Rivian R1S earns highest IIHS accolade

The 2023 Rivian R1S, a large electric SUV, earns a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety following adjustments to improve its performance in the moderate overlap front crash test.

Rivian's flagship pickup, the R1T crew cab, notched up a 2023 Top Safety Pick+ award in February.

The requirements are tougher for both the lower-tier Top Safety Pick and higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award in 2023. Acceptable or good headlights are now required across all trims for either award, rather than only for the higher accolade. In addition, the updated side test, in which a heavier striking barrier hits the test vehicle at a higher speed, replaces the original side evaluation. Vehicles must earn an acceptable or good rating to qualify for Top Safety Pick. A good rating is required for the “plus.”

The Top Safety Pick+ criteria also include a new nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention test. Advanced or superior performance is required in both the nighttime and daytime pedestrian tests for the higher award. For Top Safety Pick, only a daytime rating of advanced or superior is required.

As before, to earn either award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front and original moderate overlap front tests. The roof strength, head restraint and vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluations are no longer part of the award criteria.

R1S models built after January 2023 meet all the criteria for the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award. These vehicles come equipped with a standard front crash system that earns a superior rating in the daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation and an advanced rating in the nighttime test. Good-rated LED projector headlights are supplied with all trims.

Models built previously do not qualify for an award due to an acceptable rating in the original moderate overlap front test. In those earlier vehicles, the driver-side floor pan buckled during the test, contributing to high forces on the right lower leg of the driver dummy and indicating a likely injury.