Rivian EVs are having yet another headlight issue. First, R1T and R1S owners dealt with ice buildup as the original headlights didn’t get warm enough to melt it away. Then, there was a software problem that prevented its exterior lights from working altogether, one that was then fixed with an over-the-air update. In 2024, there was a recall for a headlight leveling sensor, and now, Rivian is recalling 17,260 vehicles because its headlight supplier improperly built a bunch that might fail in the cold.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, this affects 2025 model-year Rivian R1T and R1S vehicles built between April 29, 2024, and February 3, 2025. The report claims the trucks “may have been built with headlamps that do not meet current production specifications due to incorrectly configured parts from the supplier.”
Any Rivian with affected headlights could have low beams that won’t turn on at first startup, particularly when it’s cold. The report doesn’t say how cold it has to be for the low beams to fail; however, it does say that the failure only occurs at vehicle startup. It seems that once the lights are warm from the car driving for a while, they’re fine. The recall only specifies low beams, too, so it sounds like high beams will continue to work if there’s a low beam failure. The truck will warn any owners experiencing the issue with a prompt on the screen that says “Low beam lights not working. Service low beams soon.”
The Drive reached out to Rivian to find out what ambient temperatures can cause the low beams to fail, whether they’ll eventually come back on after driving, and if the high beams are still accessible. We’ll update this story when we get an answer.
Unfortunately, this fix can’t be performed over the air. The bad headlights need to be replaced entirely. It’s still done for free, but it does mean customers and dealers have to wait until March 28 to be notified before the headlights can be fixed. Only about 8% of the 17,260 trucks should be affected, and any owners who already paid to have their malfunctioning headlights replaced will be reimbursed by Rivian.
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