Rivian dominates owner satisfaction, Tesla comes third

Rivian leads the industry in owner satisfaction, with Tesla coming in third — making it two all-electric automakers in the top three.

Consumer Reports has released its latest owner satisfaction survey results. Rivian is taking the top spot for the second year in a row, an impressive feat for a relatively new automaker.

Here are the full rankings:

86% of owners say that they would buy a Rivian again, which is impressive and significantly up from the second best, which is basically a three-way tie between BMW, Tesla, and Porsche.

Tesla went up two positions, but it lost two percentage points when asking owners whether or not they would buy again versus last year’s survey.

CR does note that automakers with fewer models can get an advantage over those with deep lineups:

Some automakers have a model or two that ranks among the most satisfying vehicles while the rest of their lineup falls short in the eyes of owners. But a handful of manufacturers consistently please buyers across all or most of their lineups. Consistency matters because automaker lineups aren’t static. Some models barely change over the years, but many undergo redesigns every few years and others are brand-new offerings. An automaker that consistently earns high satisfaction scores across its lineup has a track record of strong redesigns and brand-new models that fulfill owner expectations. 

Jeep is unsurprisingly dead last, and Stellantis has 3 brands at the bottom. Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Nissan are little more surprising losers in the survey.

CR based its survey on more than 300,000 vehicles.

Electrek’s Take

I think a lot of the success of Rivian and Tesla here can be attributed to the fact that most people who go electric don’t want to go back to gas, but Rivian certainly seems to be in a league of its own.

My experience talking to Rivian owners matches that survey. They are a happy bunch other than some service visits, which is not unusual for new vehicle programs.

CR actually notes that reliability is not necessarily a factor in this survey because owners are often not affected by reliability issues covered under warranty as long as the service experience is good.