Major Safety Concern: Brand-New 2025 Rivian R1S Died in Traffic—No Hazards or Movement

[razem]

My brand-new 2025 Rivian R1S completely died in the middle of a busy road—no hazard lights, no ability to move—after just two months of ownership. I’m shocked this could happen with a high-end EV, and I’m already thinking about the lemon law.

Here are the details:
I’m absolutely shocked and deeply concerned about a massive safety failure with my new 2025 Rivian R1S. This car literally died in the middle of a busy road, with no hazard lights and no way to move. I can’t even imagine if this shit had happened on the freeway—I’m lucky it didn’t. Because of this terrifying breakdown, I’m seriously considering invoking the lemon law.
Here’s the story:

• I picked up my Rivian on November 20, 2024.
• On January 9, just a couple of months later, I charged from 20% to 55% at a Tesla Supercharger. Everything seemed fine until I was merging toward the freeway on-ramp.
• Suddenly, there was a violent jolt and a loud noise from the front axle. An error message saying “Drive stalk not working” popped up, and the vehicle slammed to a stop in the middle of traffic.
• I couldn’t move or even turn on the hazard lights. Other drivers had no idea my car was completely disabled—I was terrified.
• After 30 minutes, the infotainment system randomly rebooted and showed a “Critical battery error,” then shut down again. At that point, I couldn’t access basic functions like the center console or open doors from outside.
• It took two hours—until about 11:30 AM—for a tow truck to arrive and haul my supposedly high-end electric vehicle away.

This whole ordeal was dangerous, humiliating, and completely unacceptable for a car with only 2,400 miles on it. I’m now waiting to hear from Rivian, but I want answers and real solutions. Frankly, I’ve lost faith in this vehicle, and I’m already looking into my rights under the lemon law. I refuse to risk my safety—and the safety of others—on a car that can just quit without warning.

Has anyone else had a major breakdown like this? What advice do you have for next steps?

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[CosmicRivian]

Feels a lot like this: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...nyone-else-had-it-what-had-to-be-fixed.35974/

 

[ksurfier]

Wow, that’s a bad situation. Glad it didn’t end up in an accident.
For lemon law, Rivian has several attempts and up to 30 days to fix it. At that point you could request arbitration to resolve the issue (buyback/replacement). If arbitration doesn’t work then an attorney specializing in lemon law could bring a suit (those can sometimes take years to be resolved).

 

[Donald Stanfield]

Not everything is a safety issue. Yes this sucks and is unacceptable but I think calling everything a major safety concern is a bit much. A wheel didn't fall off, this is basically what happens if your battery dies in an ICE car and as someone who's had that happen I think "major safety concern" is an exaggeration.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Good that you were able to get it onto the shoulder.

 

[Hereforthesnacks]

Feels a lot like this: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...nyone-else-had-it-what-had-to-be-fixed.35974/

First thing I thought of too. Thanks for the link.

If you look around the forum, there are a few incidents of R1s dying, some on the freeway. Seems like a rare, but known concern. Though the causes seem to vary a little.

 

[razem]

Not everything is a safety issue. Yes this sucks and is unacceptable but I think calling everything a major safety concern is a bit much. A wheel didn't fall off, this is basically what happens if your battery dies in an ICE car and as someone who's had that happen I think "major safety concern" is an exaggeration.

I get where you’re coming from, but my battery was at 55%—it didn’t just run out of juice like an old ICE car. The car completely locked up in the middle of the road with no hazard lights, no way to move, and even the doors and console wouldn’t work. That’s a real safety issue, because other drivers had no idea I was stuck and I had no way to warn them or even get the car out of the way.

 

[razem]

Good that you were able to get it onto the shoulder.

I wasn't. It died in its place in the middle of the road. Luckily I wasn't on the freeway,.

 

[Chrisy]

Just out of curiosity, what adapter did you use at the Supercharger?

 

[razem]

Just out of curiosity, what adapter did you use at the Supercharger?

The Rivian-provided Tesla adapter.

 

[Ngkgb]

So the car came to an abrupt stop? As in you couldn’t even get to the side of the road if needed?

 

[razem]

So the car came to an abrupt stop? As in you couldn’t even get to the side of the road if needed?

Yes.

 

[Ngkgb]

Yes.

Good lord. That is scary. I dont know if I’ve read about this. If this happened at night in the freeway it could have been really bad. Glad you guys are all OK.

 

[electrictaco]

Did you try a hard reset or a soft reset?

 

[razem]

Did you try a hard reset or a soft reset?

Yes. I tried it multiple times with the service rep on phone also. Nothing worked.

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