How Reliable Are Rivians? Here's What Consumer Reports Says

The Rivian R1T helped blaze a new trail as the first mass-produced all-electric pickup sold in the U.S., beating Ford, Tesla, and General Motors to the punch when it debuted in 2021. The automaker's deep-pocketed investors include Amazon, while Ford sold most of its shares in 2023. The three-row R1S SUV, which shares its platform with the R1T, launched about a year later. The brand's relative newness creates a good-news-bad-news situation for assessing reliability.

For the time being, Consumer Reports (CR) only has to worry about two models on the street (that's the good news). The cuter and smaller Rivian R2 has yet to reach customers. However, the downside is that CR doesn't have enough data to report on every model year of the R1T and R1S. The result is a hit-or-miss approach — blame it on too few Rivian owners filling out surveys.

Yet, the bad news really sets in when looking at reliability scores for the models and model years with available details. One word mostly sums up the findings: poor. The particulars are covered below. However, the dark clouds get even darker when looking at Rivian's overall dependability according to CR. In its most recent assessment, the organization ranked Rivian dead last among 22 automotive brands for reliability. In fact, it was the only manufacturer to have an average predicted reliability score in the poor range. Even though Cadillac settled in at 21st place, General Motors' luxury division managed to eke out a below-average standing. Let's break down dependability for each of Rivian's current models.

If you hope to learn about the dependability of a 2021 or 2024 Rivian R1T, you'll be disappointed. CR doesn't have data for these years. The first year with a reliability ranking is 2022. It just manages to earn a below-average rating and has the distinction of being the least unreliable Rivian (between the R1T and R1S). The numbers head south from there, with the 2023 R1T positioned as poor in the dependability department. Despite these low scores, the 2022 and 2023 R1Ts earn top rankings for owner satisfaction.

For the 2025 Rivian R1T, CR switches to a forecasting model, as predicted reliability enters the conversation. Yet, the group's crystal ball dashes hopes of a better outcome. This edition also has a poor ranking. It's worth mentioning that not a single all-electric pickup from 2025 had a reliability rating better than below average. However, the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, and Tesla Cybertruck still ranked better than the R1T for dependability.

There's no word on the reliability of the 2026 Rivian R1T with a quad-motor setup and 1,000+ horsepower.

Based on CR's scoring system, the 2023 R1S's ranking is in the single digits, a poor standing like its pickup sibling. CR has zero reliability details for the 2022 and 2024 editions of the R1S. For 2025, the predicted reliability index still only requires one number.

Looking at the hundreds of nameplates listed in CR's 2025 model year rankings (including many without a reliability score), the R1S isn't alone with a single-digit dependability score. In fact, the refreshed 2025 Rivian R1S isn't even the worst. The same-year versions of the Cadillac Lyriq and Chevrolet Blazer EV can claim that dishonor. Settling between these GM products and the R1S are the Lucid Air and the Ford F-150 Hybrid. For some models, electrification is not yet a path to reliability.

Getting back to the R1S, Consumer Reports ranks four three-row SUV competitors with higher reliability ratings (in the below-average to average range). These include the Kia EV9, Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, Volkswagen ID Buzz (yes, CR includes the ID Buzz with SUVs), and Tesla Model X. Yet, just as with the R1T, the R1S features a higher predicted owner satisfaction score, something these EV rivals can't claim.