The Rivian R1S has been awarded the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick+ award for the 2023 model year. This award is the highest safety designation provided by the IIHS, with the Rivian R1T pickup also receiving the award earlier this year.
This IIHS has updated the criteria for their awards in 2023, making them more stringent. Both the Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards now require acceptable or good headlights across all trims. The original side impact test has also been updated, featuring a heavier striking barrier hitting the test vehicle at a higher speed.
For the 2022 model year, the R1S electric SUV only received an acceptable ranking in the moderate overlap front test. In this test, the vehicle travels at 40mph (64km/h) and hits a barrier that covers 40% of the front bumper. In that test the driver’s side floor buckled, which could lead to lower-leg injuries.
Rivian took the data and made improvements with R1S models manufactured after January 2023 featuring a stiffening patch in the floor pan that mitigates the driver-side floor buckle. This upgrade helps improve the score from acceptable to good, helping to earn the R1S the Top Safety Pick+ award.
The Top Safety Pick+ criteria have also been updated to include a new nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention test. The electric SUV received a good rating for its LED headlights on all trims, along with a superior rating in the daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian test and an advanced rating in the nighttime evaluation.
“The R1 line of vehicles was designed to be among the safest on the road today through clean-sheet structural design, optimized materials, and fully integrated software. We are delighted to see R1S join the R1T in receiving the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award and will continue to make safety a key priority for our customers as they take on their next adventure,” said Rivian Vice President of Chassis Attributes and Safety Engineering Malin Ekholm.
The R1S SUV is the only vehicle in the large SUV category to receive this honor for the 2023 model year so far. In addition, the R1T pickup is among just three large pickups to receive the Top Safety Pick+ designation to date.
Below are the videos for the original 2022 R1S test, and the updated 2023 test.
