Can the same vehicle brand sit both at the bottom of owner ratings in terms of reliability and at the top in terms of overall owner satisfaction? When that brand is Rivian, the answer is a resonant yes.
Rivian ranked number one in satisfaction for the second year in a row, with owners especially giving their R1S and R1T electric vehicle (EV) high marks in terms of comfort, speed, drivability, and ease of use, according to the latest Consumer Reports (CR) owner satisfaction survey.
And love from Rivian owners doesn’t stop there: 86% of them would buy again from the California-based EV maker. That puts Rivian well ahead of BMW and Tesla, the next two contenders in terms of owner satisfaction.
Yet Rivian, a fairly new EV manufacturer, sinks to the bottom of the CR survey in terms of reliability.
“Since EV technology is still relatively new, automakers continue to work the bugs out of their powertrains and platforms,” says Steven Elek, who oversees auto data analytics at Consumer Reports. “But we also see issues with their non-EV components, such as the latest infotainment and electronic features.”
CR’s survey gathered data from owners of about 300,000 vehicles of the 2022 to 2024 model years. For reliability, it measures 20 trouble areas, ranging from nuisances — squeaky brakes and broken interior trim — to major bummers, such as potentially expensive problems involving out-of-warranty engines, transmissions, EV batteries, and EV charging.
As CR notes, Rivian wasn’t the only automaker receiving mismatched ratings in terms of satisfaction and reliability. BMW, which came in second in terms of satisfaction, also received mediocre ratings for reliability. By contrast, Subaru was ranked as the most overall reliable brand, while receiving average satisfaction ratings.
“Owner satisfaction ratings for a brand or particular car might not always match up with its reliability, especially for new models,” CR says. “Even cars that require frequent trips to a dealership repair shop can make owners happy because the new-car warranties take the financial sting out of an unreliable vehicle.”
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.