Refreshed Rivian R1S gets top safety rating from IIHS

Large SUVs aren't necessarily the safest vehicles on the road, but the 2025 Rivian R1S is bucking the trend. The American IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) awarded the R1S with its Top Safety Pick+ rating after the latest crash testing session. The Pick+ is the highest possible award for any production vehicle.

The 2025 model walked away with "Good" ratings in every category, apart from headlights. Those fancy items that Rivian is known for have only been given an "Acceptable" rating by IIHS. Looking at the results of the previous model, which was given a Top Safety Pick rating (without the "+"), we can clearly see there's been quite a lot of progress. The 2022 R1S had only a "Moderate" rating for the overlap crash test and a "Poor" rating for seat belt reminders. Interestingly - the old headlights were rated as "Good."

During the moderate overlap front test crash, the 2025 R1S performed pretty well. The exception was the driver's leg protection, where the R1S was deemed "Adequate," while the rest of the test results were given a "Good" rating. It seems the changes made by Rivian have paid off.

IIHS claims that although R1S comes with effective headlights, with both high and low beams offering great visibility, the low beam created some glare for oncoming traffic. That was enough to downgrade their overall rating to "Acceptable."

For any vehicle going through the IIHS crash test, to get the "+" rating, it has to score "" Good" in the small overlap test, "Acceptable" or "Good" in front overlap crash, and "Good" rating in the side crash test. Pedestrian protection or those pesky headlights need to score at least "Acceptable" for the vehicle to be considered for the top award.

2025 Rivian R1S joins its R1T sibling and 48 other vehicles that were awarded the top safety score this year. Unsurprisingly, the Tesla Model Y is in that group. Other EVs include Subaru Solterra, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, Genesis G80 and GV70, and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

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