Rivian Vs. Tesla Safety: Crash Tests Reveal a Surprising Divide

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Electric vehicles tend to be inherently safer than gas-powered cars thanks to their lower center of gravity, and larger crumple zones. Studies have also shown that they are less likely to catch fire than gas cars too, although putting them out can pose a challenge.

Tesla may not have been the first EV manufacturer, but it was the one responsible for making electric cars a viable alternative to gas vehicles. Aside from the impressive refinement and performance figures, a key factor in converting people to EVs was to promote the enhanced safety levels of its vehicles. Designed with a rigid safety cage and a highly advanced suite of standard safety features, Tesla has often claimed that its vehicles are engineered to be the safest cars ever built.

Rivian , the newer adventure-focused EV brand, places an equally large emphasis on passenger protection, highlighting its "Rivian Autonomy Platform" and comprehensive driver-assistance systems designed to handle both highway and off-road driving. It has been more circumspect with its safety claims, though, saying that its vehicles are designed to be 'among' the safest on the road today.

To truly evaluate which brand offers better protection, we must look past manufacturer marketing claims and rely solely on data from respected authorities like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ( IIHS ) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA ).

These independent organizations are excellent choices for this sort of analysis because they are the objective standard for analyzing vehicle crashworthiness in the US. The NHTSA handles federal 5-Star Safety Ratings and physical rollover risk evaluations, while the IIHS conducts rigorous independent collision tests, such as the difficult small overlap and updated moderate overlap front crash tests.

Rivian Safety Overview

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Rivian equips its latest models with the Rivian Autonomy Platform, which includes Active Safety Assist, automated collision warning, and a sophisticated driver monitoring system utilizing machine-learning models to detect driver drowsiness and distraction.

In terms of passive safety, their R1T pickup and R1S SUV are built with structural cages that minimize occupant compartment intrusion during a high-speed crash.

Rivian has achieved the highest honor from the IIHS across its flagship models. Both the R1T and R1S earned the coveted IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award. Most impressively, the R1T recently aced the IIHS's highly challenging updated moderate overlap front test, which specifically assesses rear-seat passenger safety, a test where many legacy vehicles struggle. The IIHS claimed that it was the safest truck it had ever tested.

Rivian's standard front crash prevention systems also earned "Superior" and "Acceptable" ratings in daytime pedestrian evaluations, and their standard LED projector headlights provide excellent road visibility.

While the NHTSA closely monitors Rivian vehicles and logs standard safety regulations and bulletins, official comprehensive 5-Star crash rating scorecards for the newer Rivian platforms are not yet available.

Tesla Safety Overview

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Safety has always been a core aspect of every Tesla model. Passive safety systems include impact-absorbing zones, multiple airbags, and a low center of gravity thanks to the floor-mounted battery packs, which help reduce the likelihood of rollovers.

Active safety features are standard across the range and include Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Warning, and Lane Departure Avoidance. Additionally, Tesla's self-driving system is more advanced than Rivian's, although we would not rate either system as flawless or necessarily contributing to overall safety levels.

Tesla holds a flawless track record with the NHTSA. Its core lineup, including the Model 3 and Model Y, have historically swept the board with NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings. In fact, the NHTSA recorded the Model Y as having one of the lowest rollover risks ever seen in an SUV at just 7.9%.

At the IIHS, Tesla performs exceptionally well, with the Model Y and the new Cybertruck both receiving the highest Top Safety Pick+ designation for the past three model years.

The Model 3 secured the standard Top Safety Pick award for 2025. It narrowly missed the "+" designation because it received an "Acceptable" (rather than "Good") rating in the updated moderate overlap front test, reflecting a moderate chest injury risk for rear-seat passengers.

The now discontinued Model S was tested by the NHTSA in 2013, and by the IIHS in 2017 where it missed out on a Top Safety Pick award due to it getting an Acceptable rating in the small overlap frontal crash test. The Model X has also been discontinued, and while it was never comprehensively tested by the IIHS, it received a 5-star NHTSA rating in 2017.

Tesla vs Rivian: Which is Safer?

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Both brands represent the pinnacle of modern automotive safety, but they each have their respective pros and cons.

Rivian achieved the IIHS's strictest Top Safety Pick+ award for the R1T and R1S, but it has yet to be fully rated by the NHTSA. The smaller R2 SUV is still too new for any independent safety data, but it should perform as well as its larger stablemates.

Tesla has been around far longer, and its fleet has had more time to be refined and adapted to the latest safety testing procedures. It has a proven NHTSA 5-Star Safety rating across its range, and it also benefits from a raft of active safety features and more advanced self-driving tech that have been tested in real-world conditions over millions of miles.

The Model 3 sedan is the only vehicle that missed out on the Top Safety Pick+ award, and the older Model S and Model X were also never awarded this accolade, but they are no longer in production so this doesn't influence our ranking here.

Ultimately, buyers cannot go wrong with either brand, while Rivian scored higher than Tesla in the IIHS tests overall, Tesla has a larger model range with more variables to consider, and it aced the NHTSA ratings across all its models while Rivian has yet to prove itself there. While both brands offer very different solutions to EV motoring, in terms of passenger safety Tesla takes this by the narrowest of margins.

This story was originally published by Autoblog on Oct 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.