most conditions, this wouldn't create a hazard as adaptive cruise control would keep the vehicle from accelerating more than the speed the vehicle directly in front of me is going. But when towing a trailer, the R1T disables the adaptive part of cruise control as well as emergency braking. Setting cruise control in this circumstance nearly cased me to rear end the car in front of my as I wasn't expecting the cruise control to set at nearly 10 mph faster than I was traveling when I set it. To be clear. This is not "resuming" a previous cruise control speed I had been set to, this sets at the posted speed limit.
I DO NOT OWN THIS VEHICLE. I WAS HOWEVER, INJURED BY THE DRIVER OF THE 2022 RIVIAN LAUNCH EDITION. I WAS REAR ENDED (WHILE I WAS STOPPED WAITING FOR A READ LIGHT) AT A RELATIVE HIGH SPEED FOR ROAD CONDITIONS. AFTER STUDYING THE OWNERS MANUAL, THERE ARE MULTIPLE COLLISION AVOIDANCE WARNINGS, AUDIBLE, VISUAL AND HAPTIC (VIBRATION OF THE STEERING WHEEL) WHEN A COLLISION IS IMMINENT. FURTHERMORE, THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING FEATURE AND BRAKE ASSIST SHOULD COMPLETELY PREVENTED ME FROM BEING REAR ENDED AND INJURED AS A RESULT. i APPEARS THAT THE VEHICLE ACTUALLY ACCELERATED INTO THE REAR OF MY VEHICLE. DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE VEHICLE (7150LBS), THE "SKATEBOARD" LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY OF THE FRAME, THE 0-60MPH IN 3 SECONDS POWER (850HP - 908LB-FT TORQUE) AND THE PROTRUDING FRONT TOW HOOK, AND THE ABOVE SAFETY FEATURES NOT OPERATING AS DESIGNED, A HIGH CONCENTRATED AMOUNT OF FORCE STRUCK MY VEHICLE AND AS A RESULT IS WAS INJURED. (REPORTED TO CALFORNIA DMV) DATE OF ACCIDENT 06/29/2022
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026