Earlier this month, the 2024 Rivian R1T pickup continued its legacy of protection.
The American electric vehicle startup’s battery-powered truck was once again the only pickup truck (and the only electric truck) to win the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award. This award recognises cars that perform well in a series of protection tests, which have been updated with stricter criteria for 2024.
In an email related to the designation last week, Rivian wrote that the company was “proud” to be the only pick-up truck to score the highest so far this year. It won the award in 2022 and 2023. La only other truck qualified for Best Lower-Level Protection Option (no more) is the 2024 Toyota Tundra. Other Top Safety Pick winners in other categories include electric cars such as the 2024 Tesla Model Y, 2024 Genesis GV60, 2024 Genesis Electrified G80, and 2024 Hyundai Ioniq. 6.
An IIHS spokesperson said in an email this week, “As a recent automaker, it’s encouraging to see that Rivian is obviously prioritizing smart functionality in IIHS protection testing. “
To be eligible for the Top Safety Pick designation, a vehicle will need to score “good” on the narrow overlap frontal test, “acceptable” or “good” on an updated moderate overlap frontal test, “good” on the top to date, are “acceptable” or “good” on the pedestrian frontal collision avoidance test, and have “acceptable” or “good” headlights.
The updated moderate overlay test now includes a rear-seat dummy to inspire second-row safety. The R1T scored “good” in this test, thanks to sensors that reduce the risk of head, neck and chest injuries in an accident. The seat belts were securely fastened and the dummy’s head was away from the back of the front seat.
An updated frontal crash test involving motorcycles and other vehicles yielded poor results for most small SUVs.
On Wednesday night, the IIHS released the results of a more rigorous frontal crash test for 2024. Early findings concluded that most small SUVs fail the updated vehicle-to-vehicle test, which looks at high-speed collisions involving a motorcycle or giant truck. The more rigorous frontal crash avoidance control puts cars at 31, 37 and 43 mph instead of the previous speeds of 12 and 25 mph.
Of the first 10 small SUVs to undergo the updated tests, only one earned a “good” rating: the Subaru Forester. The Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 were deemed “acceptable. “The Ford Escape, Hyundai Tucson, and Jeep Compass all earned “marginal” scores, while the Chevrolet Equinox, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander, and Volkswagen Taos all scored “poor. “
The R1T failed this new test, but in its forward pedestrian collision avoidance test it scored Acceptable for 2024.
The other U. S. agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has yet to compare the 2024 Rivian R1T. Most pickup trucks have low protection ratings.