Florida Woman Trapped Inside Smoking Rivian

A Florida woman panicked when her Rivian R1S suddenly started pumping the brakes on its own as the screens were flashing before smoke began coming into the cabin. We think anyone in the moment would start panicking, but that was just the beginning of the woman’s plight.

Rivian is getting billions of taxpayer dollars.

From the disabled EV, the woman called Rivian using the app on her phone. Why she didn’t just call 911 is beyond us, because in an emergency situation in a vehicle our first thought isn’t to call the automaker.

She told WFTV a Rivian representative told her to press the emergency SOS button in the car, however it didn’t work. That’s when the representative told her to hang up and call 911. Again, it’s amazing that wasn’t the woman’s first move.

Firefighters responded to the scene and struggled to get the woman out of the vehicle. Thankfully, by the time they arrived there was no smoke present, but we’re sure during the 45 minutes it took to get the woman out, she wasn’t having a great time.

It turns out all those firefighters and the woman didn’t think to check the owner’s manual. Just like on other EVs, Rivians have a manual door handle for use in emergencies. If you don’t know where it is in your vehicle, looking it up could mean the difference between life and death in a real emergency.

Thankfully, in this case there wasn’t any true urgency. The Rivian R1S didn’t catch fire. According to the report, the automaker diagnosed the problem as a short in the electrical system, producing some smoke.

As for the woman and her husband, they pressured Rivian to cancel their lease and return their money. Having been EV owners for three years, they say they’ve never experienced anything like it. We wonder if they’ll get another electric car or go with something else.

Image via Rivian