Gear Tunnel Shuttle and Camp Kitchen disappear from Gear Shop

[ElectrifiedOverland]

This looks like a really well thought out alternative, projected to ship late summer.

https://rivian-aftermarket.proboards.com/thread/22/slide-camp-kitchen-project-info

And their gear guard shuttle looks better designed than Rivian’s in house design ever was. Supposed to be ready late May.

https://rivian-aftermarket.proboards.com/thread/25/slide-utility-tray-project-info

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[Sgt Beavis]

IMO Rivian should have farmed this out from the beginning. It’s a great idea but also a distraction from their manufacturing goals. I think we’ll see some good 3rd party solutions eventually.

 

[manitou202]

I would love to purchase both for our R1T but I really want the shuttle. It would be really convenient for loading and unloading the gear tunnel. It also would open the door to other gear tunnel storage accessories like a ski rack shuttle, etc.

I don’t blame Rivian for halting development. They need to focus on becoming profitable otherwise none of this matters. The camp kitchen is probably overly complex and will be a service drain for the little profit per unit. Much better to focus on ramping production and optimizing costs of the R1 platform.

Hopefully the aftermarket fills the void.

 

[itselectric]

It could be Rivian was also concerned that shipping these items would result in too many service requests. The Rivian Service Centers all appear to extremely busy, if not overwhelmed, as it is. Doesn’t make sense for them to be spending time fixing broken zippers and leaky sinks, right?

Makes sense to me. Hopefully if anything, this year teaches Rivian to slow and focus a bit. If they can produce reliable products that perform as advertised they are going to be fine. Hone it in a little bit.

 

[Zoidz]

With Rivian cutting costs recently, this isn't a surprise. I have to wonder if they took orders for at most 1,000 camp kitchens? My guess is less than that. It's a cool idea, but I think a very small market. If they were making a gross profit of $2000 , and a net profit of $1,000, yeah it's $1M net profit, but what is the forward looking order rate after the initial hype? Diminishing returns?

That 's the type of stuff that cost "optimizers" look at when trying to cut costs. If you need to cut costs NOW, the future revenue may not support keeping a marginally profitable product in the game - insufficient ROI. When your goal is to ramp up to 75k - 200k vehicles a year, selling 500 camp kitchens a year is not a market to be in. As many have said, partner with someone who specializes in this product.

Rivian probably sells more T Shirts in a year than camp kitchens. They don't farm the cotton and knit the shirts in house....

 

[DaveA]

Items like the camp kitchen and features like tank turn are what turn people's heads to look at your brand....they are just watering the product down by not having these differentiators available. So once other manufacturers start offering a similar product, it will be hard to stand out without accessories like these. So they can build all the trucks they want, but once the pool of pre-orders stops growing without these differentiators and features....where do they go from there?

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Poster from the Rivian subreddit suggesting that all is not lost..

 

[KeithPleas]

Tou mean one of the most over the top and overpriced things? Though that fits perfectly with the “overlanding” market I guess.

I think they would have a better outcome all around if they developed a strong after-market rather than trying to supply this stuff themselves. Kitchen...tents...wheels...infotainment...navigation...literally all of those would be a MUCH stronger story with a "Rivian Approved" / "Rivian Certified" / "Rivian Compatible" program.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I think they would have a better outcome all around if they developed a strong after-market rather than trying to supply this stuff themselves. Kitchen...tents...wheels...infotainment...navigation...literally all of those would be a MUCH stronger story with a "Rivian Approved" / "Rivian Certified" / "Rivian Compatible" program.

There's also the problem of promise. I might not spend the money on an aftermarket solution when there is supposed to be an OEM solution available, thus the aftermarket doesn't want to invest the time and money into designing and manufacturing those things because they won't get as many orders (which likely already has a pretty limited market)

 

[kylealden]

Same same.

It was ridiculously overpriced when you could have all the same capabilities in a package that uses 25% of the space and costs 90% less.

We've been down this road before. You really have to squint to find the overlap between "cost-conscious" and "Rivian owner."

With the Snow Peak kitchen set now being included (and detailed for the first time), I started to price out the included pieces just to get a sense of the overall value -

1. Home & Camp Cookset - $314.95
2. Kitchen Tool Set - $84.95
3. Charcuterie Board - $37.95
4. Field Barista Set - $260
5. Stacking Mug Set - $118.95
6. Tableware Set Family - $149.95
7. Cutlery Set - $25.95 each
8. BBQ Tongs - $19.95

I couldn't trace down a few of the other items (cork screw, knife, peeler) exactly, but I expect they'd easily be in the $25-$80 range. That puts the value of the Snow Peak Kitchen Set at over $1,000 conservatively - combined with the Gear Shuttle (also included) being a separate $1,500 value, the Camp Kitchen itself is "only" $2,500, which seems pretty reasonable all things considered.

This certainly isn't the most cost-effective way to cook on the road, but for folks who were eyeing the kitchen anyway, the Snow Peak set being included is awesome news and really helps with the overall value.

I'll also note that the Snow Peak choices here are ludicrously premium and you could absolutely build the same kit for muuuch less with cheaper materials (nylon, aluminum, etc.) for marginal added weight and less concerns about rattling. But then you're probably not a Rivian customer ?

 

[srnyoung]

Thank you. Induction because it is more energy efficient?

More efficient and super quick to heat up - faster than your old propane stove.

Ikea has a single-burner, good small form factor, induction cooktop for ~$60.

 

[chrismc]

More efficient and super quick to heat up - faster than your old propane stove.

Ikea has a single-burner, good small form factor, induction cooktop for ~$60.

An induction cooktop takes up less space than a propane stove and fuel and doesn’t require carrying a flammable gas. Most induction burners provide MUCH better temperature control than any propane camp stove I’ve ever used (ie, there is a full gradient between “pilot light” and “raging inferno”). It also works reliably even in extreme (and not so extreme) cold, which can’t be said for propane canisters freezing up.

 

[HighVoltOverland]

The camp kitchen is what made me interested in Rivian, put a deposit down, and bought my R1T. It would be extremely disappointing if it possibly killed off. Not the end of the world, but it sucks. Now my question is, does a two burner electric stove for the 120v ports heat up just as quick as a propane camp stove and how much would it drain the battery?

Depends on the physics/ stove in use

For me, the answer this past week was yes

I am using a loose dustup hotplate and It boiled the water in my kettle faster than my old green Coleman stove, it also helped that it was windproof (big deal at sundown in the Mojave when winds whip through)

That being said, I imagine a jetboil would be a faster option than this, but I was able to cook all my meals comfortably on a three night trip.

Regarding battery, I cooked :
Friday Dinner
Saturday Breakfast
Friday Dinner
Sunday Breakfast
Sunday Dinner
Monday Breakfast

All in about 4 miles of range off the battery from when I parked to when I left.

 

[jbssfelix]

I still don't get why the camp kitchen has been such a problem. I understand the auto-closing tailgate. I understand tank turn. Those are more complex. But, the camp kitchen? They already had it made and functional on several display vehicles. At $5,000 (more I think now), seems like a cash cow for them. As long as the cooktop works, won't be much for customers to complain about. Surprised that it's taken them this long to get it to market, especially considering how much they promoted it as a feature for this truck.

Their goal right now is vehicle deliveries. Sure, they've built and spec'd it to install, but we don't know how much time that installation takes...then add QC. It may take an hour to install one camp kitchen, which means you've created a huge bottleneck for ONE step of the assembly process. Plus, this takes away a labor hour from potentially being used to actually build the truck.

Rivian is cutting out anything that isn't the bare minimum required to deliver a vehicle, because that's the number investors are looking for (remember, Rivian is also looking for more cash, so they have to make existing investors feel good).

Making a product for one vehicle is very different than adding it to the full assembly process.

Source: worked for a large car manufacturer (not sergeant, but um...similar) and understand the assembly process firsthand.

 

[DaveA]

Their goal right now is vehicle deliveries. Sure, they've built and spec'd it to install, but we don't know how much time that installation takes...then add QC. It may take an hour to install one camp kitchen, which means you've created a huge bottleneck for ONE step of the assembly process. Plus, this takes away a labor hour from potentially being used to actually build the truck.

Rivian is cutting out anything that isn't the bare minimum required to deliver a vehicle, because that's the number investors are looking for (remember, Rivian is also looking for more cash, so they have to make existing investors feel good).

Making a product for one vehicle is very different than adding it to the full assembly process.

Source: worked for a large car manufacturer (not sergeant, but um...similar) and understand the assembly process firsthand.

The camp kitchen is meant to be installed at a service center, not on the assembly line, so it wouldn't create a bottleneck on the line...its 6-8 bolts for the gear shuttle install...so maybe takes a tech at the service center 30 minutes tops to install one and getting things aligned.

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