EV maker recalls vehicles over seat belts

The electric vehicle maker Rivian is recalling nearly 35,000 delivery vans amid concern their seat belts could fail to restrain the driver during an accident, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

- BY CAROLINE PETROW-COHEN

The recall affects 34,824 commercial electric vans used by Amazon and other companies to deliver goods. The issue with the seat belt is caused by repeated misuse, the NHTSA said, such as drivers frequently sitting on top of the belt instead of wearing it.

Irvine-based Rivian acknowledged that one of the cables used in its seat belts can get damaged.

The recall doesn’t affect the company’s popular RIS SUVs or R1T pickup trucks.

To remedy the issue, Rivian released an over-the-air software update that will automatically detect seat belt misuse. The company will also inspect the affected vehicles and replace the driver's seat belt if necessary.