⛔️ Powered Tonneau cover removed from R1T production until further notice on all future deliveries

[Prime]

Any idea if there is any bed volume that will be recovered by not having the powered tonneau?

Not in the immediate future based on current deliveries without the cover. Maybe on the no cover option as the bed is being redesigned without the side rails. These are all guesses until we see more builds in 2023.

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[canikony]

Not in the immediate future based on current deliveries without the cover. Maybe on the no cover option as the bed is being redesigned without the side rails. These are all guesses until we see more builds in 2023.

That sucks. So those that opt for the manual cover or no cover at all right now just have a void of useable space that is inaccessible.

 

[Prime]

That sucks. So those that opt for the manual cover or no cover at all right now just have a void of useable space that is inaccessible.

yea.. not a great use of space in a truck.

 

[zymolysis]

Actually have a 4 panel version of this on my Jeep Gladiator truck. Love it. Can keep it open partial or full. Clicks in and locks which is important to me when I travel with gear in the bed. Wish Rivian would offer this version instead of the manual. Do not like the idea I will now have to find a place to store the panels. (Hope to eventually put Camp kitchen in the tunnel, not tonneau panels.) Maybe someone in after market will catch on to Rivian owners' threads and make these for our R1Ts?

A 4 panel version of what?

 

[Marchin_MTB]

I'm surprised that the last sentence of the last paragraph of the statement on the tonneau cover hasn't stimulated more comment:
" If you choose no tonneau cover, vehicles delivered in the next few months will include the integrated siderails in the bed. In early 2023, we will transition to a design without the integrated siderails. It’s worth noting that when driving an R1T with no tonneau cover, there is little to no impact on range when the bed is empty. "

If it were true, it would be a great argument for forgoing the tonneau completely, however, I'm very skeptical that it's accurate. Under stop and go conditions, or at relatively low speeds perhaps the impact is minimal, but this certainly can't be the case for highway driving.

There was a sema funded wind tunnel study that showed a 5-10% change in drag coefficient at highway speeds due to the presence of a hard tonneau, if I recall. The effect got smaller from there as the bed got shorter to the point that it was almost hard to measure the difference on short bed trucks. So I wouldn’t be surprised.

Edit: must point out that a 5% change in Cd does not translate to 5% in efficiency because there are other sources of resistance that aren’t due to aerodynamics. The study I recall made this point as well.

 

[Sacagawea]

A 4 panel version of what?

crashmtb referenced a GM hard-cover folding tonneau cover. I have a 3 panel (typo in my previous post) folding tonneau cover. I like that it is not separate panels I have to store. Mine snaps one section at a time so I can have the bed partially open, fully open or fully closed.

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