Rivian is gearing up to introduce the R2 next month and the company is preparing for its arrival by announcing plans to open dozens of new service centers. This should help the company deal with the influx of new customers caused by the roughly $45,000 EV.

While the automaker didn’t give firm numbers, they said more than 50 new service centers are scheduled to open through next year. This will push the total number of facilities past the 150 mark.

More: Rivian Owner’s Quality And Service Nightmares Expose The Pain Of Being A ‘Beta Tester’

Rivian didn’t say where these centers will be located, but confirmed “multiple locations and larger sites” with higher capacities are planned for markets where their vehicles are popular. On the flip side, in remote areas, the company will focus on mobile service.

Speaking of mobile support, Rivian plans to increase its fleet of service vans by 50% this year. The company noted this is what customers prefer and they’ll be “enhancing onboard tools and technician training so we can perform more services remotely, including routine maintenance like tire rotations.”

More: That Rivian Bumper Tap Didn’t Look Like An $11,000 Oopsie, But Here We Are

The company has also hired and trained more than 1,000 service specialists in the past year and that practice will continue. This has reportedly resulted in a 35% reduction in wait times for service.

Software Updates

In other Rivian news, the company recently announced a handful of software updates including a new Apple Watch app. It enables users to lock and unlock doors, vent the windows, and adjust the climate control system – among other things.

The automaker also updated software in Gen 1 Quad-Motor as well as Gen 1 and 2 Dual-Motor R1s. Thanks to the change, Sport Mode now has a higher ride height option known as Standard. The company also extended Sport mode to Dual-Motor variants, which “unlocks optimized power delivery and quicker acceleration.”

Other highlights include Launch Mode as well as a “Lower” setting, which reduces the ride height by about an inch to ease entry and egress. There’s also a new cold weather indicator that shows “exactly how much energy is being used to keep your battery warm.” It will also show how much range is “temporarily unavailable until the [battery] pack reaches its optimal operating temperature.”

A Rivian R1T owner has just learned the hard way that “touchless” does not mean “harmless.” Sure, these washes skip the spinning brushes, but that does not make them gentle. As it turns out, high-pressure water and moving hardware can still do a number on a six-figure electric pickup.

Posting on Reddit, the owner says he recently took his R1T through a touchless car wash for the first time when a black plastic panel at the rear of the EV’s roof suddenly popped off. That panel covers a fair bit of electronic gubbins, including the antenna, and is secured with clips and adhesive. Obviously, it is meant to stay put.

Read: That Rattle In Your Rivian Might Mean A Recall

Photos show several of those clips torn loose, with adhesive strips peeled back as if the truck had tried to shed its own roof trim. It would be easy to blame water pressure or the industrial-strength dryers at the end of the tunnel, but that does not appear to be what happened.

According to the owner, one of the wash’s spraying arms became lodged under the roof panel, apparently misjudging the height of the pickup. Instead of gliding past, it hooked underneath and pried the piece upward. Not exactly part of the premium wash package.

Image Reddit/mrwillya

Some commenters on the Reddit thread suggest that in order for Rivian to repair the rear roof panel, it’s possible that part of the interior will have to be removed to gain access to all of the wires positioned beneath the panel. Additionally, the third brake light of the R1T is positioned directly above the rear window near this panel, and may also need to be replaced.

Then there’s the matter of who will end up paying for the repairs. The owner says the car wash’s insurance will cover the costs, though that likely means a round of negotiations between insurers before any money changes hands. In the meantime, the damaged truck could spend weeks, possibly longer, waiting in a body shop bay for parts and repairs. So much for a quick rinse.

For the second time in as many months, Rivian has issued seatbelt-related recall in the States. While the last action involved nearly 35,000 units of its electric delivery van, this latest one affects a smaller number of consumer vehicles and specifically, the 2022–2025 Rivian R1T and the 2022–2026 Rivian R1S.

Read: Rivian Van Owners Are Learning A Small Habit Can Lead To A Big Problem

According to the company, the second-row seatbelt retractor bolt might not have been correctly installed during production. If improperly secured, the retractor could fail to restrain passengers in a crash, posing a higher risk of injury for those seated on the driver or passenger side.

Rattles May Hint at a Problem

In some cases, owners may notice a rattling sound coming from the area around the left or right C-pillar. Apparently, this can be an early sign that the seatbelt retractor wasn’t firmly fixed in place.

The recall affects a total of 869 vehicles, evenly split between both models. That includes 434 R1T trucks built from September 15, 2021, through April 10, 2025, and 435 R1S SUVs manufactured between May 9, 2022, and May 15, 2025.

Rivian reports no known accidents or injuries linked to the issue. The company first took notice on September 16, 2025, when a technician discovered a loose retractor during a routine service on an R1T. After months of follow-up, Rivian says it hasn’t uncovered additional defective assemblies but has still opted to move forward with the recall as a precaution.

Owners will be alerted to the recall from March 9. To resolve the problem, Rivian will properly secure the seatbelt retractor assembly in any affected vehicles free of charge.

This recall is unrelated to the earlier issue involving the company’s EDV vans. In that case, the problem stemmed from repeated misuse, where the seatbelt pretensioner could be damaged if the driver sat on the belt while it remained buckled beneath them.