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

[BoxGods]

Given the frunk is to be water resistant, which mean no airflow, this isn’t going to work. The old physics question: if you leave a refrigerator running with the door open in a sealed room, does it cool or warm the air. Fact is, you introducing BTU through use of 12v system (50w let’s say) which is 150btu of heat. In a small enclosed space, you’ll burn the compressor out running full duty cycle. You would need to drill in an intake/outtake ducting to allow movement of air. If you were to do this project, might I suggest building a drop in, plug and play, replacement tub that can accommodate this. Preferably with ventilation on the rear to prevent risk of pushing water in when traversing or driving in rain conditions. Add a vent fan to this as well with a temp sensor to trigger to cycle when temps are above 90°F.

Current design just won’t work with reality of physics. Add in the equipment under the tub will generate additional heat and the tub itself isn’t currently insulated as another user noted with their warm wine. There are motors, heat pumps for the trucks AC, etc all near/under this. Custom tub will be an absolute requirement.

Lastly, have the temperature gauges be accessible where they are visible. Your prototype photo would prevent from setting or visualizing the temps once it is loaded inside the frunk. Too heavy and high to have to lift to see/made adjustment.

The metal element in the center is not optimal either. Take a look at how Dormatech, Alpicool, or Massimo sets up their coolers. Still can be serviceable minus the line runs. Generally the compressors fail, not the lines. Serviceability of the lines is not a concern. Connection to them would be more so.

I’m betting true OTD profitable price would be $900-1200 with custom tub replacement.

The physics have worked fine for other frunk users:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/vehicle-fridge-temperature-impact-in-frunk.5074/

The metal center section serves several purposes and EVERY single component in the system is easily accessible for repair/replacement. That includes the evaporator and all of the lines. EVERY single component.

The tub would require injection molding which is much much more expensive than the tooling for roto-molding used on this design. Unfortunately I don't have $200k + to invest just for the tub tooling. I also don't think there would be enough people interested in a $1,500 cooler to justify that CRAZY risk.

Anyone over say 4' 6" can easily see and adjust temperature settings as needed.

My wife is 5 feet tall so I always try to design for the tiny but mighty =)

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[staytuned]

Subscribed for interest

 

[BoxGods]

I'd be interested provided the physics skeptics can be proven wrong. Worst case scenario will it fit under the tonneau cover in the rear. Can you provide current dimensions? I'm still waiting on camp kitchen, so gear tunnel is probably taken up. Cramming foldable e-bike under tonneau in back, rooftop tent above the bed, but need a good spot to put the cooler. Plenty of room for air circulation back in the bed.

As mentioned in other posts, (one linked below) there are already people running electric coolers in the frunk without any issues. As in they put actual electric coolers into the actual frunk and took real temperature measurements--aka empirical real world data.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/vehicle-fridge-temperature-impact-in-frunk.5074/

 

[Ralph]

I have not received my truck yet, but will not find providing 12v a problem. Count me as very interested.

 

[BoxGods]

I haven’t gotten my R1 but this would have been awesome (maybe Rivian will revert their move).

There is another thread on here that found out Rivian didn't remove the wiring under the frunk for the 12V so it is looking like it will/would be relatively easy and inexpensive to add in a 12V plug.

 

[BoxGods]

While Rivian did remove the 12V outlet in the frunk, the wiring still remains. A 12V outlet can easily be re-added to support this project.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...ts-now-none-in-frunk-for-r1t.8716/post-214058

Thanks much for posting this.

 

[DannyC]

I had a small cooler in my fronk and it burned it self out. Too hot in there, not enough air flow. So if the hood is closed there is going to be too much heat trapped. Maybe a way to exchange the air through the bottom plug?

 

[BoxGods]

I have an R1T with a 12V outlet in the frunk, and I would love to order both the refrigerator unit and the water tank. I would be more comfortable buying from a reputable company with history and warranty behind it, but you've designed exactly what I would have if I had the time and skill to pull it off. I'll proudly bet on you.

I was really hoping to put a Dometic cfx3 75 with the dual zones in the frunk, but even though the frunk is wide enough and deep enough, the shape prevents it. And now the disappearing 12V plug may scare away third parties from designing anything to fit.

Kudos to you, and if you're willing to build them, I'll commit to a purchase.

Thank you for the kind words.

If you--or anyone else--are interested in the criteria I based my design choices on I can either make a "design deep dive" post or maybe link a pdf. Pretty dry stuff to be candid but if you are into design it might be interesting.

 

[kylealden]

Given the frunk is to be water resistant, which mean no airflow, this isn’t going to work. The old physics question: if you leave a refrigerator running with the door open in a sealed room, does it cool or warm the air.

The frunk is water sealed and not particularly well ventilated, but it's certainly not a closed system or even airtight. Many people, myself included, have run 12v coolers up there in 90+ degree heat without issue. A fridge like this is only generating 50-100W of heat when running (which is not full time) - that's like a laptop running in the frunk. That heat will dissipate through the tub walls, hood, etc. in addition to having a significant thermal mass buffer in the water tank.

Yes, it will decrease efficiency and probably reduce service life over a well-ventilated setup, but it's not going to boil the frunk or explode. It's probably a good reason to consider something like a modular replaceable compressor, but it's a bit silly to call foul on the whole project. Would I keep organ transplants or lifesaving medicines in there? Probably not, but to cool groceries on a road trip or store beer and some camp food, I think there's some real utility here.

 

[joelster]

The tooling (injection mold tooling) alone for that tub would likely be well north of $200k. To put that in perspective, if you sold 500 units that would be $400 each just to cover the tooling--that doesn't include the cost to actually produce the parts.

As I have mentioned, there are people already running electric coolers in the frunk that have not had any issues.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/vehicle-fridge-temperature-impact-in-frunk.5074/

The cooler is super insulated while the frunk has no insulation. The refrigeration unit has dual fans--one for the condenser and one for the compressor itself. It is also a true dual zone system--there are two additional air moving fans between the compartments for increased efficiency.

Rivian has already routed cooling air around the frunk on the underside that exits via vents into the front wheel wells so the frunk--which is not insulated--acts almost as a heat sink. Plastic is not a great thermal transfer material compared to copper or aluminum obviously but the frunk has a really large surface area to dissipate heat.

For normal spring/summer/fall camping trips with ambient temperatures from say 60F to 90F there is basically nothing special required for normal cooler operation. If you are planning a trip to Death Valley in August and it is going to be 110 F outside you would want to plan a bit better. Put in fully frozen / already cold items. Maybe add a few ziplock bags of ice that you will want for your cold drinks anyway. When you are at your campsite leave the frunk cracked open a bit so hot air can escape. Aka common sense stuff.

OK... Well color me interested. I can't wait to see it in real life.

 

[DannyC]

The other issue is that Rivian 2 updates ago makes it so the inverter/12v only stays on for 24 hours at a time. I formally complained to them and have a ticket in but even weeks later and me asking for an update I have no answer on why they did this.

I think you have an awesome idea but might be something to try and work with Rivian directly and brand it with them. They need to have a cooler option that is official. But putting it in the fronk has some issues:
Gets too hot, especially in summer
A/C radiator is under the fronk and also heats that area up
Having it sit in the middle takes up all the room and makes the rest of the fronk pretty much unusable. Might be nicer to have it use half the front on one side

The 12v batteries are right behind the front and it "could" be hardwired. But if officially support by Rivian as an accessory it could be monitored and controlled by the truck itself.
Would have to vent the hot air to the outside somehow.

I ended up with a cooler in the bed of my truck. Lots more air space back there with the top closed and obviously when its open.

Engineering and manufacturing is hard, I am sure you know that! There are so many things to consider.

Seriously though reach out to Rivian and see if they are making one or if you can partner with them. People would love to have an electric cooler in their truck that is easy to use and works well.

 

[BoxGods]

The frunk is water sealed and not particularly well ventilated, but it's certainly not a closed system or even airtight. Many people, myself included, have run 12v coolers up there in 90+ degree heat without issue. A fridge like this is only generating 50-100W of heat when running (which is not full time) - that's like a laptop running in the frunk. That heat will dissipate through the tub walls, hood, etc. in addition to having a significant thermal mass buffer in the water tank.

Yes, it will decrease efficiency and probably reduce service life over a well-ventilated setup, but it's not going to boil the frunk or explode. It's probably a good reason to consider something like a modular replaceable compressor, but it's a bit silly to call foul on the whole project. Would I keep organ transplants or lifesaving medicines in there? Probably not, but to cool groceries on a road trip or store beer and some camp food, I think there's some real utility here.

I think people don't get that the frunk tub itself is uninsulated and the underside IS exposed to moving air so it acts like a big heat sink. Then they assume the cooler will run non stop like their A/C which it doesn't because the cooler IS an air tight super insulated box.

You are correct that TPC, (Total Power Consumption) caps out at a bit under 75 watts. That's if all 4 fans and the compressor are running at the same time--often they are not. As an analogy to put 75 watts into perspective, it's like trying to boil 5 gallons of water with a candle--a candle is approximately 80 watts.

To your point of modular replaceable compressor. The compressor is a bog standard off the shelf unit with the industry standard mounting footprint. My goal was that you can easily find a replacement pretty much anywhere world wide. It doesn't matter if your adventure takes you into Texas Hill Country or South America or the wilds of Nova Scotia just about every component in the system is easily sourced and easily replaced by just about any A/C or refrigeration tech.

I also built in redundancy wherever possible--dual fans, dual thermostats, etc. so I might even be OK with transporting vital organs in a pinch =)

 

[falcatum]

I don't have my R1S yet, but I am definitely interested; specially the water tank.

 

[canuck870]

I love the water tank!
While the electric cooler is "cool" -- I would likely go with a well insulated conventional cooler. I think I would have to be out on an adventure for a long time for the compressor component to outperform the same volume of ice.

 

[BourboNole]

Definitely interested. Can anyone advise how the Rivian handles a cracked or open frunk when in camp mode. Just curious if it keeps the truck "on" and prevents it from going to sleep?

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