Powered 40 qt Frunk Cooler and 12 gal Water Tank w/ washdown sprayer concept (by @BoxGods)

[VSG]

A long time PC modding and gaming buddy who I chat with daily about Tesla and Rivian were talking about a thread in RivianForums.com where forum member DannyC fit a small DC powered cooler in his R1T Frunk.

My buddy is a product design and manufacturing engineer with 20+ years of experience in rotomolding, CNC, electronics, SolidWorks, and other ventures for his actual day job.

On the concept of a bespoke cooler for the strange limitations of the Frunk volume, we got to talking about my coolers for camping, the Dometic style in overlanding, and if it would even be possible for the Frunk to use such a unit with more volume than current retail units offer.

We bounced ideas around for about 4 months, worked with the great Sue Smith from Munro & Associates for engineering assets, and DuckTruck let us poke around his R1T to take hundreds of photos.

The Design Brief ended up being a cleansheet 40 quart powered refriderator/freezer to specifically fit in, and work with, the R1 platform: highly robust, field repairable, functional, and likely to outlast the Rivian itself.

This is starting to feel like the Rivian Camp Kitchen - super cool but the company can't seem to deliver, 18 months later ...
(edited to be clearer ...)

This (the Powered 40 qt Frunk Cooler) is starting to feel like the Rivian Camp Kitchen - super cool but the company can't seem to deliver, 18 months later ...

I did sign up on the site, and have been waiting to buy since 2022.

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[obfuscurity]

This is starting to feel like the Rivian Camp Kitchen - super cool but the company can't seem to deliver, 18 months later ...

I did sign up on the site, and have been waiting to buy since 2022.

Not sure what you're basing that on. He delivered the water tank and it exceeded expectations imho. I'm very excited to see the gear tunnel slider.

 

[basserman]

Totally agree! the tank is awesome.

 

[Joseph D]

This is starting to feel like the Rivian Camp Kitchen - super cool but the company can't seem to deliver, 18 months later ...

I did sign up on the site, and have been waiting to buy since 2022.

Not too sure what you are even saying here. This "company" is a 1 man crew(basically a 1 man crew, I think its actually 3, 1 helps with admin, and another with testing. Needless to say 1 man that engineers/organizes production) that does these projects one at a time based on community interest on his own time at cost for the community. He delivered on the water tank which is beyond what I was expecting when I got mine in the time-frame that he estimated.

I would recommend visiting his site, he provides updates to the projects, and answers questions very quickly. Right now his current running projects are the gear tunnel slide/kitchen, and after that project is done he is moving on to the fridge next. The projects were all listed around the same time, but the order he is working on them (again in his spare time at no cost for design as a passion project) is based on which projects met their interest counts. So if you are waiting on the fridge for example it will be a bit of a wait, as these things take time from 0, he has also made these things crystal clear in his time estimates when he begins working on them, and when time frames change he explains how/why and is very transparent with the details. I'm not expecting everyone to keep up with everything that happens over there, but its worth a quick read to see where things are at. Acting like the products are dead in the water and have no hope of appearing is just factually wrong.

 

[BoxGods]

This is starting to feel like the Rivian Camp Kitchen - super cool but the company can't seem to deliver, 18 months later ...

I did sign up on the site, and have been waiting to buy since 2022.

I'm actually working on all three projects at the same time--four if you count the pump upgrade kit for the 12 GAL water tank.

The slide out utility tray design is finished and the 2nd production prototype is being built now.

The Camp Kitchen is designed as a drop in for the Utility Tray to be fast and easy in and out of the truck so prototyping for it will start the moment the Utility tray has finished validation testing--the design is ready.

The Seaflo pump upgrade kit is production ready and the signup email will be going out shortly.

The Cooler design is done and early subsystem testing has started--I do have my hands full with the three projects above so I can't spend as much time as I would like on the cooler but they are close to being done so I can start to spend more time on it.

 

[BoxGods]

Not sure what you're basing that on. He delivered the water tank and it exceeded expectations imho. I'm very excited to see the gear tunnel slider.

As always, your support is sincerely appreciated =)

 

[BoxGods]

Totally agree! the tank is awesome.

Thanks! Wait till you see the improvement with the new Seaflo 23 pump kit =)

 

[BoxGods]

Not too sure what you are even saying here. This "company" is a 1 man crew(basically a 1 man crew, I think its actually 3, 1 helps with admin, and another with testing. Needless to say 1 man that engineers/organizes production) that does these projects one at a time based on community interest on his own time at cost for the community. He delivered on the water tank which is beyond what I was expecting when I got mine in the time-frame that he estimated.

I would recommend visiting his site, he provides updates to the projects, and answers questions very quickly. Right now his current running projects are the gear tunnel slide/kitchen, and after that project is done he is moving on to the fridge next. The projects were all listed around the same time, but the order he is working on them (again in his spare time at no cost for design as a passion project) is based on which projects met their interest counts. So if you are waiting on the fridge for example it will be a bit of a wait, as these things take time from 0, he has also made these things crystal clear in his time estimates when he begins working on them, and when time frames change he explains how/why and is very transparent with the details. I'm not expecting everyone to keep up with everything that happens over there, but its worth a quick read to see where things are at. Acting like the products are dead in the water and have no hope of appearing is just factually wrong.

Yeah what he said!

Thanks for taking the time to post this. Sincerely appreciated =)

 

[zgStevieD]

Don't mind the haters... WE LOVE YOU BoxGods!!!

 

[Riviot]

Thanks! Wait till you see the improvement with the new Seaflo 23 pump kit =)

^@VSG ____________ ^@BoxGods

 

[onesoil]

I'm actually working on all three projects at the same time--four if you count the pump upgrade kit for the 12 GAL water tank.

The slide out utility tray design is finished and the 2nd production prototype is being built now.

The Camp Kitchen is designed as a drop in for the Utility Tray to be fast and easy in and out of the truck so prototyping for it will start the moment the Utility tray has finished validation testing--the design is ready.

The Seaflo pump upgrade kit is production ready and the signup email will be going out shortly.

The Cooler design is done and early subsystem testing has started--I do have my hands full with the three projects above so I can't spend as much time as I would like on the cooler but they are close to being done so I can start to spend more time on it.

An impressive effort on multiple fronts! I just found out about your tank (and then went to your forum and saw everything else). I think I will be purchasing a used tank that just popped up on the marketplace—how do I get on the list for the upgraded pump?

I think I will primarily use this to hose off muddy boots/bike/dirty pots and pans, so the added pressure seems like it would be ideal. I am also interested in signing up for the cooler (and possibly the SK [=0===0=] TR for that matter). I made an account on https://rivian-aftermarket.proboards.com/ and sent a message yesterday, but is there an email I should send a message to so I make sure I get on the pump upgrade kit list?

 

[VSG]

Not sure what you're basing that on. He delivered the water tank and it exceeded expectations imho. I'm very excited to see the gear tunnel slider.

I was talking about the "Powered 40 qt Frunk Cooler", which was the main topic of this thread, even though it has evolved to include the water tank and other things in the 18 months since the thread was opened.

Note that I did quote the original post for the Frunk Cooler, so it should have IMO been clear from the context what I was talking about and what specifically I was replying to.

I edited my post above to say that explicitly.

 

[obfuscurity]

I was talking about the "Powered 40 qt Frunk Cooler", which was the main topic of this thread, even though it has evolved to include the water tank and other things in the 18 months since the thread was opened.

I edited my most above to say that explicitly.

And I’ll state more clearly that based on my experience with BoxGods work so far, I have little doubt that he’ll deliver on each of these projects in due time. My perception is that he’s prioritizing each project according to a range of factors such as buyer interest, manufacturing speed/risk, dependencies (e.g. needing the drawer in order to deliver the kitchen), and market fit vs competition (i.e. his cooler might be the “best” design for R1, but there are plenty of options that are “good enough”).

Feels to me like BoxGods has more than enough experience in product design and manufacturing to know which order of products makes the most sense for overall success. You don’t have to trust or support him, but I think you’re out of line in framing his work so as to suggest it’s vaporware.

 

[VSG]

Don't mind the haters... WE LOVE YOU BoxGods!!!

I fail to see how my post can be categorized as being a "hater".
I was one of the first to jump in and support the cooler project - scroll up.

What I said was that the cooler project "is starting to feel like the Rivian Camp Kitchen - super cool but the company can't seem to deliver".

There's nothing hating about that - it's a simple fact. This cooler project was posted 18 months ago, and that post says they had been working on it for 4 months already. And they had CAD drawings and BOM and pricing, and were ready to start producing it by Spring 2023.

I was stating my disappointment with a "super cool" project that hasn't come through in all this time.

 

[VSG]

And I’ll state more clearly that based on my experience with BoxGods work so far

I said nothing negative and implied nothing negative about the work BoxGods has done on any other project. And in fact I've previously posted positive comments about the design of the cooler.

The fact I stated was that the cooler project, the first project brought to this forum, still hasn't been realized. Hence my comparison with the Rivian Camp Kitchen, which early on captured the imagination of many people including myself but we waited and waited and are still waiting. Much like the powered cooler project.

I don't see why that should be controversial to say - it's just stating a fact and how I feel about the long delay.

You don’t have to trust or support him, but I think you’re out of line in framing his work so as to suggest it’s vaporware.

Again, I didn't say or imply that I don't trust him, and I *have* supported him for 18 months.

I never said "vaporware". I said the cooler doesn't exist yet. Am I wrong on that point?

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