Rivian is recalling 14 new R2 SUVs over a battery bolt that can cut drive power

Fourteen 2027 Rivian R2 SUVs carry a high-voltage battery fastener that may have been tightened short of specification, and Rivian has recalled all of them under NHTSA campaign 26V625. If the connection works loose, the vehicle can lose drive power with no preceding alert. The report reached the agency on Sept. 29, 2026, and the build window it covers closed on Aug. 27.

The population is as small as a recall gets. Every one of the 14 vehicles is presumed affected, a 100 percent estimated defect rate, because Rivian traced the fault to the automated torquing station and the vehicles that passed through it in the affected window.

Campaign 26V625 and the 14 R2 vehicles

The NHTSA campaign record lists the component as the electrical system’s propulsion critical fasteners and describes the defect in one sentence: a high voltage battery fastener may have been improperly tightened, causing a loss of drive power. NHTSA’s consequence line states that a loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash. The record covers model year 2027 R2 vehicles only, with a potential 14 units.

Rivian’s own Part 573 safety recall report narrows the window further: the affected R2s were built between May 18, 2026, and Aug. 27, 2026. Rivian describes the failure as “a loss of motive power without prior warning,” which matters for a driver in traffic, since a car that announces trouble before it coasts is a different problem from one that simply stops pulling.

The Sept. 17 torque-station discovery

The chronology in the Part 573 filing is compact. On Sept. 17, 2026, a manufacturing operator found an under-torqued fastener after the part had already passed the automated torquing station. An investigation ran from Sept. 17 to Sept. 24 to determine the root cause and identify which vehicles were exposed. On Sept. 24 Rivian decided to recall all 14, and the filing followed on Sept. 29.

Trade coverage adds the hardware detail. Autoevolution’s account of the filing identifies the part as an M6x1.0x24.5 bolt, part number SC00036202-D, and reports that the automated station was subsequently reprogrammed to reject any fastener failing to meet the required torque. Rivian also reported that it had identified no complaints tied to the condition, and the Part 573 report records no customer incidents to date.

The detail that separates this from a routine supplier defect is where the catch happened. The fastener was not found by an inspector at the end of the line or by an owner on the road; a person working the station noticed that a part had cleared the automated torque check while still under-torqued. That means the check itself, not the bolt, was the weak link, and it explains why Rivian reprogrammed the station to reject non-conforming fasteners rather than only reworking the 14 vehicles. Because the operator’s find on Sept. 17 triggered a seven-day investigation that bounded the build dates to May 18 through Aug. 27, the recall stopped at 14 instead of widening to the whole R2 production run.

Remedy timing and the second R2 recall

The fix is mechanical. Technicians inspect the connection and either re-torque the fastener or replace damaged components. Rivian’s support notice for the recall, dated Sept. 29 with the remedy available from Oct. 2, says the work is already underway at Rivian Service Centers and that the company has proactively contacted affected customers, which is earlier than the Nov. 28, 2026, mailing date written into the NHTSA record.

This is the R2’s second recall in a matter of weeks. The first, campaign 26V597, filed on Sept. 16, covered 98,828 Rivian vehicles, among them 2,481 model year 2027 R2s built April 23 through Aug. 10, and concerned a drive-mode notification that could overlap the rearview camera image. That one was resolved with an over-the-air software update, while the 14-vehicle campaign needs a technician and a torque wrench.

The Part 573 filing also sets the schedule for owners who have not yet heard from the company: notification letters are slated for Nov. 28, 2026, the same day a VIN search for the campaign becomes available. Rivian’s reference for the work is FSAM-1888.

The two recalls share a model and almost nothing else. One is a display-logic bug spread across the whole fleet; the other is a workmanship escape confined to 14 cars built over roughly three months, and the contrast shows in the remedy, since more than 95 percent of the vehicles in the camera recall had already received their update when the Part 573 report on that campaign was filed. NHTSA’s database lists Rivian Automotive, LLC as the manufacturer on both, and the open question for the R2 line is whether the reprogrammed torque station, which now rejects a failing fastener, keeps the count at 14.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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