Rivian is quietly redesigning the door handles on its upcoming R2 SUV after employees and customers raised safety red flags about the original design. The move comes as electronic door latches face mounting criticism across the EV industry, with Tesla already under federal investigation for similar issues.
Rivian just blinked first in the electronic door handle safety debate. The Amazon-backed EV startup is redesigning the door handles on its upcoming R2 SUV after internal pushback from employees and customer concerns, according to Bloomberg News. The timing couldn't be more telling - this comes just weeks after Tesla faced a federal investigation over similar door handle safety issues.
The problem isn't new, but it's getting harder to ignore. Electronic door latches have become the sleek standard across the EV industry, promising better aerodynamics and that minimalist aesthetic customers seem to love. But there's a catch that's proving dangerous: when automakers hide the manual emergency releases in obscure spots, people get trapped.
Rivian's original R2 design apparently fell into this trap. The company will now relocate the interior manual releases to "more clearly visible" positions closer to the electronic handles themselves, Bloomberg reports. It's a smart move that shows the company is listening - both to its workforce and to the mounting evidence that form-over-function design can kill.
The broader industry reckoning started building momentum this year. Tesla owners began sharing horror stories of getting trapped in their cars during emergencies, unable to find the hidden manual releases. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took notice and opened an investigation. Tesla said in September it's redesigning its approach entirely.
Then Ford had its own wake-up call. The company issued a recall and stopped selling its Mustang Mach-E earlier this year when electronic latches started getting stuck in the locked position if the 12-volt battery died. That's exactly the scenario where you need manual backups to work flawlessly.
What makes Rivian's move particularly interesting is the timing. The R2 isn't even in production yet - it launches next year as the company's bid to capture the mass-market EV SUV segment currently dominated by Model Y. By fixing this now, before the first customer delivery, avoids the expensive recalls and bad press that plagued its competitors.