Rivian preliminary evaluation PE25011
Rivian EDV Seat Belt Anchor Detachment. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the anchorage on 2 model years (2022–2023). Opened Sep 22, 2025, closed Feb 25, 2026 after 5 months. It led to safety recall 25V816000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn September 22, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE) 25011 to investigate and assess allegations of seat belt performance concerns in certain Model Year (MY) 2022-2023 Rivian Electric Delivery Van (EDV). ODI has received fourteen (14) Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ) reporting potential failures of the driver’s front outboard seat belt anchorage system. The anchorage utilizes a steel-braided cable linked to the seat frame, which supports the seat belt webbing that secures the occupant in the event of a crash. The VOQ describe instances in which the steel-braided cable frayed, unraveled, or completely severed, potentially leaving the occupant inadequately restrained during vehicle operation. A partial or complete separation of the seat belt pretensioner anchor cable can significantly degrade occupant restraint performance in a crash. A damaged cable may also prevent the pretensioner from removing belt slack at the onset of a vehicle crash impact, which could reduce airbag effectiveness and increase the risk of injury. ODI’s investigation sought to determine whether the seat belt assembly’s integrity, design, durability, mounting position, installation method, or manufacturing deficiencies could have contributed to the reported condition. Following the opening of the investigation, Rivian Automotive, LLC (Rivian) determined that the seat belt pretensioner anchor cable contained a safety defect in the subject vehicle population and filed a Part 573 Defect Information Report. Recall 25V-816 is intended to address MY 2022-2025 Rivian EDV vehicles. Rivian has released an over-the-air (OTA) software update and will inspect and replace the driver’s seat belt pretensioner assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on January 19, 2026. This recall action seems to resolve the concerns reported by customers. The recall scope includes MY 2024-2025 vehicles in addition to MY 2022-2023 vehicles identified in this investigation. Accordingly, ODI is closing Investigation PE25011. The agency will continue to monitor field performance, complaint trends, and recall completion rates to assess the adequacy of the remedy. ODI reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future developments. To review the ODI reports cited in this Closing Resume, go to NHTSA.gov and search the associated ODI Report Identification Numbers.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2025 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2025 | |
| Filed document | INOV | 2025 | |
| Correspondence | INOT | 2025 | 3 files 123 |
| Filed document | INCV | 2025 | |
| Filed document | INCR | 2025 |
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Sep 22, 2025, owners had filed 12 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 6 named the seat belts NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2022 Rivian EDV; 2023 Rivian EDV.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE25011 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 25V816000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE25011 still open?
No. It closed on Feb 25, 2026 and led to recall 25V816000.
Which vehicles does PE25011 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 2 model years: 2022 Rivian EDV, 2023 Rivian EDV. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.