Powered Tonneau Permanent Fix Coming in March?! "Rivian called - Permanent fix expected in March" -- per The Kilowatts

[MountainBikeDude]

I will say I don’t know If dual motors will work (syncing issues) and having a long shaft going to the other side does seem to permit some flex which creates the potential for uneven stacking.
My thoughts: run the current motor with a shaft that goes to the center of the panels and engages a gear that then sends the drive to each side equally. If the shaft is equal length from that center engagement point the torque/twist should be equalized and prevent the potential for binding.

I had a similar thought during the Munro teardown of it. Seemed cheaper and easier to implement than having to introduce two smart motors.

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[whyasky]

did you buy a prototype?

I was just thinking it's awesome he got one before the employee versions that started shipping September 2021!

For what it's worth, my cover worked great for 3 months, until it didn't. Had mobile service fix it in the open position this morning. My tech did not offer an estimate for a solution... so I'll believe the March timeline when I see it. If it helps to use the Santa Cruz approach, that would be fine by me.

In the meantime, I might get that sweet Maverick tri fold everyone's been talking about. Tiptop Soft Tri-Fold Tonneau Cover Truck Bed for 2022 2023 Maverick 4.6ft Bed (54.4") | TPX3 | https://a.co/d/aARDFeM

 

[R1Tom]

Curious if those with perfectly good working covers that have stated so on this forum, plan to ask Rivian to replace theirs with the updated design?

 

[FrankieJ]

Curious if those with perfectly good working covers that have stated so on this forum, plan to ask Rivian to replace theirs with the updated design?
[/QUOTE

Rivian has already committed via email that they intend to replace all the covers whether they are working or not. Failure is just a matter of time.

 

[moosehead]

Curious if those with perfectly good working covers that have stated so on this forum, plan to ask Rivian to replace theirs with the updated design?

Roger that.

 

[Redmond Chad]

Who is Kilowatts and why do they have anymore credibility than any other twitter account?

He's a former Tesla employee that has purchased and tested several different EVs (he then rents most of them out on Turo). He seems to spend a lot of time trying to find pre-breaking news like this. I don't follow everything he posts, and this is a difficult type of "news" to always get right, but what I have seen from him has sounded pretty good. You can check out his past stuff if you are interested in assessing his credibility (I'm not on Twitter, but here is his Youtube channel). Or, just wait and see what happens - that's the only way to be sure any prediction is correct!

Incidentally, I had dinner with him and his parents about 10 years ago when he was in college. He had talked his parents in to buying a very early Model S (my wife had one too). I haven't kept in touch or anything, but they seemed like really great people.

 

[staytuned]

Curious if those with perfectly good working covers that have stated so on this forum, plan to ask Rivian to replace theirs with the updated design?

That depends on what the updated design is.

“better the devil you know…” and all that.
There’s a certain point where, worst case, I’ve resigned myself to continuously DIY repair this one if it comes to it.

 

[Rblue]

Curious if those with perfectly good working covers that have stated so on this forum, plan to ask Rivian to replace theirs with the updated design?

I’m game since so long as there is no additional cost.

Every time I use the powered tonneau I think to myself “and this is when it gets stuck” so I wind up opening/closing it very infrequently. An updated solution, that is more confidence inspiring, is welcome in my book

 

[windblowlc]

Does it mean that when the revised power tonneau comes out, that option will be re-enabled on the configurator and people can switch back from a manual one?

 

[DJG]

Curious if those with perfectly good working covers that have stated so on this forum, plan to ask Rivian to replace theirs with the updated design?

They can ask, but I would not expect Rivian to comply, at least at first, unless it's broken. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, literally. Especially when there will be a line of people with broken ones. Mine has always worked, and I won't have FOMO over the new design until my warranty is about to run out, at which point if it hasn't been replaced I'll bring it up then (though I expect it to be replaced far before then).

Not to mention it wouldn't make sense to replace a working tonneau with a yet to be proven to work new one. Who knows, I may make it to v3.0 before I need replacing.

 

[DJG]

Rivian has already committed via email that they intend to replace all the covers whether they are working or not. Failure is just a matter of time.

They have not communicated that. All they communicated was that they would have an update on a solution to the problem in general early this year. That's all they have communicated. They haven't even explicitly communicated that they will replace the broken ones with a working powered one. Tearing them out and giving a manual replacement, is still on the table if we're going off their communication.


As you likely know, there are issues with our powered tonneau cover. While most are operating as intended, many are not.

We want you to know we are aware of the issue and are working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers. Right now, no action is required on your part; this is simply a proactive step to let you know we are working hard on this. Our goal is to have a solution early next year. We’ll reach out at that time with next steps.

If your tonneau cover is operating properly, you should continue using it. If you have a service request currently filed for your tonneau cover or experience an issue in the near future, the Rivian Service Team will continue to be your main point of contact. We have interim solutions in place to help with the issue you may be experiencing. We’ve also created this list of FAQs to provide more detail.

We are committed to ensuring our products are incredibly durable. We appreciate all the feedback we receive as it helps make us better.

 

[Zoidz]

I will say I don’t know If dual motors will work (syncing issues) and having a long shaft going to the other side does seem to permit some flex which creates the potential for uneven stacking.
My thoughts: run the current motor with a shaft that goes to the center of the panels and engages a gear that then sends the drive to each side equally. If the shaft is equal length from that center engagement point the torque/twist should be equalized and prevent the potential for binding.

I think it could be simpler than that. My opinion, from seeing various videos and photos, is that the possible shaft twisting is caused by issues with the slat panels themselves. They drag and/or misalign with track, and then the end gears jam in the rack gear slots on the panels, which then puts stress on the shaft. Fix that and the shaft twisting goes away.

I think the primary fix is better design of the rack gear and improved manufacturing tolerances of the slat panels and end gears.

 

[p3ck]

I think it could be simpler than that. My opinion, from seeing various videos and photos, is that the possible shaft twisting is caused by issues with the slat panels themselves. They drag and/or misalign with track, and then the end gears jam in the rack gear slots on the panels, which then puts stress on the shaft. Fix that and the shaft twisting goes away.

I think the primary fix is better design of the rack gear and improved manufacturing tolerances of the slat panels and end gears.

I agree, I believe there was talk about having the teeth go through the panels like how a bike chain works.

 

[astonius]

They have not communicated that. All they communicated was that they would have an update on a solution to the problem in general early this year. That's all they have communicated. They haven't even explicitly communicated that they will replace the broken ones with a working powered one. Tearing them out and giving a manual replacement, is still on the table if we're going off their communication.


As you likely know, there are issues with our powered tonneau cover. While most are operating as intended, many are not.

We want you to know we are aware of the issue and are working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers. Right now, no action is required on your part; this is simply a proactive step to let you know we are working hard on this. Our goal is to have a solution early next year. We’ll reach out at that time with next steps.

If your tonneau cover is operating properly, you should continue using it. If you have a service request currently filed for your tonneau cover or experience an issue in the near future, the Rivian Service Team will continue to be your main point of contact. We have interim solutions in place to help with the issue you may be experiencing. We’ve also created this list of FAQs to provide more detail.

We are committed to ensuring our products are incredibly durable. We appreciate all the feedback we receive as it helps make us better.

It's literally in your quoted email...

We want you to know we are aware of the issue and are working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers.​

They are replacing all current powered tonneaus, working or not. Timing is one thing, but if you have an existing tonneau, functional or non, it will be replaced at some point.

 

[FrankieJ]

They have not communicated that. All they communicated was that they would have an update on a solution to the problem in general early this year. That's all they have communicated. They haven't even explicitly communicated that they will replace the broken ones with a working powered one. Tearing them out and giving a manual replacement, is still on the table if we're going off their communication.


As you likely know, there are issues with our powered tonneau cover. While most are operating as intended, many are not.

We want you to know we are aware of the issue and are working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers. Right now, no action is required on your part; this is simply a proactive step to let you know we are working hard on this. Our goal is to have a solution early next year. We’ll reach out at that time with next steps.

If your tonneau cover is operating properly, you should continue using it. If you have a service request currently filed for your tonneau cover or experience an issue in the near future, the Rivian Service Team will continue to be your main point of contact. We have interim solutions in place to help with the issue you may be experiencing. We’ve also created this list of FAQs to provide more detail.

We are committed to ensuring our products are incredibly durable. We appreciate all the feedback we receive as it helps make us better.
[/QUOTE

You are reading this

They have not communicated that. All they communicated was that they would have an update on a solution to the problem in general early this year. That's all they have communicated. They haven't even explicitly communicated that they will replace the broken ones with a working powered one. Tearing them out and giving a manual replacement, is still on the table if we're going off their communication.


As you likely know, there are issues with our powered tonneau cover. While most are operating as intended, many are not.

We want you to know we are aware of the issue and are working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers. Right now, no action is required on your part; this is simply a proactive step to let you know we are working hard on this. Our goal is to have a solution early next year. We’ll reach out at that time with next steps.

If your tonneau cover is operating properly, you should continue using it. If you have a service request currently filed for your tonneau cover or experience an issue in the near future, the Rivian Service Team will continue to be your main point of contact. We have interim solutions in place to help with the issue you may be experiencing. We’ve also created this list of FAQs to provide more detail.

We are committed to ensuring our products are incredibly durable. We appreciate all the feedback we receive as it helps make us better.

You are reading this completely different than I am. They are “working on a solution and a process for replacing existing tonneau covers“. If you are reading this to mean their solution is to stick us with a faulty design that doesn’t work then I think you are being overly pessimistic. I fully intend to hold them to the warranty I have and the only reasonable reading of the email.

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