Rivian Plans EV Door Redesign to Address Safety Concerns
Door Handle Designs Scrutinized Across Industry After People Were Unable to Open Them
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Rivian Automotive Inc. is reworking a key element of its vehicle doors after employees and customers raised concerns over potential safety issues with the current design, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rivian plans to incorporate a manual release that is more clearly visible and located near the electrically powered interior handles in the rear doors of its next-generation SUV, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The new lower-cost model line known as R2 is scheduled to release in the first half of 2026.
Electric handle designs across the automotive industry are in the spotlight following incidents in which people were unable to open vehicle doors due to a loss of power, trapping children or other riders inside. In some cases, passengers have died after they couldn’t escape crashed vehicles that caught on fire. Bloomberg reported last month on issues with Tesla Inc.’s doors and U.S. auto safety regulators subsequently opened an investigation into the company over the matter.
The handle change on the Rivian R2 aims to address issues stemming from a redesign last year of its existing R1 vehicles that moved the rear manual releases to a difficult-to-access location, potentially slowing occupants’ efforts to exit when the electrical system loses power, the people familiar said. To manually open the R1 rear doors from inside, occupants must remove an unlabeled panel and pull a release cord, according to the owner’s manual.
NHTSA has opened an investigation into Tesla doors, citing incidents in which exterior door handles stopped working and trapped children inside. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)
In the R2, the mechanism for the rear doors and positioning will be similar to the front doors, one person said.
“Safety is at the center of everything we do at Rivian, and R2 is no different,” Rivian said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “Similar to R1, R2 will meet or exceed all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, including passenger egress from all doors in the event of a crash or emergency.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if the new design would be limited to the R2 line or if currently available vehicles would be reworked. Rivian didn’t specify in its statement, but the company noted that it has not had a reported claim of injury resulting from a rear door electrical failure in the latest R1 models.
An anonymous consumer complaint about Rivian’s R1 handles filed in June with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the emergency release cable for the rear doors “is not intuitive nor is it reasonable to believe a small child or an older occupant” would be able to use it. Bloomberg identified several other complaints in the NHTSA database about various functions of the doors.
There are reasons that some carmakers opt for electric door mechanisms beyond the modern aesthetics. The systems can prevent doors from being opened by accident, particularly while moving — avoiding a potential issue with manual-only latches, according to a person familiar.
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While there are federal regulations in the U.S. around door handles, the standards are limited or nonexistent for more modern electric systems, a point that has drawn concern from safety advocates. Michael Brooks, executive director for the Center for Auto Safety, said NHTSA should immediately establish standards for electric handles “to ensure ease of egress for vehicle occupants.”
“The lack of federal safety regulations in this area means manufacturers aren’t required to standardize vehicle emergency exit functions, leaving the burden on consumers to study the various emergency escape configurations for every car they travel in,” he said. In emergencies, “the cost to occupants who are unaware of a vehicle’s manual door controls can be tragic.”
Tesla’s chief designer said on Sept. 17 that the company was working to integrate the manual and electric door releases to make them more intuitive for occupants in emergencies. The EV maker’s vehicles — known for futuristic designs that set standards followed by many competitors — have manual releases for the front and rear doors, but the locations can vary by model and be in hard-to-find spots.
During an interview last month, Tesla chair Robyn Denholm declined to comment on Bloomberg’s investigation into door handles, aside from saying that the board “takes seriously” any safety incidents.
Evolving Designs
The company that would become Rivian was started in 2009 by R.J. Scaringe, an engineer with advanced degrees from MIT. He recruited a team in the early days to build a high-performing, gas-fueled sports car.
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Several years and iterations of the company later, Rivian emerged as a maker of high-end, battery-powered pickups and SUVs, a rugged-yet-polished answer to Tesla’s sleek city cars. Rivian also makes an electric delivery van, tying it to e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc., which is both a customer and investor.
Since its blockbuster public listing in 2021, Rivian has struggled to scale up manufacturing while transitioning out of its startup phase. The company has sought to cut costs but still was losing almost $40,000 on vehicles it was selling as of late last year, the last time it regularly reported the figure in its quarterly results.
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Expense reduction was a key consideration in its decision to refresh its consumer models last year. Scaringe told investors in a June 2024 presentation that there was a “really heavy emphasis at pulling processes, parts and steps out of the vehicle.” He cited the rear doors specifically as an area where Rivian was trying to further reduce the number of components while it prepared to roll out the R2 line.
“Ultimately the vehicle achieves the same level of safety, which is it’s the safest SUV and safest truck you can buy today,” the chief executive officer said.
Rivian’s original design for the R1 vehicles had a fairly traditional handle, with both electric and manual components. The rear manual releases were moved in the 2024 refresh because of cost savings and design considerations, according to the people familiar with the matter. At least one high-ranking executive has characterized the decision as a mistake, one of the people said.
